Bible Commentaries
Introduction
| 1 | The constancy of the Jews in captivity. | | 7 | The prophet curses Edom and Babel. |
Verse 1
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
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- A. M. cir. 3463. B.C. cir. 541. (Title.) The author of this beautiful and affecting elegy is unknown, but the occasion is evident; and it was most probably composed during, or near the close of, the captivity
- the rivers
- Genesis 2:10-14; Ezra 8:21,31; Ezekiel 1:1
- there sat
- Nehemiah 1:3,4; 2:3; Job 2:12,13; Jeremiah 13:17,18; 15:17; Lamentations 2:10; Ezekiel 3:15
- we wept
- 42:4; 102:9-14; Isaiah 66:10; Jeremiah 51:50,51; Lamentations 1:16; 2:11,18; 3:48,51; Daniel 9:3; 10:2,3; Luke 19:41; Revelation 11:3
Verse 2
We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
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- we hanged
- Willows were so plentiful at Babylon, on the banks of the Euphrates, that Isaiah calls it "the brook or river of willows."
- 33:2; 81:2; Isaiah 24:8; Ezekiel 26:13; Amos 8:10; Revelation 18:22
Verse 3
For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
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- For there
- 123:3,4; Lamentations 2:15,16
- a song
- Heb. the words of a song. wasted us. Heb. laid us on heaps.
- 79:1; Nehemiah 4:2; Jeremiah 9:11; 26:18; Micah 3:12; Luke 21:6
- the songs of Zion
- 9:14; 65:1; 1 Chronicles 15:27; 16:7; Isaiah 35:10; 51:11; Jeremiah 31:12,13; Revelation 14:1-3
Verse 4
How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?
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- How shall
- Ecclesiastes 3:4; Isaiah 22:12; Lamentations 5:14,15; Hosea 9:4; Amos 8:3
- strange land
- Heb. land of a stranger.
- Isaiah 49:21
Verse 5
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
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- I forget
- 84:1,2,10; 102:13,14; 122:5-9; Nehemiah 1:2-4; 2:2,3; Isaiah 62:1,6,7; Jeremiah 51:50; Daniel 6:10,11
- let my right
- Zechariah 11:17
Verse 6
If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
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- let my tongue
- 22:15; Isaiah 41:17; Lamentations 4:4; Ezekiel 3:26
- if I prefer
- 84:10; Matthew 6:33; Acts 20:24; Philippians 1:20; 1 Thessalonians 3:7-9
- my chief joy
- Heb. the head of my joy.
Verse 7
Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
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- Remember
- 74:18; 79:8-12; Exodus 17:14; 1 Samuel 15:2; Hosea 7:2
- the children
- Isaiah 63:1-6; Jeremiah 49:7-22; Lamentations 4:21,22; Ezekiel 25:12-14; Obadiah 1:10-14,18-21
- Rase it
- Heb. make bare.
Verse 8
O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
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- daughter
- Isaiah 47:1-5; Jeremiah 50:42; 51:33; Zechariah 2:7
- who art
- Isaiah 13:1-22; 14:4-24; 21:1; 47:1; Jeremiah 25:12-14; 50:1-51; Revelation 14:8-11; 17:1-18; 18:6
- destroyed
- Heb. wasted. happy.
- 149:6-9; Isaiah 13:3-5; 44:28; Revelation 17:5,6,14; 18:6,20
- rewardeth
- etc. Heb. recompenseth unto thee thy deed which thou didst unto us.
- Jeremiah 50:15-29; Revelation 18:6
Verse 9
Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
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- and dasheth
- Isaiah 13:16; Hosea 10:14; 13:16
- the stones
- Heb. the rock.
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Bibliography Information
Torrey, R. A. "Commentary on Psalms 137:4". "The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge". http://odl.studylight.org/commentaries/tsk/psalms-137.html.
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