Psalms — Chapter 137

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1By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

2There on the willows we hung our harps,

3for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”

4How can we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?

5If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.

6May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!

7Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”

8O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.

9Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

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

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

3For 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.

4How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?

5If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

6If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

7Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

8O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

9Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

1By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion.

2Upon the willows in the midst thereof We hanged up our harps.

3For there they that led us captive required of us songs, And they that wasted us [required of us] mirth, [saying], Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

4How shall we sing Jehovah`s song In a foreign land?

5If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget [her skill].

6Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, If I remember thee not; If I prefer not Jerusalem Above my chief joy.

7Remember, O Jehovah, against the children of Edom The day of Jerusalem; Who said, Rase it, rase it, Even to the foundation thereof.

8O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed, Happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee As thou hast served us.

9Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones Against the rock. Psalm 138 A [Psalm] of David.

1By the rivers of Babylon we sit down and weep when we remember Zion.

2On the poplars in her midst we hang our harps,

3for there our captors ask us to compose songs; those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: “Sing for us a song about Zion!”

4How can we sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land?

5If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand be crippled.

6May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, and do not give Jerusalem priority over whatever gives me the most joy.

7Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, right to its very foundation!”

8O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated, how blessed will be the one who repays you for what you dished out to us.

9How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies and smashes them on a rock.

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

2On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.

3For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4How can we sing Yahweh’s song in a foreign land?

5If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

6Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you; if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.

7Remember, Yahweh, against the children of Edom, the day of Jerusalem; who said, “Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!”

8Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who rewards you, as you have served us.

9Happy shall he be, who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.

Summary
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

This lament pictures the exiles sitting by the rivers of Babylon, weeping as they remember Zion, their harps hanging silent on the willow trees (vv. 1-2). Their captors mock them, demanding songs of joy, but the exiles ask how they could sing the LORD's song in a foreign land (vv. 3-4). The psalmist vows never to forget Jerusalem, calling curses on himself if he lets it fade from his highest joy (vv. 5-6), then closes with a fierce prayer against Edom and Babylon for their cruelty, including a jarring call for vengeance on Babylon's children (vv. 7-9).

Authorship & Background

Author: Multiple authors — primarily David (73 psalms attributed), plus Asaph (12), Sons of Korah (11), Solomon (2), Moses (1), Heman (1), Ethan (1), and anonymous. The Psalter was compiled over approximately 1000 years and served as Israel's hymnal and prayer book. The book is divided into five 'books' (1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150), paralleling the five books of Moses.
Classification: Communal Lament / Imprecatory Psalm
Attributed Author: Anonymous (clearly post-exilic, written during or after the Babylonian captivity)
Key Themes: The pain of exile, inability to sing in a foreign land, memory of Jerusalem, longing for homeland, the raw emotion of loss, imprecation against Babylon and Edom
Historical Context: Psalm 137 is perhaps the most emotionally raw psalm in the Psalter — a lament from Babylonian exile (586-538 BC). The exiles sit by Babylon's rivers weeping, harps hung on willows, while their captors mock them: "Sing us one of your songs!" But how can you sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? The psalm ends with one of the most disturbing verses in Scripture (v.9) — a cry for violent retribution against Babylon. This must be read as the raw expression of a people who watched their children murdered during Jerusalem's fall (2 Kings 25), not as moral prescription. The psalm is theologically honest about the human experience of trauma and desire for justice.
By the Rivers of Babylon (vv.1-4): By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. The rivers are the canal system of the Euphrates plain, and the psalm is one of the few in the psalter that can be dated closely: it is written by people who were there. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. The instruments are put down rather than broken. What makes the situation unbearable is a request, for there they that carried us away captive required of us a song, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion, so the captors want the temple repertoire as entertainment. And the question refuses it, how shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land.
If I Forget Thee, O Jerusalem (vv.5-6): If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. The oath is a musician's: the right hand plays and the tongue sings, and the singer stakes both on remembering. If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. The refusal of verse 4 is thus not sullenness but a vow, and these two verses are the psalm's center.
O Daughter of Babylon, Who Art to Be Destroyed (vv.7-9): Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. Edom is named before Babylon because Edom was kin, and the charge is cheering at the sack; Obadiah is a whole book about the same grievance. Then the last two verses, which are the hardest in the psalter. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. Several things are true at once and none of them cancels the rest. The atrocity described was the ordinary practice of ancient warfare and had been done to Jerusalem's own children, which is what as thou hast served us means. The prophets promise Babylon precisely this, in Isaiah 13:16 and in Nahum 3:10, so the psalm is asking for a judgement already announced rather than inventing one. And the psalm asks: it takes no action, and the verse is a prayer handed to God by people with no power to carry it out. None of that makes the sentence pleasant to read, and it should not be made to. The Church has largely dealt with the verse by leaving it out, and the daily offices of several traditions still stop at verse 6. What the psalm gives, and what an edited version does not, is the sound of grief that has gone past what it can carry, recorded in scripture without approval and without deletion.

Map & Geography

  • Zion (v.1, v.3): The hill on which Jerusalem/the Temple stood; often used poetically for God's dwelling.
  • Babylon (v.1, v.8): Capital of the Babylonian empire; place of Judah's exile (modern Iraq).
  • Jerusalem (v.5, v.6, v.7): Capital of Judah; the holy city where the Temple stood.
  • Edom (v.7): Land south of the Dead Sea; descendants of Esau.

Places on this map

  • JerusalemJerusalemA hill town about 2,500 feet up in the central spine of Judah, roughly 35 miles inland from the Mediterranean and 15 miles west of the Jordan. It sits on no trade route and has no river, which is why it mattered as a fortress and a sanctuary rather than as a market. Wikipedia
  • Babylonnear Hillah, IraqOn the Euphrates about 55 miles south of modern Baghdad. Judah's exiles were marched roughly 900 miles to get here, the long way round the Arabian desert, which is why the journey took months and the return was a genuine undertaking rather than a short trip home. Wikipedia
  • Edomsouthern JordanThe red sandstone highlands south-east of the Dead Sea, holding the King's Highway and later Petra. Settlements sat behind cliffs and narrow gorges, which is the pride Obadiah addresses when he speaks to those who dwell in the clefts of the rock. Wikipedia
  • Dead SeaIsrael / JordanThe lowest exposed ground on earth, about 1,400 feet below sea level, and roughly ten times saltier than the ocean because water leaves only by evaporation. Nothing lives in it, which is the image Ezekiel 47 overturns when he has it filled with fish. Wikipedia

Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Verse-by-verse commentary on this chapter, written for the everyday reader and freely available online.
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Psalm 137 - The Mournful Song of the Exiles
David Guzik

Dashing babies against rocks?! - What does Psalm 137:9 mean? | GotQuestions.org
Got Questions Ministries

Psalm 137 | Tears by the River | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

Articles

  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of Psalms -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • Grief as Honest Worship (vv.1-4) — The exiles sit weeping by the rivers of Babylon, unable to sing while their captors mock them for a song. Do you let yourself grieve honestly before God, or do you feel pressure to perform joy you don't actually feel?
  • Refusing to Forget Home (vv.5-6) — The psalmist vows never to forget Jerusalem, even if it costs him his ability to make music or speak. What spiritual "home" — a truth, a calling, a closeness with God — are you tempted to let fade because remembering it is painful?
  • Bringing Raw Anger to God Instead of Acting on It (vv.7-9) — The psalm ends with a shockingly violent cry for vengeance against those who destroyed Jerusalem, an unfiltered expression of trauma handed to God rather than acted out. When you're overwhelmed with anger toward those who've hurt you, do you voice it honestly to God, or let it fester unspoken?