Psalms 137

By the rivers of Babylon

y the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. ²There on the poplars we hung our harps, ³for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” ⁴How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?

⁵If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. ⁶May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy. ⁷Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!”a ⁸Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us.b

⁹Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.c

Commentary

Psalm 137 is one of the most raw and unsettling songs in the Psalter. Set by the rivers of Babylon, it captures the grief of exiled Israelites who cannot sing the Lord's song in a foreign land. The psalm moves from aching memory (v. 1-4) to fierce loyalty (v. 5-6) to a shocking cry

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Bible Dictionary· Psalms 137(6)

Babylon Hand Jerusalem Right Tear Tongue

References· Psalms 137

a: v.7 — Lamentations 4:21-22, Jeremiah 49:7-22, Obadiah 1:10-14, Ezekiel 25:12-14, Psalms 74:18, Amos 1:11, Ezekiel 35:2, 1 Samuel 15:2, Habakkuk 3:13, Obadiah 1:18-21
b: v.8 — Revelation 18:6, Jeremiah 25:12-14, Isaiah 14:4-24, Isaiah 21:1, Isaiah 47:1-15, Revelation 14:8-11, Isaiah 13:1-22, Jeremiah 50:1, Isaiah 44:28, Psalms 149:6-9
c: v.9 — Isaiah 13:16, Nahum 3:10, Hosea 13:16, 2 Kings 8:12, Hosea 10:14

Midvash cross references + OpenBible.info data (CC BY 4.0).

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