The Meaning of 2 Samuel 1:27 Explained

2 Samuel 1:27

KJV: How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

YLT: How have the mighty fallen, Yea, the weapons of war perish!'

Darby: How are the mighty fallen, and the instruments of war perished!

ASV: How are the mighty fallen, And the weapons of war perished!

KJV Reverse Interlinear

How are the mighty  fallen,  and the weapons  of war  perished! 

What does 2 Samuel 1:27 Mean?

Context Summary

2 Samuel 1:17-27 - The Song Of The Bow
This noble poem is unrivaled. It is a perfect model of a funeral dirge. It is in poetry what Händel's Dead March in Saul is in music. The psalmist is borne along both by art and affection. He could not have composed this song unless he had been a consummate artist, and unless he had drunk deep of that divine love which believes, bears, hopes and endures all things and never fails.
He forgets all that he has suffered. His love refuses to consider anything but what has been pleasant and lovely in his liege lord. And for Jonathan there is a special stanza. A brother soul! The Philistines had felt David's might, but his friend had tasted his sweetness! Terrible as a whirlwind in flight, yet winsome as a woman! But if human love can impute only good to those who are the objects of its affection, what will not God's love say of us, feel toward us and impute to us! Here is a clue to the exceeding riches of the love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in sins! [source]

Chapter Summary: 2 Samuel 1

1  The Amalekite who accused himself of Saul's death is slain
17  David laments Saul and Jonathan with a song

What do the individual words in 2 Samuel 1:27 mean?

How have fallen the mighty and perished the weapons of war -
אֵ֚יךְ נָפְל֣וּ גִבּוֹרִ֔ים ! וַיֹּאבְד֖וּ כְּלֵ֥י מִלְחָמָֽה פ

אֵ֚יךְ  How 
Parse: Interjection
Root: אֵיךְ 
Sense: how? interj.
נָפְל֣וּ  have  fallen 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: נָפַל  
Sense: to fall, lie, be cast down, fail.
גִבּוֹרִ֔ים  the  mighty 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: גִּבֹּור  
Sense: strong, mighty.
! וַיֹּאבְד֖וּ  and  perished 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אָבַד  
Sense: perish, vanish, go astray, be destroyed.
כְּלֵ֥י  the  weapons 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: כְּלִי  
Sense: article, vessel, implement, utensil.
מִלְחָמָֽה  of  war 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִלְחָמָה  
Sense: battle, war.
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation