The Meaning of Lamentations 5:16 Explained

Lamentations 5:16

KJV: The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!

YLT: Fallen hath the crown from our head, Woe is now to us, for we have sinned.

Darby: The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, for we have sinned!

ASV: The crown is fallen from our head: Woe unto us! for we have sinned.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The crown  is fallen  [from] our head:  woe  unto us, that we have sinned! 

What does Lamentations 5:16 Mean?

Verse Meaning

God"s blessing and authority, symbolized by a crown, had departed from the head of the nation. All these characteristics marked the nation because it had sinned against Yahweh. She suffered under His judgment.

Chapter Summary: Lamentations 5

1  A complaint of Zion in prayer unto God

What do the individual words in Lamentations 5:16 mean?

Has fallen the crown [from] our head Woe I beseech thee to us for we have sinned
נָֽפְלָה֙ עֲטֶ֣רֶת רֹאשֵׁ֔נוּ אֽוֹי־ נָ֥א לָ֖נוּ כִּ֥י ! חָטָֽאנוּ

נָֽפְלָה֙  Has  fallen 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: נָפַל  
Sense: to fall, lie, be cast down, fail.
עֲטֶ֣רֶת  the  crown 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: עֲטָרָה  
Sense: crown, wreath.
רֹאשֵׁ֔נוּ  [from]  our  head 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common plural
Root: רֹאשׁ 
Sense: head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning.
אֽוֹי־  Woe 
Parse: Interjection
Root: אֹוי  
Sense: woe! alas! oh!.
נָ֥א  I  beseech  thee 
Parse: Interjection
Root: נָא  
Sense: I (we) pray, now, please.
לָ֖נוּ  to  us 
Parse: Preposition, first person common plural
! חָטָֽאנוּ  we  have  sinned 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common plural
Root: חָטָא 
Sense: to sin, miss, miss the way, go wrong, incur guilt, forfeit, purify from uncleanness.