The Meaning of Lamentations 1:8 Explained

Lamentations 1:8

KJV: Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.

YLT: A sin hath Jerusalem sinned, Therefore impure she hath become, All who honoured her have esteemed her lightly, For they have seen her nakedness, Yea, she herself hath sighed and turneth backward.

Darby: Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore is she removed as an impurity: all that honoured her despise her because they have seen her nakedness; and she sigheth, and turneth backward.

ASV: Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is become as an unclean thing; All that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: Yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Jerusalem  hath grievously  sinned;  therefore she is removed:  all that honoured  her despise  her, because they have seen  her nakedness:  yea, she sigheth,  and turneth  backward. 

What does Lamentations 1:8 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jerusalem"s great sinning had resulted in her becoming unclean and despised, like an overexposed woman. She had embarrassed herself; her sins and vices had come to the light. Jeremiah began to explain why calamity had befallen Jerusalem.
"The theme of Jerusalem"s sin, introduced in Lamentations 1:5, is now examined more closely, and ultimately becomes one of the major theological emphases of the book." [1]

Chapter Summary: Lamentations 1

1  The miseries of Jerusalem and of the Jews lamented
12  The attention of beholders demanded to this unprecedented case
18  The justice of God acknowledged, and his mercy supplicated

What do the individual words in Lamentations 1:8 mean?

Gravely has sinned Jerusalem upon thus vile she has become all who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness Yes she sighs and turns away -
חֵ֤טְא חָֽטְאָה֙ יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם עַל־ כֵּ֖ן לְנִידָ֣ה הָיָ֑תָה כָּֽל־ מְכַבְּדֶ֤יהָ הִזִּיל֙וּהָ֙ כִּי־ רָא֣וּ עֶרְוָתָ֔הּ גַּם־ הִ֥יא נֶאֶנְחָ֖ה וַתָּ֥שָׁב אָחֽוֹר ס

חֵ֤טְא  Gravely 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֵטְא  
Sense: sin.
חָֽטְאָה֙  has  sinned 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: חָטָא 
Sense: to sin, miss, miss the way, go wrong, incur guilt, forfeit, purify from uncleanness.
יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם  Jerusalem 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: יְרוּשָׁלַםִ  
Sense: the chief city of Palestine and capital of the united kingdom and the nation of Judah after the split.
עַל־  upon 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
כֵּ֖ן  thus 
Parse: Adverb
Root: כֵּן 
Sense: so, therefore, thus.
לְנִידָ֣ה  vile 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: נִידָה  
Sense: impure, filthiness, impurity.
הָיָ֑תָה  she  has  become 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
מְכַבְּדֶ֤יהָ  who  honored  her 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: כָּבֵד  
Sense: to be heavy, be weighty, be grievous, be hard, be rich, be honourable, be glorious, be burdensome, be honoured.
הִזִּיל֙וּהָ֙  despise  her 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person common plural, third person feminine singular
Root: זוּל  
Sense: (Qal) to pour out, lavish.
כִּי־  because 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
רָא֣וּ  they  have  seen 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
עֶרְוָתָ֔הּ  her  nakedness 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: עֶרְוָה  
Sense: nakedness, nudity, shame, pudenda.
גַּם־  Yes 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.
הִ֥יא  she 
Parse: Pronoun, third person feminine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
נֶאֶנְחָ֖ה  sighs 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אָנַח  
Sense: (Niphal) sigh, groan (in pain or grief), gasp.
וַתָּ֥שָׁב  and  turns 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
אָחֽוֹר  away 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָחֹור  
Sense: the back side, the rear.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation