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Psalms 137:1-5 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.

2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that made us wail [required] mirth, [saying,] Sing us [one] of the songs of Zion.

4 How should we sing a song of Jehovah's upon a foreign soil?

5 If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget [its skill];

Commentary on Psalms 137 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


PSALM 137

Ps 137:1-9. This Psalm records the mourning of the captive Israelites, and a prayer and prediction respecting the destruction of their enemies.

1. rivers of Babylon—the name of the city used for the whole country.

remembered Zion—or, Jerusalem, as in Ps 132:13.

2. upon the willows—which may have grown there then, if not now; as the palm, which was once common, is now rare in Palestine.

3, 4. Whether the request was in curiosity or derision, the answer intimates that a compliance was incongruous with their mournful feelings (Pr 25:20).

5, 6. For joyful songs would imply forgetfulness of their desolated homes and fallen Church. The solemn imprecations on the hand and tongue, if thus forgetful, relate to the cunning or skill in playing, and the power of singing.

7-9. Remember … the children of Edom—(Compare Ps 132:1), that is, to punish.

the day of Jerusalem—its downfall (La 4:21, 22; Ob 11-13).

8. daughter of Babylon—the people (Ps 9:13). Their destruction had been abundantly foretold (Isa 13:14; Jer 51:23). For the terribleness of that destruction, God's righteous judgment, and not the passions of the chafed Israelites, was responsible.