The Meaning of Lamentations 1:17 Explained

Lamentations 1:17

KJV: Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the LORD hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.

YLT: Spread forth hath Zion her hands, There is no comforter for her, Jehovah hath charged concerning Jacob, His neighbours are his adversaries, Jerusalem hath become impure among them.

Darby: Zion spreadeth forth her hands; there is none to comfort her; Jehovah hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him; Jerusalem is as an impurity among them.

ASV: Zion spreadeth forth her hands; there is none to comfort her; Jehovah hath commanded concerning Jacob, that they that are round about him should be his adversaries: Jerusalem is among them as an unclean thing.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Zion  spreadeth forth  her hands,  [and there is] none to comfort  her: the LORD  hath commanded  concerning Jacob,  [that] his adversaries  [should be] round about  him: Jerusalem  is as a menstruous woman  among them. 

What does Lamentations 1:17 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Rather than comforting Zion, who appealed with outstretched hands, her neighbors had withdrawn from her as from an unclean thing.

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 1:17 mean?

Spreads out Zion her hands [But] no one comforts her has commanded Yahweh concerning Jacob [That] those around him [become] his adversaries has become Jerusalem an unclean thing among them -
פֵּֽרְשָׂ֨ה צִיּ֜וֹן בְּיָדֶ֗יהָ אֵ֤ין מְנַחֵם֙ לָ֔הּ צִוָּ֧ה יְהוָ֛ה לְיַעֲקֹ֖ב סְבִיבָ֣יו צָרָ֑יו הָיְתָ֧ה יְרוּשָׁלִַ֛ם לְנִדָּ֖ה בֵּינֵיהֶֽם ס

פֵּֽרְשָׂ֨ה  Spreads  out 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: פָּרַשׂ  
Sense: to spread, spread out, stretch, break in pieces.
צִיּ֜וֹן  Zion 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: צִיּׄון  
Sense: another name for Jerusalem especially in the prophetic books.
בְּיָדֶ֗יהָ  her  hands 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, fdc, third person feminine singular
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
אֵ֤ין  [But]  no  one 
Parse: Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
מְנַחֵם֙  comforts 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine singular
Root: נָחַם  
Sense: to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted.
לָ֔הּ  her 
Parse: Preposition, third person feminine singular
צִוָּ֧ה  has  commanded 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: צָוָה  
Sense: to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order.
יְהוָ֛ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
לְיַעֲקֹ֖ב  concerning  Jacob 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יַעֲקֹב  
Sense: son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham, and father of the 2 patriarchs of the tribes of Israel.
סְבִיבָ֣יו  [That]  those  around  him  [become] 
Parse: Adverb, third person masculine singular
Root: מוּסָב 
Sense: places round about, circuit, round about adv.
צָרָ֑יו  his  adversaries 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: צַר 
Sense: narrow, tight.
הָיְתָ֧ה  has  become 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֛ם  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.
לְנִדָּ֖ה  an  unclean  thing 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: נִדָּה  
Sense: impurity, filthiness, menstruous, set apart.
בֵּינֵיהֶֽם  among  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
Root: בַּיִן 
Sense: between, among, in the midst of (with other preps), from between.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation