The Meaning of Lamentations 5:13 Explained

Lamentations 5:13

KJV: They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.

YLT: Young men to grind they have taken, And youths with wood have stumbled.

Darby: The young men have borne the mill, and the youths have stumbled under the wood.

ASV: The young men bare the mill; And the children stumbled under the wood.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They took  the young men  to grind,  and the children  fell  under the wood. 

What does Lamentations 5:13 Mean?

Chapter Summary: Lamentations 5

1  A complaint of Zion in prayer unto God

What do the individual words in Lamentations 5:13 mean?

Young men at the millstones ground and Boys under [loads of] wood staggered
בַּחוּרִים֙ טְח֣וֹן נָשָׂ֔אוּ וּנְעָרִ֖ים בָּעֵ֥ץ כָּשָֽׁלוּ

בַּחוּרִים֙  Young  men 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: בָּחוּר 
Sense: youth, young man.
טְח֣וֹן  at  the  millstones 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: טְחֹון  
Sense: mill, grinding mill, hand mill.
נָשָׂ֔אוּ  ground 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: נָשָׂא  
Sense: to lift, bear up, carry, take.
וּנְעָרִ֖ים  and  Boys 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural
Root: נַעַר  
Sense: a boy, lad, servant, youth, retainer.
בָּעֵ֥ץ  under  [loads  of]  wood 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֵץ  
Sense: tree, wood, timber, stock, plank, stalk, stick, gallows.
כָּשָֽׁלוּ  staggered 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: כָּשַׁל  
Sense: to stumble, stagger, totter.