Exegesis:

ēkolouthei de autō polu plēthos tou laou ‘him followed a great crowd of the people.’ ēkolouthei is emphatic by position. The imperfect tense is descriptive and refers to a situation which forms the background of the subsequent events and words. For plēthos and laos cf. on 1.10, but both are used here without religious implications; laos refers to the people of Jerusalem in general.

kai gunaikōn ‘and of women,’ depending on plēthos and mentioned separately because of Jesus’ words to them.

hai ekoptonto kai ethrēnoun auton ‘who were beating (their breasts) and weeping for him.’ auton goes with both verbs, cf. on 8.52. For thrēneō cf. on 7.32. As a comparison with these two places shows the women acted as if attending a burial.

Translation:

For followed and the people cf. on 7.9 and 29 respectively.

And of women, or, ‘and also (or, amongst them also) several women.’

Who bewailed and lamented him, or, ‘who were mourning and weeping because of him.’ For the first verb, it. ‘to beat (the breast)’ cf. on 18.13. A cultural equivalent expressing sorrow or sorrowful commiseration can sometimes be used, e.g. ‘who put their hands on their head’ (Sranan Tongo), but many versions do as Revised Standard Version and employ a non-symbolic or non-figurative expression such as ‘to wail over,’ ‘to bewail.’ This verb and to lament may be treated as a hendiadys.

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.