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jg▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ mh▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
В еврейской Библии псалом не имеет надписания имени автора, в латинской же и греческой стоит имя Давида. Последнее указание нельзя считать правильным: содержание псалма (1-3: ст.) - представляет воспоминание о плене вавилонском уже по его окончании и возвращении евреев на родину, свидетелем каковых событий Давид не мог быть. Самый характер изложения есть живой и трогательный рассказ автора о пережитом им, что тоже не могло быть испытано Давидом. Более точное определение времени написания псалма можно найти в указании 8: и 9: ст., где Вавилон представляется грозным и еще не опустошенным. Из сопоставления содержания первых трех стихов псалма и последних двух можно заключить, что псалом написан вскоре по возвращении евреев из плена при Кире Персидском до опустошения Вавилона в 517: г. в 6: год Дария Гистаспа, значит прежде окончания и освящения второго храма.

В плену вавилонском замолкли наши песни и арфы висели на деревьях (1-2). Притеснители наши просили нас пропеть из Сионских песней. Да иссохнет мой язык и рука, если буду петь и играть в чужой стране и если я забуду тебя, Иерусалим (3-6)! Господи, отмсти Едому за его злобу к Иерусалиму. Блажен тот, кто разобьет о камень и твоих детей, дочь Вавилона, опустошительница (6-9).
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
There are divers psalms which are thought to have been penned in the latter days of the Jewish church, when prophecy was near expiring and the canon of the Old Testament ready to be closed up, but none of them appears so plainly to be of a late date as this, which was penned when the people of God were captives in Babylon, and there insulted over by these proud oppressors; probably it was towards the latter end of their captivity; for now they saw the destruction of Babylon hastening on apace (ver. 8), which would be their discharge. It is a mournful psalm, a lamentation; and the Septuagint makes it one of the lamentations of Jeremiah, naming him for the author of it. Here I. The melancholy captives cannot enjoy themselves, ver. 1, 2. II. They cannot humour their proud oppressors, ver. 3, 4. III. They cannot forget Jerusalem, ver. 5, 6. IV. They cannot forgive Edom and Babylon, ver. 7-9. In singing this psalm we must be much affected with the concernments of the church, especially that part of it that is in affliction, laying the sorrows of God's people near our hearts, comforting ourselves in the prospect of the deliverance of the church and the ruin of its enemies, in due time, but carefully avoiding all personal animosities, and not mixing the leaven of malice with our sacrifices.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
The desolate and afflicted state of the captives in Babylon, Psa 137:1, Psa 137:2. How they were insulted by their enemies, Psa 137:3, Psa 137:4. Their attachment to their country, Psa 137:5, Psa 137:6. Judgments denounced against their enemies, Psa 137:7-9.
The Vulgate, Septuagint, Ethiopic, and Arabic, say, ridiculously enough, a Psalm of David for Jeremiah. Anachronisms with those who wrote the titles to the Psalms were matters of no importance. Jeremiah never was at Babylon; and therefore could have no part in a Psalm that was sung on the banks of its rivers by the Israelitish captives. Neither the Hebrew nor Chaldee has any title; the Syriac attributes it to David. Some think it was sung when they returned from Babylon; others, while they were there. It is a matter of little importance. It was evidently composed during or at the close of the captivity.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
137:0: Though there is no title prefixed to this beautiful psalm, and no direct intimation as to the occasion on which it was composed, yet there can be no doubt as to the circumstances in which it was written. There is, indeed, no mention of the name of the author, and no possibility of recovering that name now, but there can be no doubt that it was composed by one of the exiles in Babylon - one who had witnessed and shared the sufferings of the exiles there, and who had also a lively recollection of the wrongs done to Jerusalem when it was attacked and destroyed by its foes. The writer was a Jew to the heart's core; an "Hebrew of the Hebrews;" embodying and expressing in this short psalm all that there was which was special in Hebrew feeling, patriotism, devotion. Nowhere else in a short compass is so much Judaism - so much Jewish piety - to be found concentrated as in this psalm. There is grief at their lonely and desolate condition in Babylon; profound and submissive silence in the midst of their troubles; indignation that they should be taunted and derided by their captors; a strong - earnest - supreme love for their native land; deep resentment at the remembrance of the many wrongs done to Jerusalem when it was destroyed; and an earliest invocation to God that he would remember those wrongs alike in relation to Edom and Babylon, and treat those wrong-doers as they deserved. It would seem most probable that the psalm was composed soon after the return from Babylon, and before the temple was finished - while the ruins of the city caused by the Edomites and Babylonians were visible everywhere. The combined remembrance of the insults in Babylon, and of the wrong done to the city at its capture, animates the poet, and fills his mind with this deep and burning indignation.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
Psa 137:1, The constancy of the Jews in captivity; Psa 137:7, The prophet curses Edom and Babel.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch

By the Rivers of Babylon
The Hallelujah Ps 135 and the Hodu Ps 136 are followed by a Psalm which glances back into the time of the Exile, when such cheerful songs as they once sang to the accompaniment of the music of the Levites at the worship of God on Mount Zion were obliged to be silent. It is anonymous. The inscription Τῷ Δαυίδ (διὰ) Ἱιερεμίου found in codices of the lxx, which is meant to say that it is a Davidic song coming from the heart of Jeremiah,
(Note: Reversely Ellies du Pin (in the preface of his Bibliotque des Auteurs Ecclsiastiques) says: Le Pseaume 136 porte le nom de David et de Jeremie, ce qu'il faut apparement entendre ainsi: Pseaume de Jeremie fait l'imitation de David.)
is all the more erroneous as Jeremiah never was one of the Babylonian exiles.
The שׁ, which is repeated three times in Ps 136:8., corresponds to the time of the composition of the Psalm which is required by its contents. It is just the same with the paragogic i in the future in Ps 136:6. But in other respects the language is classic; and the rhythm, at the beginning softly elegiac, then more and more excited, and abounding in guttural and sibilant sounds, is so expressive that scarcely any Psalm is so easily impressed on the memory as this, which is so pictorial even in sound.
The metre resembles the elegiac as it appears in the so-called caesura schema of the Lamentations and in the cadence of Is 16:9-10, which is like the Sapphic strophe. Every second lien corresponds to the pentameter of the elegiac metre.
John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 137
The occasion of this psalm was the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, and the treatment they met with there; either as foreseen, or as now endured. Aben Ezra ascribes this psalm to David; and so the Syriac version, which calls it,
"a psalm of David; the words of the saints, who were carried captive into Babylon.''
The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions, make it to be David's, and yet add the name of Jeremiah; and the Arabic version calls it David's, concerning Jeremiah: but, as Theodoret observes, Jeremiah was not carried into Babylon, but, after some short stay in or near Jerusalem, was forced away into Egypt; and could neither be the writer nor subject of this psalm: and though it might be written by David under a spirit of prophecy; who thereby might foresee and foretell the Babylonish captivity, and what the Jews would suffer in it; as the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah did, many years before it came to pass; yet it seems rather to have been written by one of the captivity, either while in it, or immediately after it.
136:0136:0: ՚Ի Դաւիթ. ՚ի ձեռն Երեմիայի. աննշա՛ն յԵբրայեցւոցն. ՃԼԶ[7687]։[7687] Ոմանք այսպիսի ունին վերնագիր. Սաղմոս Դաւթի աննշան յԵբրայեցին, յԵրեմիա. անվերնագիր յԵբրայեցւոց։
0 Սաղմոս Դաւթի, Երեմիայի ձեռքով՝ անվերնագիր եբրայերէնում

Սաղմոս Դաւթի. ի ձեռն Երեմիայի. աննշան յԵբրայեցւոցն:

136:0: ՚Ի Դաւիթ. ՚ի ձեռն Երեմիայի. աննշա՛ն յԵբրայեցւոցն. ՃԼԶ[7687]։
[7687] Ոմանք այսպիսի ունին վերնագիր. Սաղմոս Դաւթի աննշան յԵբրայեցին, յԵրեմիա. անվերնագիր յԵբրայեցւոց։
0 Սաղմոս Դաւթի, Երեմիայի ձեռքով՝ անվերնագիր եբրայերէնում
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
136:0136:0 [Давида.]
136:1 τῷ ο the Δαυιδ δαβιδ Dabid; Thavith ἐπὶ επι in; on τῶν ο the ποταμῶν ποταμος river Βαβυλῶνος βαβυλων Babylōn; Vavilon ἐκεῖ εκει there ἐκαθίσαμεν καθιζω sit down; seat καὶ και and; even ἐκλαύσαμεν κλαιω weep; cry ἐν εν in τῷ ο the μνησθῆναι μναομαι remember; mindful ἡμᾶς ημας us τῆς ο the Σιων σιων Siōn; Sion
136:1 הֹוד֣וּ hôḏˈû ידה praise לַ la לְ to יהוָ֣ה [yhwˈāh] יְהוָה YHWH כִּי־ kî- כִּי that טֹ֑וב ṭˈôv טֹוב good כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that לְ lᵊ לְ to עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:1. super flumina Babylonis ibi sedimus et flevimus cum recordaremur SionUpon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Sion:
1. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
136:1. Alleluia. Confess to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy is eternal.
136:1. O give thanks unto the LORD; for [he is] good: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
KJV Chapter [137] missing verse:

136:0 [Давида.]
136:1
τῷ ο the
Δαυιδ δαβιδ Dabid; Thavith
ἐπὶ επι in; on
τῶν ο the
ποταμῶν ποταμος river
Βαβυλῶνος βαβυλων Babylōn; Vavilon
ἐκεῖ εκει there
ἐκαθίσαμεν καθιζω sit down; seat
καὶ και and; even
ἐκλαύσαμεν κλαιω weep; cry
ἐν εν in
τῷ ο the
μνησθῆναι μναομαι remember; mindful
ἡμᾶς ημας us
τῆς ο the
Σιων σιων Siōn; Sion
136:1
הֹוד֣וּ hôḏˈû ידה praise
לַ la לְ to
יהוָ֣ה [yhwˈāh] יְהוָה YHWH
כִּי־ kî- כִּי that
טֹ֑וב ṭˈôv טֹוב good
כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that
לְ lᵊ לְ to
עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity
חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:1. super flumina Babylonis ibi sedimus et flevimus cum recordaremur Sion
Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Sion:
136:1. Alleluia. Confess to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy is eternal.
136:1. O give thanks unto the LORD; for [he is] good: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
1. "При реках Вавилона" - разумеются реки Тигр и Евфрат, с их притоками и искусственными каналами, проведенными вавилонянами для орошения своих полей.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
137:1: By the rivers of Babylon - These might have been the Tigris and Euphrates, or their branches, or streams that flowed into them. In their captivity and dispersion, it was customary for the Jews to hold their religious meetings on the banks of rivers. Mention is made of this Act 16:13, where we find the Jews of Philippi resorting to a river side, where prayer was wont to be made. And sometimes they built their synagogues here, when they were expelled from the cities.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
137:1: By the rivers of Babylon - The streams, the water-courses, the rivulets. There was properly only one river flowing through Babylon - the Euphrates; but the city was watered, as Damascus now is, by means of canals or water-courses cut from the main river, and conveying the water to different parts of the city. For a description of Babylon, see the introductory notes to isa 13. If the reference here is to Babylon proper, or the city, the allusion would be to the Euphrates flowing through it; if to Babylonia, the allusion would be to the Euphrates, and the other rivers which watered the country, as the Tigris, the Chaboras, and the Ulai. As it is most probable that the captive Hebrews were not scattered through the empire, but were concentrated in one or a few places, it is, perhaps, not improper to understand this of Babylon itself.
There we sat down - There we were sitting. Perhaps a little company of friends; perhaps those assembled for worship; perhaps those who happened to come together on some special occasion; or, perhaps, a poetic representation of the general condition of the Hebrew captives, as sitting and meditating on the desolations of their native land.
Yea, we wept - We sat there; we meditated; we wept. Our emotions overpowered us, and we poured forth tears. So now, there is a place in Jerusalem, at the southwest corner of the area on which the temple was built, where the Jews resort on set occasions to weep over the ruins of their city and nation.
When we remembered Zion - When we thought on our native land; its former glory; the wrongs done to it; the desolations there; when we thought of the temple in ruins, and our homes as devastated; when we thought of the happy days which we had spent there, and when we contrasted them with our condition now.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
137:1: am cir, 3463, bc 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: Gen 2:10-14; Ezr 8:21, Ezr 8:31; Eze 1:1, there sat, Neh 1:3, Neh 1:4, Neh 2:3; Job 2:12, Job 2:13; Jer 13:17, Jer 13:18, Jer 15:17; Lam 2:10; Eze 3:15
we wept: Psa 42:4, Psa 102:9-14; Isa 66:10; Jer 51:50, Jer 51:51; Lam 1:16, Lam 2:11, Lam 2:18, Lam 3:48, Lam 3:51; Dan 9:3, Dan 10:2, Dan 10:3; Luk 19:41; Rev 11:3
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
137:1
Beginning with perfects, the Psalm has the appearance of being a Psalm not belonging to the Exile, but written in memory of the Exile. The bank of a river, like the seashore, is a favourite place of sojourn of those whom deep grief drives forth from the bustle of men into solitude. The boundary line of the river gives to solitude a safe back; the monotonous splashing of the waves keeps up the dull, melancholy alternation of thoughts and feelings; and at the same time the sight of the cool, fresh water exercises a soothing influence upon the consuming fever within the heart. The rivers of Babylon are here those of the Babylonian empire: not merely the Euphrates with its canals, and the Tigris, but also the Chaboras (Chebar) and Eulaeos ('Ulai), on whose lonesome banks Ezekiel (Ezek 1:3) and Daniel (ch. Dan 8:2) beheld divine visions. The שׁם is important: there, in a strange land, as captives under the dominion of the power of the world. And גּם is purposely chosen instead of ו: with the sitting down in the solitude of the river's banks weeping immediately came on; when the natural scenery around contrasted so strongly with that of their native land, the remembrance of Zion only forced itself upon them all the more powerfully, and the pain at the isolation from their home would have all the freer course where no hostilely observant eyes were present to suppress it. The willow (צפצפה) and viburnum, those trees which are associated with flowing water in hot low-lying districts, are indigenous in the richly watered lowlands of Babylonia. ערב (ערבה), if one and the same with Arab. grb, is not the willow, least of all the weeping-willow, which is called ṣafsâf mustahı̂ in Arabic, "the bending-down willow," but the viburnum with dentate leaves, described by Wetzstein on Is 44:4. The Talmud even distinguishes between tsaph-tsapha and ‛araba, but without our being able to obtain any sure botanic picture from it. The ערבה, whose branches belong to the constituents of the lulab of the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:40), is understood of the crack-willow [Salix fragilis], and even in the passage before us is surely not distinguished with such botanical precision but that the gharab and willow together with the weeping-willow (Salix Babylonica) might be comprehended under the word ערבה. On these trees of the country abounding in streams the exiles hung their citherns. The time to take delight in music was past, for μουσικὰ ἐν πένθει ἄκαιρος διήγησις, Sir. 22:6. Joyous songs, as the word שׁיר designates them, were ill suited to their situation.
In order to understand the כּי in Ps 137:3, Ps 137:3 and Ps 137:4 must be taken together. They hung up their citherns; for though their lords called upon them to sing in order that they might divert themselves with their national songs, they did not feel themselves in the mind for singing songs as they once resounded at the divine services of their native land. The lxx, Targum, and Syriac take תּוללינוּ as a synonym of שׁובינוּ, synonymous with שׁוללינוּ, and so, in fact, that it signifies not, like שׁולל, the spoiled and captive one, but the spoiler and he who takes other prisoners. But there is no Aramaic תּלל = שׁלל. It might more readily be referred back to a Poel תּולל (= התל), to disappoint, deride (Hitzig); but the usage of the language does not favour this, and a stronger meaning for the word would be welcome. Either תּולל = תּהולל, like מהולל, Ps 102:9, signifies the raving one, i.e., a bloodthirsty man or a tyrant, or from ילל, ejulare, one who causes the cry of woe or a tormentor, - a signification which commends itself in view of the words תּושׁב and תּלמיד, which are likewise formed with the preformative ת. According to the sense the word ranks itself with an Hiph. הוליל, like תּועלת, תּוכחה, with הועיל and הוכיח, in a mainly abstract signification (Dietrich, Abhandlungen, S. 160f.). The דּברי beside שׁיר is used as in Ps 35:20; Ps 65:4; Ps 105:27; Ps 145:5, viz., partitively, dividing up the genitival notion of the species: words of songs as being parts or fragments of the national treasury of song, similar to משּׁיר a little further on, on which Rosenmller correctly says: sacrum aliquod carmen ex veteribus illis suis Sionicis. With the expression "song of Zion" alternates in Ps 137:4 "song of Jahve," which, as in 2Chron 29:27, cf. 1Chron 25:7, denotes sacred or liturgical songs, that is to say, songs belonging to Psalm poesy (including the Cantica).
Before Ps 137:4 we have to imagine that they answered the request of the Babylonians at that time in the language that follows, or thought thus within themselves when they withdrew themselves from them. The meaning of the interrogatory exclamation is not that the singing of sacred songs in a foreign land (חוצה לארץ) is contrary to the law, for the Psalms continued to be sung even during the Exile, and were also enriched by new ones. But the shir had an end during the Exile, in so far as that it was obliged to retire from publicity into the quiet of the family worship and of the houses of prayer, in order that that which is holy might not be profaned; and since it was not, as at home, accompanied by the trumpets of the priests and the music of the Levites, it became more recitative than singing properly so called, and therefore could not afford any idea of the singing of their native land in connection with the worship of God on Zion. From the striking contrast between the present and the former times the people of the Exile had in fact to come to the knowledge of their sins, in order that they might get back by the way of penitence and earnest longing to that which they had lost Penitence and home-sickness were at that time inseparable; for all those in whom the remembrance of Zion was lost gave themselves over to heathenism and were excluded from the redemption. The poet, translated into the situation of the exiles, and arming himself against the temptation to apostasy and the danger of denying God, therefore says: If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, ימיני תּשׁכּח. תּשׁכּח has been taken as an address to Jahve: obliviscaris dexterae meae (e.g., Wolfgang Dachstein in his song "An Wasserflssen Babylon"), but it is far from natural that Jerusalem and Jahve should be addressed in one clause. Others take ימיני as the subject and תּשׁכּח transitively: obliviscatur dextera mea, scil. artem psallendi (Aben-Ezra, Kimchi, Pagninus, Grotius, Hengstenberg, and others); but this ellipsis is arbitrary, and the interpolation of מנּי after ימיני (von Ortenberg, following Olshausen) produces an inelegant cadence. Others again assign a passive sense to תשׁכח: oblivioni detur (lxx, Italic, Vulgate, and Luther), or a half-passive sense, in oblivione sit (Jerome); but the thought: let my right hand be forgotten, is awkward and tame. Obliviscatur me (Syriac, Saadia, and the Psalterium Romanum) comes nearer to the true meaning. תּשׁכּח is to be taken reflexively: obliviscatur sui ipsius, let it forget itself, or its service (Amyraldus, Schultens, Ewald, and Hitzig), which is equivalent to let it refuse or fail, become lame, become benumbed, much the same as we say of the arms of legs that they "go to sleep," and just as the Arabic nasiya signifies both to forget and to become lame (cf. Gesenius, Thesaurus, p. 921b). La Harpe correctly renders: O Jerusalem! si je t'oublie jamais, que ma main oublie aussi le mouvement! Thus there is a correspondence between Ps 137:5 and Ps 137:6 : My tongue shall cleave to my palate if I do not remember thee, if I do not raise Jerusalem above the sum of my joy. אזכּרכי has the affixed Chirek, with which these later Psalms are so fond of adorning themselves. ראשׁ is apparently used as in Ps 119:160 : supra summam (the totality) laetitiae meae, as Coccejus explains, h.e. supra omnem laetitiam meam. But why not then more simply על כּל, above the totality? ראשׁ here signifies not κεφάλαιον, but κεφαλή: if I do not place Jerusalem upon the summit of my joy, i.e., my highest joy; therefore, if I do not cause Jerusalem to be my very highest joy. His spiritual joy over the city of God is to soar above all earthly joys.
Geneva 1599
137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we (a) sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
(a) That is, we abode a long time, and even though the country was pleasant, yet it could not stay our tears, nor turn us from the true service of our God.
John Gill
137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down,.... If by Babylon is meant the country, then the rivers of it are Chebar, Ulai, Tigris, Euphrates, and others; see Ezek 1:1; but if the city itself, then only Euphrates, which ran through it; and is expressed by rivers, because of the largeness of it, and because of the several canals cut out of it, for the service of the city; hence Babylon is said to dwell upon many waters, Jer 51:13; upon the banks whereof the captive Jews were; either through choice, where they could be alone, and mourn their fate, indulge their sorrows, and give vent to their grief; or by the order of these who carried them captive, there to be employed, either in taking goods from ships here unloaded, or to repair and maintain the banks of the rivers, or to do some servile work or another; see Ezek 1:1; and where they would sometimes "sit down" pensive, as mourners used to do, and lament their case, Job 2:8. Or this phrase may express their residence here, and the continuance and length of their captivity, which was seventy years: yea, Babylon itself may be meant by the waters of it; just as Thebes, in Pindar (w) is called the Dircaean waters, near to which it was;
yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion; they imitated the flowing stream by which they sat, and swelled it with their tears; they wept for their sins, which brought them thither; and it increased their sorrow, when they called to mind what privileges they had enjoyed in Zion, the city of their solemnities; where they had often seen the tribes of Israel bowing before and worshipping the God of Israel; the daily sacrifices and others offered up; the solemn feasts kept; the songs of Zion, sung by the Levites in delightful harmony; and, above all, the beauty of the Lord their God, his power and glory, while they were inquiring in his sanctuary: and also when they reflected upon the sad condition and melancholy circumstances in which Zion now was; the city, temple, and altar, lying in heaps of rubbish; no worship and service performed; no sacrifices offered, nor songs sung; nor any that came to her solemn feasts; see Lam 1:2.
(w) Pythia, Ode 9. d. v. 6.
John Wesley
137:1 Sat - The usual posture of mourners.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
137:1 This Psalm records the mourning of the captive Israelites, and a prayer and prediction respecting the destruction of their enemies. (Ps 137:1-9)
rivers of Babylon--the name of the city used for the whole country.
remembered Zion--or, Jerusalem, as in Ps 132:13.
136:1136:1: ՚Ի գե՛տս Բաբելացւոց, անդ նստէաք եւ լայաք. որպէս յիշեցաք մեք անդ զՍիովն[7688]։ [7688] Ոմանք.Առ գետս Բաբելացւոց։
1 Բաբելոնի գետերի մօտ՝ այնտեղ նստած լալիս էինք, երբ յիշում էինք Սիոնը:
137 Բաբելոնի գետերուն քով՝ Հո՛ն կը նստէինք Ու Սիօնը մտքերնիս բերելով կու լայինք։
Առ գետս Բաբելացւոց` անդ նստէաք, եւ լայաք որպէս յիշեցաք մեք անդ զՍիոն:

136:1: ՚Ի գե՛տս Բաբելացւոց, անդ նստէաք եւ լայաք. որպէս յիշեցաք մեք անդ զՍիովն[7688]։
[7688] Ոմանք.Առ գետս Բաբելացւոց։
1 Բաբելոնի գետերի մօտ՝ այնտեղ նստած լալիս էինք, երբ յիշում էինք Սիոնը:
137 Բաբելոնի գետերուն քով՝ Հո՛ն կը նստէինք Ու Սիօնը մտքերնիս բերելով կու լայինք։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
136:1136:1 При реках Вавилона, там сидели мы и плакали, когда вспоминали о Сионе;
136:2 ἐπὶ επι in; on ταῖς ο the ἰτέαις ιτεα in μέσῳ μεσος in the midst; in the middle αὐτῆς αυτος he; him ἐκρεμάσαμεν κρεμαννυμι hang τὰ ο the ὄργανα οργανον our
136:2 הֹ֭ודוּ ˈhôḏû ידה praise לֵֽ lˈē לְ to אלֹהֵ֣י ʔlōhˈê אֱלֹהִים god(s) הָ hā הַ the אֱלֹהִ֑ים ʔᵉlōhˈîm אֱלֹהִים god(s) כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that לְ lᵊ לְ to עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:2. super salices in medio eius suspendimus citharas nostrasOn the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments.
2. Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps.
136:2. Confess to the God of gods, for his mercy is eternal.
136:2. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion:

136:1 При реках Вавилона, там сидели мы и плакали, когда вспоминали о Сионе;
136:2
ἐπὶ επι in; on
ταῖς ο the
ἰτέαις ιτεα in
μέσῳ μεσος in the midst; in the middle
αὐτῆς αυτος he; him
ἐκρεμάσαμεν κρεμαννυμι hang
τὰ ο the
ὄργανα οργανον our
136:2
הֹ֭ודוּ ˈhôḏû ידה praise
לֵֽ lˈē לְ to
אלֹהֵ֣י ʔlōhˈê אֱלֹהִים god(s)
הָ הַ the
אֱלֹהִ֑ים ʔᵉlōhˈîm אֱלֹהִים god(s)
כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that
לְ lᵊ לְ to
עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity
חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:2. super salices in medio eius suspendimus citharas nostras
On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments.
136:2. Confess to the God of gods, for his mercy is eternal.
136:2. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ mh▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
2. "На вербах". По берегам многочисленных рек и притоков вавилонской низменности росло множество ив, или верб. Берега рек были любимым местом посещения пленников.
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
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 wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 4 How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land? 5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. 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.
We have here the daughter of Zion covered with a cloud, and dwelling with the daughter of Babylon; the people of God in tears, but sowing in tears. Observe,
I. The mournful posture they were in as to their affairs and as to their spirits. 1. They were posted by the rivers of Babylon, in a strange land, a great way from their own country, whence they were brought as prisoners of war. The land of Babylon was now a house of bondage to that people, as Egypt had been in their beginning. Their conquerors quartered them by the rivers, with design to employ them there, and keep them to work in their galleys; or perhaps they chose it as the most melancholy place, and therefore most suitable to their sorrowful spirits. If they must build houses there (Jer. xxix. 5), it shall not be in the cities, the places of concourse, but by the rivers, the places of solitude, where they might mingle their tears with the streams. We find some of them by the river Chebar (Ezek. i. 3), others by the river Ulai, Dan. viii. 2. 2. There they sat down to indulge their grief by poring on their miseries. Jeremiah had taught them under this yoke to sit alone, and keep silence, and put their mouths in the dust, Lam. iii. 28, 29. "We sat down, as those that expected to stay, and were content, since it was the will of God that it must be so." 3. Thoughts of Zion drew tears from their eyes; and it was not a sudden passion of weeping, such as we are sometimes put into by a trouble that surprises us, but they were deliberate tears (we sat down and wept), tears with consideration--we wept when we remembered Zion, the holy hill on which the temple was built. Their affection to God's house swallowed up their concern for their own houses. They remembered Zion's former glory and the satisfaction they had had in Zion's courts, Lam. i. 7. Jerusalem remembered, in the days of her misery, all her pleasant things which she had in the days of old, Ps. xlii. 4. They remembered Zion's present desolations, and favoured the dust thereof, which was a good sign that the time for God to favour it was not far off, Ps. cii. 13, 14. 4. They laid by their instruments of music (v. 2): We hung our harps upon the willows. (1.) The harps they used for their own diversion and entertainment. These they laid aside, both because it was their judgment that they ought not to use them now that God called to weeping and mourning (Isa. xxii. 12), and their spirits were so sad that they had no hearts to use them; they brought their harps with them, designing perhaps to use them for the alleviating of their grief, but it proved so great that it would not admit the experiment. Music makes some people melancholy. As vinegar upon nitre, so is he that sings songs to a heavy heart. (2.) The harps they used in God's worship, the Levites' harps. These they did not throw away, hoping they might yet again have occasion to use them, but they laid them aside because they had no present use for them; God had cut them out other work by turning their feasting into mourning and their songs into lamentations, Amos viii. 10. Every thing is beautiful in its season. They did not hide their harps in the bushes, or the hollows of the rocks; but hung them up in view, that the sight of them might affect them with this deplorable change. Yet perhaps they were faulty in doing this; for praising God is never out of season; it is his will that we should in every thing give thanks, Isa. xxiv. 15, 16.
II. The abuses which their enemies put upon them when they were in this melancholy condition, v. 3. They had carried them away captive from their own land and then wasted them in the land of their captivity, took what little they had from them. But this was not enough; to complete their woes they insulted over them: They required of us mirth and a song. Now, 1. This was very barbarous and inhuman; even an enemy, in misery, is to be pitied and not trampled upon. It argues a base and sordid spirit to upbraid those that are in distress either with their former joys or with their present griefs, or to challenge those to be merry who, we know, are out of tune for it. This is adding affliction to the afflicted. 2. It was very profane and impious. No songs would serve them but the songs of Zion, with which God had been honoured; so that in this demand they reflected upon God himself as Belshazzar, when he drank wine in temple-bowls. Their enemies mocked at their sabbaths, Lam. i. 7.
III. The patience wherewith they bore these abuses, v. 4. They had laid by their harps, and would not resume them, no, not to ingratiate themselves with those at whose mercy they lay; they would not answer those fools according to their folly. Profane scoffers are not to be humoured, nor pearls cast before swine. David prudently kept silence even from good when the wicked were before him, who, he knew, would ridicule what he said and make a jest of it, Ps. xxxix. 1, 2. The reason they gave is very mild and pious: How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? They do not say, "How shall we sing when we are so much in sorrow?" If that had been all, they might perhaps have put a force upon themselves so far as to oblige their masters with a song; but "It is the Lord's song; it is a sacred thing; it is peculiar to the temple-service, and therefore we dare not sing it in the land of a stranger, among idolaters." We must not serve common mirth, much less profane mirth, with any thing that is appropriated to God, who is sometimes to be honoured by a religious silence as well as by religious speaking.
IV. The constant affection they retained for Jerusalem, the city of their solemnities, even now that they were in Babylon. Though their enemies banter them for talking so much of Jerusalem, and even doting upon it, their love to it is not in the least abated; it is what they may be jeered for, but will never be jeered out of, v. 5, 6. Observe,
1. How these pious captives stood affected to Jerusalem. (1.) Their heads were full of it. It was always in their minds; they remembered it; they did not forget it, though they had been long absent from it; many of them had never seen it, nor knew any thing of it but by report, and by what they had read in the scripture, yet it was graven upon the palms of their hands, and even its ruins were continually before them, which was ann evidence of their faith in the promise of its restoration in due time. In their daily prayers they opened their windows towards Jerusalem; and how then could they forget it? (2.) Their hearts were full of it. They preferred it above their chief joy, and therefore they remembered it and could not forget it. What we love we love to think of. Those that rejoice in God do, for his sake, make Jerusalem their joy, and prefer it before that, whatever it is, which is the head of their joy, which is dearest to them in this world. A godly man will prefer a public good before any private satisfaction or gratification whatsoever.
2. How stedfastly they resolved to keep up this affection, which they express by a solemn imprecation of mischief to themselves if they should let it fall: "Let me be for ever disabled either to sing or play on the harp if I so far forget the religion of my country as to make use of my songs and harps for the pleasing of Babylon's sons or the praising of Babylon's gods. Let my right hand forget her art" (which the hand of an expert musician never can, unless it be withered), "nay, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I have not a good word to say for Jerusalem wherever I am." Though they dare not sing Zion's songs among the Babylonians, yet they cannot forget them, but, as soon as ever the present restraint is taken off, they will sing them as readily as ever, notwithstanding the long disuse.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
137:2: We hanged our harps upon the willows - The ערבים arabim or willows were very plentiful in Babylon. The great quantity of them that were on the banks of the Euphrates caused Isaiah, Isa 15:7, to call it the brook or river of willows. This is a most affecting picture. Perhaps resting themselves after toil, and wishing to spend their time religiously, they took their harps, and were about to sing one of the songs of Zion; but, reflecting on their own country, they became so filled with distress, that they unstrung their harps with one consent, and hung them on the willow bushes, and gave a general loose to their grief. Some of the Babylonians, who probably attended such meetings for the sake of the music, being present at the time here specified, desired them to sing one of Zion's songs: this is affectingly told.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
137:2: We hanged our harps upon the willows - The harps once used to accompany the songs of praise and the service of God in the temple; the harps with which they had sought to beguile their weary hours, and to console their sad spirits in their captivity. The word rendered "willows" - ערבים ‛ ă râ biym - used only in the plural, denotes the willow or osier, so called from its white, silvery leaves. Gesenius, Lexicon. Compare Isa 15:7. It is probable that the weeping willow - the willow with long pendulous branches - is here referred to. Trees in desert lands spring up along the courses of the streams, and appear, in the wide desolation, as long and waving lines of green wheRev_er the rivers wind along. The course of a stream can thus be marked by the prolonged line of meandering green in the desert as far as the eye can reach. It has been objected to the statement here that the willow is not now found in the neighborhood of ancient Babylon, but that the palm is the only tree which grows there. I saw, however, in 1852, in James' Park in London, a willow-tree with a label on it, stating that it was taken from the site of ancient Babylon; and there seems no reason to doubt the correctness of the account. The willow may be less abundant there now than it was in former times, as is true of the palm. tree in Palestine, but there is no reason to doubt that it grew there. All that the psalm, however, would necessarily demand in a fair interpretation would be that there should have been even a single clump of these trees planted there, under which a little band of exiles may have seated themselves when they gave utterance to the plaintive language of this psalm.
In the midst thereof - In the midst of Babylon; showing that this referred to the city proper. They could not sing, such was their grief, though they had their harps with them; and they hung them up, therefore, on the branches of the trees around them; or, poetically, they were as dumb as if they had hung up their harps there.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
137:2: we hanged: Willows were so plentiful at Babylon, on the banks of the Euphrates, that Isaiah calls it "the brook or river of willows." Psa 33:2, Psa 81:2; Isa 24:8; Eze 26:13; Amo 8:10; Rev 18:22
Geneva 1599
137:2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst (b) thereof.
(b) That is, of that country.
John Gill
137:2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. These were musical instruments, used in the temple service by the Levites, who seem to be the persons here speaking; who took care of them, and preserved them from the plunder of the enemy; and carried them with them to Babylon, in hope of returning with them to use them as before, or to solace themselves and others in captivity; though now they had no heart to make use of them, their sorrow was so great, and therefore hung them upon the willows as useless things: these willows grew upon the banks of the rivers where they were, as such trees usually do; hence called willows of the brook (x), and willows by water courses, Lev 23:40; and particularly upon the banks of the river Euphrates, which ran through the midst of Babylon, with which the phrase here agrees; and therefore Babylon itself is thought to be called "the brook", or "valley, of the willows", Is 15:7. And, according to Ovid (y), not only reeds and poplars, but willows, grew on the banks of the Euphrates. Now the state of these people was an emblem of the case of the backsliding children of God; who, through the prevalence of corruption, the force of temptation, and the snares of the world, are brought into a kind of captivity to the law of sin and death, though not willingly; nor is it pleasing to them when sensible of it, Rom 7:23; who, though they are called out of the world, and are not of it; yet sometimes are so overcome with it, and immersed in the things of it, that they are as it were in Babylon. An emblem of this world, of the confusion in it, as its name signifies; of the fading glories of it, and the wickedness and idolatry it abounds with: and here they sit by the rivers of carnal pleasures in it for a while, till brought to themselves; and then they weep over their sins, and lament them; especially when they remember what opportunities they have formerly had in Zion, and what a low condition she is now in through the conduct of themselves and others: these make use of their harps when Zion is in good and prosperous circumstances, Rev_ 14:1; but when there are corruptions in doctrine, neglect or abuse of ordinances, animosities and divisions prevail, declensions in the life and power of religion, and the lives of professors disagreeable; then they hang their harps on willows, and drop their notes.
(x) "Amnicolae salices", Ovid. Metamorph. l. 10. Fab. 2. v. 96. "Fluminibus salices", Virgil. Georgic. l. 2. v. 110. (y) "Venit ad Euphratem----Populus et cannae riparum summa tegebant, spemque dabant salices----". Ovid. Fasti, l. 2.
John Wesley
137:2 Harps - Harps are here put for all instruments of musick.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
137:2 upon the willows--which may have grown there then, if not now; as the palm, which was once common, is now rare in Palestine.
136:2136:2: ՚Ի մէջ ուռեաց նոցա կախեցա՛ք զկտակարանս մեր։
2 Նրանց ուռիներից էինք կախել մեր կտակարանները»:
2 Անոր մէջ՝ ուռիներուն վրայ Կախեցինք մեր քնարները.
Ի մէջ ուռեաց նոցա կախեցաք [787]զկտակարանս մեր:

136:2: ՚Ի մէջ ուռեաց նոցա կախեցա՛ք զկտակարանս մեր։
2 Նրանց ուռիներից էինք կախել մեր կտակարանները»:
2 Անոր մէջ՝ ուռիներուն վրայ Կախեցինք մեր քնարները.
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
136:2136:2 на вербах, посреди его, повесили мы наши арфы.
136:3 ὅτι οτι since; that ἐκεῖ εκει there ἐπηρώτησαν επερωταω interrogate; inquire of ἡμᾶς ημας us οἱ ο the αἰχμαλωτεύσαντες αιχμαλωτευω capture ἡμᾶς ημας us λόγους λογος word; log ᾠδῶν ωδη song καὶ και and; even οἱ ο the ἀπαγαγόντες απαγω lead off; lead away ἡμᾶς ημας us ὕμνον υμνος hymn ᾄσατε αδω sing ἡμῖν ημιν us ἐκ εκ from; out of τῶν ο the ᾠδῶν ωδη song Σιων σιων Siōn; Sion
136:3 הֹ֭ודוּ ˈhôḏû ידה praise לַ la לְ to אֲדֹנֵ֣י ʔᵃḏōnˈê אָדֹון lord הָ hā הַ the אֲדֹנִ֑ים ʔᵃḏōnˈîm אָדֹון lord כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that לְ lᵊ לְ to עֹלָ֣ם ʕōlˈām עֹולָם eternity חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:3. quoniam ibi interrogaverunt nos qui captivos duxerunt nos verba carminis et qui adfligebant nos laeti canite nobis de canticis SionFor there they that led us into captivity required of us the words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion.
3. For there they that led us captive required of us songs, and they that wasted us mirth, , Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
136:3. Confess to the Lord of lords, for his mercy is eternal.
136:3. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof:

136:2 на вербах, посреди его, повесили мы наши арфы.
136:3
ὅτι οτι since; that
ἐκεῖ εκει there
ἐπηρώτησαν επερωταω interrogate; inquire of
ἡμᾶς ημας us
οἱ ο the
αἰχμαλωτεύσαντες αιχμαλωτευω capture
ἡμᾶς ημας us
λόγους λογος word; log
ᾠδῶν ωδη song
καὶ και and; even
οἱ ο the
ἀπαγαγόντες απαγω lead off; lead away
ἡμᾶς ημας us
ὕμνον υμνος hymn
ᾄσατε αδω sing
ἡμῖν ημιν us
ἐκ εκ from; out of
τῶν ο the
ᾠδῶν ωδη song
Σιων σιων Siōn; Sion
136:3
הֹ֭ודוּ ˈhôḏû ידה praise
לַ la לְ to
אֲדֹנֵ֣י ʔᵃḏōnˈê אָדֹון lord
הָ הַ the
אֲדֹנִ֑ים ʔᵃḏōnˈîm אָדֹון lord
כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that
לְ lᵊ לְ to
עֹלָ֣ם ʕōlˈām עֹולָם eternity
חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:3. quoniam ibi interrogaverunt nos qui captivos duxerunt nos verba carminis et qui adfligebant nos laeti canite nobis de canticis Sion
For there they that led us into captivity required of us the words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion.
136:3. Confess to the Lord of lords, for his mercy is eternal.
136:3. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
3. Еврейский народ был одним из самых музыкальных народов древнего Востока. Евреи славились как обилием поэтических произведений, так и развитием инструментальной музыки. Но музыка и поэзия еврейского народа носила религиозный характер: она касалась воспевания Бога и Сиона и имела молитвенное содержание. Она тесно была привязана к Палестине, храму и разнообразным проявлениям водительства Богом еврейского народа. Пение этих песней имело, поэтому, священное значение и национальное. Просьба вавилонян, чтобы евреи пропели им из священных Сионских песен, была лишь простым любопытством, развлечением, и исполнение этой просьбы плененными евреями являлось в глазах последних профанацией, оскорблением святости содержания своей поэзии и своего религиозного чувства, почему она с негодованием отвергалась.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
137:3: They that carried us away captive required of us a song - This was as unreasonable as it was insulting. How could they who had reduced us to slavery, and dragged us in chains from our own beautiful land and privileges, expect us to sing a sacred ode to please them, who were enemies both to us and to our God? And how could those who wasted us expect mirth from people in captivity, deprived of all their possessions, and in the most abject state of poverty and oppression?
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
137:3: For there they that carried us away captive - The Babylonians.
Required of us a song - Asked of us a song. The word does not express the idea of compulsion or force. Margin, as in Hebrew, words of a song. Perhaps the idea is that they did not merely ask music, but they wished to hear the words - the songs themselves - in which they were accustomed to praise God. This may have been a taunt, and the request may have been in derision; or it may have been seriously, and with no desire to reproach them, or to add to their sorrows. We are not to impute bad motives to others where there is no evidence that there are any, and where the supposition of good motives will answer just as well; and the expression here may have been a kind and natural wish to hear the songs of these foreigners - songs of which they might have heard much by report; perhaps songs which they had overheard them singing when they were in a less desponding state of mind, and when they sought to comfort themselves by these ancient national melodies. As the only reason assigned for not complying with this request was that they could not "sing the Lord's song in a strange land" Psa 137:3, we are rather led to infer that there was no bad motive - no disposition to taunt and ridicule them by the request that was made.
And they that wasted us - Margin, laid us on heaps. The Hebrew word means a tormentor; properly, one who extorts lamentation from others, or who causes them to howl - to wit, under oppression or wrong. The Septuagint and Latin Vulgate render it, "They who led us away." The general idea is, those under whom they were then suffering; or, who had caused these trials to come upon them.
Required of us mirth - literally, "Our tormentors, joy." The Hebrew word means joy; and the sense is, that they asked them to give the usual indications of joy and happiness - to wit, a song. The language means, "Cheer up; be happy; give us one of the beautiful songs which you were accustomed to sing in your own land." It may, indeed, have been in derision; but there is no proof that it was.
Saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion - The songs - the sacred hymns - which you were accustomed to sing in worship in your own land.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
137:3: For there: Psa 123:3, Psa 123:4; Lam 2:15, Lam 2:16
a song: Heb. the words of a song
wasted us: Heb. laid us on heaps, Psa 79:1; Neh 4:2; Jer 9:11, Jer 26:18; Mic 3:12; Luk 21:6
the songs of Zion: Psa 9:14, Psa 65:1; Ch1 15:27, Ch1 16:7; Isa 35:10, Isa 51:11; Jer 31:12, Jer 31:13; Rev 14:1-3
Geneva 1599
137:3 For there they that carried us away captive (c) required of us a song; and they that wasted us [required of us] mirth, [saying], Sing us [one] of the songs of Zion.
(c) The Babylonians speak thus in mocking us, as though by our silence we should signify that we hoped no more in God.
John Gill
137:3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song,.... Or, "words of a song" (z). To repeat the words of one of the songs of Zion, as it is afterwards expressed: this the Babylonians did, as the Targum; who were they that carried the Jews into captivity; and this is given as a reason why they hung their harps on willows, and were so sorrowful, because such a request as this was made;
and they that wasted us required of us mirth: the Chaldeans, who plundered them of their substance, and reduced their city and temple to heaps of rubbish, as the word (a) used signifies; or who heaped reproaches upon them, as Jarchi: these insisted not only on having the words of a song repeated to them, but that they should be set to some tune and sung in a manner expressing mirth, or would provoke unto it: or "our lamentations", according to Kimchi; that is, the authors of them (b), so barbarous were they;
saying, sing us one of the songs of Zion; which used to be sung in Zion in the temple, called the songs of the temple, Amos 8:3; this demand they made either out of curiosity, that they might know something of the temple songs and music they had heard of; or rather as jeering at and insulting the poor Jews in their miserable and melancholy circumstances; as if they had said, now sing your songs if you can: or in order to make themselves sport and diversion with them, as the Philistines with Samson. The spiritual songs of Zion are the songs of electing, redeeming, calling, pardoning, and justifying grace; which natural men neither understand, nor can learn, but scoff at and despise.
(z) "verba cantici", Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Piscator, Gejerus, Michaelis; "verba earminis", Cocceius. (a) "qui veluti in acervos nos redegerunt", Tigurine version, Grotius. (b) Vid. Stockium, p. 447.
John Wesley
137:3 A song - Such songs as you used to sing in the temple of Zion.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
137:3 Whether the request was in curiosity or derision, the answer intimates that a compliance was incongruous with their mournful feelings (Prov 25:20).
136:3136:3: Անդ հարցանէին գերիչք մեր զբանս օրհնութեան, գերեվարք մեր ստիպէին զմեզ եւ ասէին. Օրհնեցէ՛ք մեզ յօրհնութենէն Սիոնի[7689]։ [7689] Օրինակ մի.Երգեցէ՛ք մեզ յերգոյն Սիոնի. (4) իսկ զիարդ երգեսցուք զօրհն՛՛։
3 Այնտեղ մեզ գերեվարողները օրհնութեան խօսք էին պահանջում մեզնից, մեզ տարագրողներն ստիպում էին՝ ասելով. «Երգեցէ՛ք մեզ համար Սիոնի օրհներգերից»:
3 Վասն զի մեզ գերի ընողները Հոն մեզմէ երգ մը խնդրեցին Ու մեր կողոպտիչները* ուրախութիւն, Ըսելով. «Երգեցէ՛ք մեզի Սիօնի երգերէն»։
Անդ հարցանէին գերիչք մեր զբանս օրհնութեան, գերեվարք մեր ստիպէին զմեզ եւ ասէին. Օրհնեցէք մեզ յօրհնութենէն Սիոնի:

136:3: Անդ հարցանէին գերիչք մեր զբանս օրհնութեան, գերեվարք մեր ստիպէին զմեզ եւ ասէին. Օրհնեցէ՛ք մեզ յօրհնութենէն Սիոնի[7689]։
[7689] Օրինակ մի.Երգեցէ՛ք մեզ յերգոյն Սիոնի. (4) իսկ զիարդ երգեսցուք զօրհն՛՛։
3 Այնտեղ մեզ գերեվարողները օրհնութեան խօսք էին պահանջում մեզնից, մեզ տարագրողներն ստիպում էին՝ ասելով. «Երգեցէ՛ք մեզ համար Սիոնի օրհներգերից»:
3 Վասն զի մեզ գերի ընողները Հոն մեզմէ երգ մը խնդրեցին Ու մեր կողոպտիչները* ուրախութիւն, Ըսելով. «Երգեցէ՛ք մեզի Սիօնի երգերէն»։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
136:3136:3 Там пленившие нас требовали от нас слов песней, и притеснители наши веселья: >.
136:4 πῶς πως.1 how ᾄσωμεν αδω sing τὴν ο the ᾠδὴν ωδη song κυρίου κυριος lord; master ἐπὶ επι in; on γῆς γη earth; land ἀλλοτρίας αλλοτριος another's; stranger
136:4 לְ lᵊ לְ to עֹ֘שֵׂ֤ה ʕˈōśˈē עשׂה make נִפְלָאֹ֣ות niflāʔˈôṯ פלא be miraculous גְּדֹלֹ֣ות gᵊḏōlˈôṯ גָּדֹול great לְ lᵊ לְ to בַדֹּ֑ו vaddˈô בַּד linen, part, stave כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that לְ lᵊ לְ to עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:4. quomodo cantabimus canticum Domini in terra alienaHow shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?
4. How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?
136:4. He alone performs great miracles, for his mercy is eternal.
136:4. To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
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:

136:3 Там пленившие нас требовали от нас слов песней, и притеснители наши веселья: <<пропойте нам из песней Сионских>>.
136:4
πῶς πως.1 how
ᾄσωμεν αδω sing
τὴν ο the
ᾠδὴν ωδη song
κυρίου κυριος lord; master
ἐπὶ επι in; on
γῆς γη earth; land
ἀλλοτρίας αλλοτριος another's; stranger
136:4
לְ lᵊ לְ to
עֹ֘שֵׂ֤ה ʕˈōśˈē עשׂה make
נִפְלָאֹ֣ות niflāʔˈôṯ פלא be miraculous
גְּדֹלֹ֣ות gᵊḏōlˈôṯ גָּדֹול great
לְ lᵊ לְ to
בַדֹּ֑ו vaddˈô בַּד linen, part, stave
כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that
לְ lᵊ לְ to
עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity
חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:4. quomodo cantabimus canticum Domini in terra aliena
How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?
136:4. He alone performs great miracles, for his mercy is eternal.
136:4. To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jw▾ jg▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
137:4: How shall we sing the Lord's song - איך נשיר eich! nashir; O, we sing! Who does not hear the deep sigh in the strongly guttural sound of the original איך eich! wrung, as it were, from the bottom of the heart? Can We, in this state of slavery, - We, exiles, from our country, We, stripped of all our property, - We, reduced to contempt by our strong enemy, - We, deprived of our religious privileges, - We, insulted by our oppressors, - We, in the land of heathens, - We sing, or be mirthful in these circumstances? No: God does not expect it; man should not wish it; and it is base in our enemies to require it.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
137:4: How shall we sing the Lord's song - The song designed to celebrate his praise; that is, appropriate to the worship of Yahweh.
In a strange land - Far from our home; far from the temple; exiles; captives: how can we find spirit in such circumstances to sing? How can we do that which would be indicative of what we do not feel, and cannot feel - joy and happiness! The idea is not that those psalms or songs would be profaned by being sung there, or that there would be anything improper in itself in singing them, but that it would be misplaced and incongruous to sing them in their circumstances. It would be doing violence to their own feelings; their feelings would not allow them to do it. There are states of mind when the language of joy is appropriate and natural; there are states where the heart is so sad that it cannot sing.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
137:4: How shall: Ecc 3:4; Isa 22:12; Lam 5:14, Lam 5:15; Hos 9:4; Amo 8:3
strange land: Heb. land of a stranger, Isa 49:21
John Gill
137:4 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? This is the answer returned by the Jews to the above request or demand; it may be, particularly, by the Levites, whose business it was to sing these songs: so the Targum,
"immediately the Levites said, how shall we sing the hymns of the Lord in a strange land?''
This they said, not merely on account of their unsuitable circumstances, being in distress and affliction, and so not disposed for such work; nor as if unlawful to them, being forbidden: for, though sacrifices were not to be offered but at Jerusalem, yet songs of praise might be sung elsewhere, on proper occasions, as David did, Ps 18:49; but as wondering at their insolence, and complaining of their cruelty and inhumanity, thus to insult them and jeer at them: or rather, because it was "the Lord's song" they required, and so sacred, and not to be sung in any place, or at any time, and in any company; which would be but casting pearls before swine, and giving that which was holy to dogs, Mt 7:6; or it may be they required this to be done in one of their temples, and to their idols, just as these songs were sung in the temple at Jerusalem, and to the honour of Jehovah; and therefore they refused to do it: for it may be rendered, or however interpreted, "in the land of a strange god" (c); as it is by Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech: they required them to sing with mirth and joy, which they could not do in their present case; see Ps 137:2.
(c) "in terra peregina, sc. Dei", Muis, Michaelis.
John Wesley
137:4 The Lord's - Those songs which were appointed by God to be sung only in his service.
136:4136:4: Իսկ՝ զիա՞րդ օրհնեսցուք զօրհնութիւնս Տեառն յերկիր օտար։
4 Իսկ մենք ինչպէ՞ս երգենք Տիրոջ օրհներգերը օտար երկրում:
4 Տէրոջը երգը ի՜նչպէս երգենք Օտար երկրի մէջ։
Իսկ զիա՞րդ օրհնեսցուք զօրհնութիւնս Տեառն յերկիր օտար:

136:4: Իսկ՝ զիա՞րդ օրհնեսցուք զօրհնութիւնս Տեառն յերկիր օտար։
4 Իսկ մենք ինչպէ՞ս երգենք Տիրոջ օրհներգերը օտար երկրում:
4 Տէրոջը երգը ի՜նչպէս երգենք Օտար երկրի մէջ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
136:4136:4 Как нам петь песнь Господню на земле чужой?
136:5 ἐὰν εαν and if; unless ἐπιλάθωμαί επιλανθανομαι forget σου σου of you; your Ιερουσαλημ ιερουσαλημ Jerusalem ἐπιλησθείη επιλανθανομαι forget ἡ ο the δεξιά δεξιος right μου μου of me; mine
136:5 לְ lᵊ לְ to עֹשֵׂ֣ה ʕōśˈē עשׂה make הַ֭ ˈha הַ the שָּׁמַיִם ššāmayˌim שָׁמַיִם heavens בִּ bi בְּ in תְבוּנָ֑ה ṯᵊvûnˈā תְּבוּנָה understanding כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that לְ lᵊ לְ to עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:5. si oblitus fuero tui Hierusalem in oblivione sit dextera meaIf I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.
5. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget .
136:5. He made the heavens with understanding, for his mercy is eternal.
136:5. To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
How shall we sing the LORD' S song in a strange land:

136:4 Как нам петь песнь Господню на земле чужой?
136:5
ἐὰν εαν and if; unless
ἐπιλάθωμαί επιλανθανομαι forget
σου σου of you; your
Ιερουσαλημ ιερουσαλημ Jerusalem
ἐπιλησθείη επιλανθανομαι forget
ο the
δεξιά δεξιος right
μου μου of me; mine
136:5
לְ lᵊ לְ to
עֹשֵׂ֣ה ʕōśˈē עשׂה make
הַ֭ ˈha הַ the
שָּׁמַיִם ššāmayˌim שָׁמַיִם heavens
בִּ bi בְּ in
תְבוּנָ֑ה ṯᵊvûnˈā תְּבוּנָה understanding
כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that
לְ lᵊ לְ to
עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity
חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:5. si oblitus fuero tui Hierusalem in oblivione sit dextera mea
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.
136:5. He made the heavens with understanding, for his mercy is eternal.
136:5. To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jg▾ gnv▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
5-6. "Забудь меня десница" - перестань действовать, т. е. высохни. - "Прилипни язык" - тоже высохни. "Поставить Иерусалим во главе веселья" - радоваться только тому, что является радостью для всего Иерусалима. Во время же плена евреев Иерусалим был опустошен и находился в развалинах. Его заселение и восстановление прежнего значения для еврейского народа и было для пленников единственной мечтой и заглавной радостью.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
137:5: If I forget thee, O Jerusalem - Such conduct would be, in effect, a renunciation of our land a tacit acknowledgment that we were reconciled to our bondage; a concession that we were pleased with our captivity, and could profane holy ordinances by using them as means of sport or pastime to the heathen. No: Jerusalem! we remember thee and thy Divine ordinances: and especially thy King and our God, whose indignation we must bear, because we have sinned against him.
Let my right hand forget - Let me forget the use of my right hand. Let me forget that which is dearest and most profitable to me; and let me lose my skill in the management of my harp, if I ever prostitute it to please the ungodly multitude or the enemies of my Creator!
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
137:5: If I forget thee, O Jerusalem - The meaning here is, that to sing in such circumstances would seem to imply that they had forgotten Jerusalem; that they were unmindful of its sorrows, and cared not that it was desolate. The remembrance of its calamities pressed hard upon them, and they could not do anything which would seem to imply that they had become unmindful of the sufferings that had come upon their nation. One will not make merry when a wife or child lies dying - or on the day of the funeral - or over the grave of a mother. A joyous and brilliant party, accompanied with music, feasting, dancing, when a friend has been just laid in the grave, when the calamities of war are abroad, when the pestilence is raging in a city, we feel to be untimely, unseemly, and incongruous. So these captives said it would be if they should make merry while their temple was in ruins; while their city was desolate; while their people were captives in a foreign land.
Let my right hand forget her cunning - Let my right hand forget its skill in music - all its skill. If I should now play on the harp - as indicative of joy - let the hand which would be employed in sweeping over its strings become paralyzed and powerless. Let the punishment come where it would seem to be deserved - on the hand which could play at such a time. So Cranmer held the hand which had been employed in signing a recantation of his faith in the fire, until it was burned off, and dropped in the flames.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
137:5: I forget: Psa 84:1, Psa 84:2, Psa 84:10, Psa 102:13, Psa 102:14, Psa 122:5-9; Neh 1:2-4, Neh 2:2, Neh 2:3; Isa 62:1, Isa 62:6, Isa 62:7; Jer 51:50; Dan 6:10, Dan 6:11
let my right: Zac 11:17
Geneva 1599
137:5 (d) If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget [her cunning].
(d) Even the faithful are touched by their particular griefs, yet the common sorrow of the Church is most grievous to them, and is such as they cannot but remember and lament.
John Gill
137:5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,.... This was said by one or everyone of the Levites; or singers, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; or by the congregation of Israel, as Jarchi; by one of them, in the name of the rest; or by the composer of the psalm. The Targum is,
"the voice of the Spirit of God answered and said, "if I forget", &c.''
that is, to weep over the calamities of Jerusalem; which might be thought, if the songs of Zion were sung; or to pray for the restoration of her prosperity and peace; as the church of Christ may be said to be forgotten, when men forget to mourn over its breaches, and show no concern for the reparation of them; or at the death of principal persons, which they lay not to heart; or at the great decay of religion in those that survive; or at the sins of professors, and their disregard to the word and ordinances: also when they forget to pray for her happiness in general; for the good of her members in particular; and especially for her ministers, that they may have assistance and success; and for a blessing on the word and ordinances, and for the conversion of sinners; and when they forget the worship of the Lord in it, and forsake the assembling of themselves together;
let my right hand forget her cunning; her skill in music, particularly in playing on the harp; see 1Kings 16:16; the harp was held in the left hand, and struck with the right; and that more softly or hardly, as the note required, in which was the skill or cunning of using it. Or let this befall me, should I so far forget Jerusalem as to strike the harp to one of the songs of Zion in a strange land: or let it forget any of its works; let it be disabled from working at all; let it be dry and withered, which, Aben Ezra says, is the sense of the word according to some; and Schultens (d), from the use of it in Arabic, renders it, let it be "disjointed", or the nerve loosened; see Job 31:22. Or the sense is, let everything that is as dear as my right hand he taken from me: or, as it may be rendered, "my right hand is forgotten" (e); that is, should I forget Jerusalem, it would; for that is as my right hand; so Arama. Some choose to translate the words thus, "may thou (O God) forget my right hand" (f); that is, to be at my right hand; to be a present help to me in time of need; to hold me by it, and to be the shade of it.
(d) Animadv. Philol. p. 181. (e) "oblita est nostra dextra", Castalio. (f) "Oblivisceris (O Domine) dexterae meae", Gejerus; so some in Michaelis.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
137:5 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.
136:5136:5: Եթէ մոռացայց զքեզ Երուսաղէմ, մոռասցի՛ զիս աջ իմ։
5 Եթէ մոռանամ քեզ, Երուսաղէ՛մ, թող իմ աջը մոռանայ ինձ:
5 Ո՛վ Երուսաղէմ, եթէ քեզ մոռնամ, Թո՛ղ իմ աջ ձեռքս իր պաշտօնը մոռնայ.
Եթէ մոռացայց զքեզ, Երուսաղէմ, մոռասցի զիս աջ իմ:

136:5: Եթէ մոռացայց զքեզ Երուսաղէմ, մոռասցի՛ զիս աջ իմ։
5 Եթէ մոռանամ քեզ, Երուսաղէ՛մ, թող իմ աջը մոռանայ ինձ:
5 Ո՛վ Երուսաղէմ, եթէ քեզ մոռնամ, Թո՛ղ իմ աջ ձեռքս իր պաշտօնը մոռնայ.
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
136:5136:5 Если я забуду тебя, Иерусалим, забудь меня десница моя;
136:6 κολληθείη κολλαω cling; join ἡ ο the γλῶσσά γλωσσα tongue μου μου of me; mine τῷ ο the λάρυγγί λαρυγξ larynx μου μου of me; mine ἐὰν εαν and if; unless μή μη not σου σου of you; your μνησθῶ μναομαι remember; mindful ἐὰν εαν and if; unless μὴ μη not προανατάξωμαι προανατασσω the Ιερουσαλημ ιερουσαλημ Jerusalem ἐν εν in ἀρχῇ αρχη origin; beginning τῆς ο the εὐφροσύνης ευφροσυνη celebration μου μου of me; mine
136:6 לְ lᵊ לְ to רֹקַ֣ע rōqˈaʕ רקע stamp הָ֭ ˈhā הַ the אָרֶץ ʔārˌeṣ אֶרֶץ earth עַל־ ʕal- עַל upon הַ ha הַ the מָּ֑יִם mmˈāyim מַיִם water כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that לְ lᵊ לְ to עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:6. adhereat lingua mea gutturi meo si non recordatus fuero tui si non praeposuero Hierusalem in principio laetitiae meaeLet my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy.
6. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
136:6. He established the earth above the waters, for his mercy is eternal.
136:6. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget:

136:5 Если я забуду тебя, Иерусалим, забудь меня десница моя;
136:6
κολληθείη κολλαω cling; join
ο the
γλῶσσά γλωσσα tongue
μου μου of me; mine
τῷ ο the
λάρυγγί λαρυγξ larynx
μου μου of me; mine
ἐὰν εαν and if; unless
μή μη not
σου σου of you; your
μνησθῶ μναομαι remember; mindful
ἐὰν εαν and if; unless
μὴ μη not
προανατάξωμαι προανατασσω the
Ιερουσαλημ ιερουσαλημ Jerusalem
ἐν εν in
ἀρχῇ αρχη origin; beginning
τῆς ο the
εὐφροσύνης ευφροσυνη celebration
μου μου of me; mine
136:6
לְ lᵊ לְ to
רֹקַ֣ע rōqˈaʕ רקע stamp
הָ֭ ˈhā הַ the
אָרֶץ ʔārˌeṣ אֶרֶץ earth
עַל־ ʕal- עַל upon
הַ ha הַ the
מָּ֑יִם mmˈāyim מַיִם water
כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that
לְ lᵊ לְ to
עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity
חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:6. adhereat lingua mea gutturi meo si non recordatus fuero tui si non praeposuero Hierusalem in principio laetitiae meae
Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy.
136:6. He established the earth above the waters, for his mercy is eternal.
136:6. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
137:6: Let my tongue cleave - Let me lose my voice, and all its powers of melody; my tongue, and all its faculty of speech; my ear, and its discernment of sounds; if I do not prefer my country, my people, and the ordinances of my God, beyond all these, and whatever may constitute the chiefest joy I can possess in aught else beside. This is truly patriotic, truly noble and dignified. Such sentiments can only be found in the hearts and mouths of those slaves whom the grace of God has made free.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
137:6: If I do not remember thee - Equivalent to, "If I forget thee." If I ever fail to remember thee; if I shall ever act as if I had forgotten thee. Singing in a strange land, among those who had perpetrated such wrongs in thee - appearing to be happy, cheerful, joyous, happy, merry there - would be understood to imply that I had ceased to remember thee, and cared nothing for thee.
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth - Compare Eze 3:26. Let me be unable to speak; let my tongue be as it were attached to the upper part of the mouth, so that it could not be used. If I employ it in an unworthy purpose - in any way whereby it can be inferred that I have ceased to remember my native land, and the city of our solemnities, let my tongue be ever after useless. This language is often employed by Virgil: Vox faucibus haesit.
If I prefer not Jerusalem - literally, "If I do not cause to ascend." That is, If I do not exalt Jerusalem in my estimation above everything that gives me pleasure; if I do not find my supreme happiness in that.
Above my chief joy - Margin, as in Hebrew, the head of my joy. The chief thing which gives me joy; as the head is the chief, or is supreme over the body. This is expressive of a great truth in regard to religion. Anything else - everything else - is to be sooner sacrificed than that. The happiness which is found in religion is superior to that found in every other source of enjoyment, and is preferred to every other. If either is to be sacrificed - the joy of religion, or the pleasure derived from society, from the frivolous world, from literature, from music, from dancing, from works of art - it will be the latter and not the former. There are other sources of joy which are not in any way inconsistent with religion: the joy of friendship; of domestic life; of honorable pursuits of the esteem of people. So of music, the arts, gardens, literature, science. But when one interferes with the other, or is inconsistent with the other, the joy of the world is to be sacrificed to the joy of religion. When the joy of religion is sacrificed for the joy of the world, it proves that there is no true piety in the soul. Religion, if it exists at all, will always be supreme.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
137:6: let my tongue: Psa 22:15; Isa 41:17; Lam 4:4; Eze 3:26
if I prefer: Psa 84:10; Mat 6:33; Act 20:24; Phi 1:20; Th1 3:7-9
my chief joy: Heb. the head of my joy
Geneva 1599
137:6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my (e) chief joy.
(e) The decay of God's religion in their country was so grievous that no joy could make them glad, unless it was restored.
John Gill
137:6 If I do not remember thee,.... In prayer, in discourse, in conversation; this is the same as before, to forget, repeated for the confirmation of it;
let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; as is the case of a person in a fever, or in a violent thirst, which is to be in great distress, Ps 18:6; the sense is, let me have no use of my tongue; let me be dumb and speechless, and never sing a song or speak a word more, should I be so forgetful of the deplorable state of Jerusalem as to sing songs at such a season, and in an enemy's country;
if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy; meaning not God his exceeding joy, Ps 43:4; as his Creator, preserver, and benefactor, and much less as his covenant God and Father; as having loved him with an everlasting love; as the God of all grace unto him, and as his portion and exceeding great reward: nor Christ, the object of joy unspeakable and full of glory; joy in the greatness, glory, and fulness of his person; in the blessings and promises of his grace; in what he has done and suffered; as risen, ascended, exalted, and who will come a second time: nor the joy of the Holy Ghost in a way of believing, and in hope of the glory of God; but all worldly joy, or matter of it; and this not in things sinful, nor merely such as worldlings have in the increase of their substance; but a lawful joy, such as in the health, happiness, and prosperity of a man's family, wife, and children, and his own; which is the greatest outward joy a man can have; and yet the church of God and interest of Christ are preferred by a good man to these; see 1Kings 4:19; which appears when all a man has that is matter of joy is sacrificed for the public good and interest of religion; when he can take no comfort in any outward enjoyment because of the sad case of Zion, Mal 2:3; when joy for its good is uppermost, and is first in his thoughts and words; when this is the "head" or "beginning" (g) of his joy, as it may be rendered. So Pindar (h) calls the chief, principal, and greatest part of joy, , the beginning of joy, the top and perfection of it.
(g) "caput laetitiae meae", Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus. (h) Pythia, Ode 1. v. 4.
John Wesley
137:6 If - If I do not value Jerusalem's prosperity more than all other delights.
136:6136:6: Կցեսցի լեզու իմ ՚ի քիմս իմ թէ ո՛չ յիշեցից զքեզ, թէ ո՛չ նախ նուագեցից զքեզ Երուսաղէմ, սկի՛զբն ուրախութեան իմոյ։
6 Թող լեզուս քիմքիս կպչի, թէ քեզ չյիշեմ, եթէ իմ ուրախութեան սկզբում նախ քե՛զ, Երուսաղէ՛մ, չգովաբանեմ:
6 Թո՛ղ իմ լեզուս իմ քիմքիս փակչի, Եթէ քեզ չյիշեմ Եթէ Երուսաղէմը իմ գլխաւոր ուրախութենէս Աւելի մեծ չհամարեմ։
Կցեսցի լեզու իմ ի քիմս իմ` թէ ոչ յիշեցից զքեզ, թէ ոչ [788]նախ նուագեցից զքեզ, Երուսաղէմ, սկիզբն`` ուրախութեան իմոյ:

136:6: Կցեսցի լեզու իմ ՚ի քիմս իմ թէ ո՛չ յիշեցից զքեզ, թէ ո՛չ նախ նուագեցից զքեզ Երուսաղէմ, սկի՛զբն ուրախութեան իմոյ։
6 Թող լեզուս քիմքիս կպչի, թէ քեզ չյիշեմ, եթէ իմ ուրախութեան սկզբում նախ քե՛զ, Երուսաղէ՛մ, չգովաբանեմ:
6 Թո՛ղ իմ լեզուս իմ քիմքիս փակչի, Եթէ քեզ չյիշեմ Եթէ Երուսաղէմը իմ գլխաւոր ուրախութենէս Աւելի մեծ չհամարեմ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
136:6136:6 прилипни язык мой к гортани моей, если не буду помнить тебя, если не поставлю Иерусалима во главе веселия моего.
136:7 μνήσθητι μναομαι remember; mindful κύριε κυριος lord; master τῶν ο the υἱῶν υιος son Εδωμ εδωμ the ἡμέραν ημερα day Ιερουσαλημ ιερουσαλημ Jerusalem τῶν ο the λεγόντων λεγω tell; declare ἐκκενοῦτε εκκενοω till; until ὁ ο the θεμέλιος θεμελιος foundation ἐν εν in αὐτῇ αυτος he; him
136:7 לְ֭ ˈl לְ to עֹשֵׂה ʕōśˌē עשׂה make אֹורִ֣ים ʔôrˈîm אֹור light גְּדֹלִ֑ים gᵊḏōlˈîm גָּדֹול great כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that לְ lᵊ לְ to עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:7. memento Domine filiorum Edom in diem Hierusalem dicentium evacuate evacuate usque ad fundamentum eiusRemember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem: Who say: Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
7. Remember, O LORD, against the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
136:7. He made the great lights, for his mercy is eternal:
136:7. To him that made great lights: for his mercy [endureth] for ever:
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:

136:6 прилипни язык мой к гортани моей, если не буду помнить тебя, если не поставлю Иерусалима во главе веселия моего.
136:7
μνήσθητι μναομαι remember; mindful
κύριε κυριος lord; master
τῶν ο the
υἱῶν υιος son
Εδωμ εδωμ the
ἡμέραν ημερα day
Ιερουσαλημ ιερουσαλημ Jerusalem
τῶν ο the
λεγόντων λεγω tell; declare
ἐκκενοῦτε εκκενοω till; until
ο the
θεμέλιος θεμελιος foundation
ἐν εν in
αὐτῇ αυτος he; him
136:7
לְ֭ ˈl לְ to
עֹשֵׂה ʕōśˌē עשׂה make
אֹורִ֣ים ʔôrˈîm אֹור light
גְּדֹלִ֑ים gᵊḏōlˈîm גָּדֹול great
כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that
לְ lᵊ לְ to
עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity
חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:7. memento Domine filiorum Edom in diem Hierusalem dicentium evacuate evacuate usque ad fundamentum eius
Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem: Who say: Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
136:7. He made the great lights, for his mercy is eternal:
136:7. To him that made great lights: for his mercy [endureth] for ever:
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
7. Едом или идумеяне, родственный народ евреям, всегда был враждебно настроен к своему собрату, и во всех печальных событиях его жизни принимал деятельное и злое участие. Так было и при разрушении Иерусалима вавилонянами, когда идумеи радовались этому национальному бедствию (см. Ам I:11; Авд 11-15: ст.).
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
137:7: Remember - the children of Edom - It appears from Jer 12:6; Jer 25:14; Lam 4:21, Lam 4:22; Eze 25:12; Oba 1:11-14; that the Idumeans joined the army of Nebuchadnezzar against their brethren the Jews; and that they were main instruments in rasing the walls of Jerusalem even to the ground.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
137:7: Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom - The Edomites; the people of Idumea. On the situation of Edom or Idumea, see introductory notes to isa 34.
In the day of Jerusalem - In the day when Jerusalem shall be restored; in the day when punishment shall be inflicted on the nations that destroyed it; then, do not forget the Edomites, who took so large and so active a part in its overthrow. This is to be understood as a continued "remembrance" of Zion; as a purpose not to "forget" Jerusalem. The psalmist, representing the feelings of the captives in Babylon, says, that so far from doing anything which would imply a forgetfulness of their native land - as singing cheerful songs there might be understood to be, they would do everything to call Jerusalem to remembrance. They would remember her former splendor; they would remember her desolations; they would go further - they would not forget those who had brought these calamities upon her; those who had done most for her overthrow. As among the most prominent, they would remember particularly the ancient; enemies of their nation - the Edomites - who had been among the most active in its destruction, and who had united with the Babylonians in the work of ruin. They would remember all this; and they prayed God that he also would remember the desolation itself, and all the actors in that work of desolation.
Who said - Implying that they had been associated with the Babylonians in the destruction of the city. On the hostility of that people to the Hebrews, and the grounds of their hostility - and on their agency as united with the Babylonians in destroying Jerusalem, and the divine vengeance threatened them on that account - see, as above, the introduction to isa 34.
Rase it, rase it - Margin, as in Hebrew, make bare. That is, Strip it of everything - temple, houses, ornaments, fountains - and leave it a bare and naked rock. Let nothing remain but the rocks - the foundations - on which it is built. In the history of the Edomites, as stated in the introduction to isa 34, there were abundant facts to show that they were particularly zealous and active in seeking the destruction of the hated city. This verse and the one following constitute a portion of the "imprecatory" Psalms; of those which seem to cry for vengeance, and to manifest a Rev_engeful and unforgiving spirit; the portion of the Psalms which has been regarded as so difficult to be reconciled with the forgiving spirit enjoined in the gospel. On this subject, see the General Introduction, Section 6.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
137:7: Remember: Psa 74:18, Psa 79:8-12; Exo 17:14; Sa1 15:2; Hos 7:2
the children: Isa 63:1-6; jer 49:7-22; Lam 4:21, Lam 4:22; Eze 25:12-14; Oba 1:10-14, Oba 1:18-21
Raze it: Heb. make bare
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
137:7
The second part of the Psalm supplicates vengeance upon Edom and Babylon. We see from Obadiah's prophecy, which is taken up again by Jeremiah, how shamefully the Edomites, that brother-people related by descent to Israel and yet pre-eminently hostile to it, behaved in connection with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans as their malignant, rapacious, and inhuman helpers. The repeated imper. Piel ערוּ, from ערה (not imper. Kal from ערר, which would be ערוּ), ought to have been accented on the ult.; it is, however, in both cases accented on the first syllable, the pausal ערוּ (cf. כּלוּ in Ps 37:20, and also הסּוּ, Neh 8:11) giving rise to the same accentuation of the other (in order that two tone-syllables might not come together). The Pasek also stands between the two repeated words in order that they may be duly separated, and secures, moreover, to the guttural initial of the second ערוּ its distinct pronunciation (cf. Gen 26:28; Num 35:16). It is to be construed: lay bare, lay bare (as in Hab 3:13, cf. גּלּה in Mic 1:6) in it (Beth of the place), of in respect of it (Beth of the object), even to the foundation, i.e., raze it even to the ground, leave not one stone upon another. From the false brethren the imprecation turns to Babylon, the city of the imperial power of the world. The daughter, i.e., the population, of Babylon is addressed as השּׁדוּדה. It certainly seems the most natural to take this epithet as a designation of its doings which cry for vengeance. But it cannot in any case be translated: thou plunderer (Syriac like the Targum: bozuzto; Symmachus ἡ λῃστρίς), for שׁדד does not mean to rob and plunder, but to offer violence and to devastate. Therefore: thou devastator; but the word so pointed as we have it before us cannot have this signification: it ought to be השּׁדודה, like בּגודה in Jer 3:7, Jer 3:10, or השּׁדוּדה (with an unchangeable ā), corresponding to the Syriac active intensive form ālûṣo, oppressor, gōdûfo, slanderer, and the Arabic likewise active intensive form Arab. fâ‛ûl, e.g., fâshûs, a boaster, and also as an adjective: ǵôz fâshûs, empty nuts, cf. יקוּשׁ = יקושׁ, a fowler, like nâṭûr (נאטור), a field-watcher. The form as it stands is part. pass., and signifies προνενομευμένη (Aquila), vastata (Jerome). It is possible that this may be said in the sense of vastanda, although in this sense of a part. fut. pass. the participles of the Niphal (e.g., Ps 22:32; Ps 102:19) and of the Pual (Ps 18:4) are more commonly used. It cannot at any rate signify vastata in an historical sense, with reference to the destruction of Babylon by Darius Hystaspes (Hengstenberg); for Ps 137:7 only prays that the retribution may come: it cannot therefore as yet have been executed; but if השׁדודה signified the already devastated one, it must (at least in the main) have been executed already. It might be more readily understood as a prophetical representation of the executed judgment of devastation; but this prophetic rendering coincides with the imprecative: the imagination of the Semite when he utters a curse sees the future as a realized fact. "Didst thou see the smitten one (maḍrûb)," i.e., he whom God must smite? Thus the Arab inquires for a person who is detested. "Pursue him who is seized (ilḥaḳ el̇ma'chûdh)," i.e., him whom God must allow thee to seize! Thy speak thus inasmuch as the imagination at once anticipates the seizure at the same time with the pursuit. Just as here both maḍrûb and ma'chûdh are participles of Kasl, so therefore השּׁדוּודה may also have the sense of vastanda (which must be laid waste!). That which is then further desired for Babylon is the requital of that which it has done to Israel, Is 47:6. It is the same penal destiny, comprehending the children also, which is predicted against it in Is 13:16-18, as that which was to be executed by the Medes. The young children (with reference to עולל, עולל, vid., on Ps 8:3) are to be dashed to pieces in order that a new generation may not raise up again the world-wide dominion that has been overthrown, Is 14:21. It is zeal for God that puts such harsh words into the mouth of the poet. "That which is Israel's excellency and special good fortune the believing Israelite desires to have bestowed upon the whole world, but for this very reason he desires to see the hostility of the present world of nations against the church of God broken" (Hofmann). On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the "blessed" of this Psalm is not suited to the mouth of the New Testament church. In the Old Testament the church as yet had the form of a nation, and the longing for the revelation of divine righteousness clothed itself accordingly in a warlike garb.
Geneva 1599
137:7 Remember, O LORD, the children of (f) Edom in the (g) day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase [it], rase [it, even] to the foundation thereof.
(f) As was prophesied in (Ezek 25:13, Jer 49:7, Obad 1:10), showing that the Edomites who came from Esau, conspired with the Babylonians against their brethren and kinsfolk.
(g) When you visited Jerusalem.
John Gill
137:7 Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem,.... Of her visitation, calamity, and destruction, how they behaved then, and them for it; who, though the children of Esau and brethren of the Jews, as well as their neighbours, yet hated them; the old grudge of their father, because of the birthright and blessing, as well as the old enmity of the serpent, continuing in them; and who rejoiced at their ruin, helped forward their affliction, and were assistants to the Babylonians in the plunder and destruction of them, Obad 1:11. The Targum is,
"Michael, the prince of Jerusalem, said, remember, O Lord, the people of Edom who destroyed Jerusalem.''
Many Jewish writers, as Aben Ezra observes, interpret this of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans:
who said, rase it, rase it even to the foundation thereof: or "make it naked" or "bare (i) to the foundation"; pull down its walls, lay them level with the ground; root up the very foundation of them, and let nothing be left or seen but the bare naked ground; so spiteful and malicious were they.
(i) "nudate", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt.
John Wesley
137:7 The day - In the time of its destruction.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
137:7 Remember . . . the children of Edom--(Compare Ps 132:1), that is, to punish.
the day of Jerusalem--its downfall (Lam 4:21-22; Obad 1:11-13).
136:7136:7: Յիշեա՛ Տէր զորդիսն Եդովմայ՝ յաւուրս Երուսաղեմի։ Ոյք ասէին. Քակեցէ՛ք քակեցէ՛ք, մինչեւ ՚ի հիմն հասուցէ՛ք[7690]։ [7690] Ոմանք.Յաւուրն Երուսաղեմի։
7 Յիշի՛ր, Տէ՛ր, թէ ինչ էին ասում եդոմացիները Երուսաղէմի օրերին. «Քանդեցէ՛ք, քանդեցէ՛ք, հիմնայատա՛կ արէք»:
7 Յիշէ՛, ո՛վ Տէր, Եդովմի որդիները Երուսաղէմի օրուանը մէջ, Որոնք կ’ըսէին. «Փլցուցէ՛ք, փլցուցէ՛քՄինչեւ անոր հիմը»։
Յիշեա, Տէր, զորդիսն Եդովմայ` յաւուրսն Երուսաղեմի, ոյք ասէին. Քակեցէք, քակեցէք, մինչեւ ի հիմն հասուցէք:

136:7: Յիշեա՛ Տէր զորդիսն Եդովմայ՝ յաւուրս Երուսաղեմի։ Ոյք ասէին. Քակեցէ՛ք քակեցէ՛ք, մինչեւ ՚ի հիմն հասուցէ՛ք[7690]։
[7690] Ոմանք.Յաւուրն Երուսաղեմի։
7 Յիշի՛ր, Տէ՛ր, թէ ինչ էին ասում եդոմացիները Երուսաղէմի օրերին. «Քանդեցէ՛ք, քանդեցէ՛ք, հիմնայատա՛կ արէք»:
7 Յիշէ՛, ո՛վ Տէր, Եդովմի որդիները Երուսաղէմի օրուանը մէջ, Որոնք կ’ըսէին. «Փլցուցէ՛ք, փլցուցէ՛քՄինչեւ անոր հիմը»։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
136:7136:7 Припомни, Господи, сынам Едомовым день Иерусалима, когда они говорили: >.
136:8 θυγάτηρ θυγατηρ daughter Βαβυλῶνος βαβυλων Babylōn; Vavilon ἡ ο the ταλαίπωρος ταλαιπωρος wretched μακάριος μακαριος blessed; prosperous ὃς ος who; what ἀνταποδώσει ανταποδιδωμι repay σοι σοι you τὸ ο the ἀνταπόδομά ανταποδομα repayment σου σου of you; your ὃ ος who; what ἀνταπέδωκας ανταποδιδωμι repay ἡμῖν ημιν us
136:8 אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker] הַ֭ ˈha הַ the שֶּׁמֶשׁ ššemˌeš שֶׁמֶשׁ sun לְ lᵊ לְ to מֶמְשֶׁ֣לֶת memšˈeleṯ מֶמְשֶׁלֶת dominion בַּ ba בְּ in † הַ the יֹּ֑ום yyˈôm יֹום day כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that לְ lᵊ לְ to עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:8. filia Babylon vastata beatus qui retribuet tibi vicissitudinem tuam quam retribuisti nobisO daughter of Babylon, miserable: blessed shall he be who shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us.
8. O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
136:8. the sun to rule the day, for his mercy is eternal:
136:8. The sun to rule by day: for his mercy [endureth] for ever:
Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase [it], rase [it, even] to the foundation thereof:

136:7 Припомни, Господи, сынам Едомовым день Иерусалима, когда они говорили: <<разрушайте, разрушайте до основания его>>.
136:8
θυγάτηρ θυγατηρ daughter
Βαβυλῶνος βαβυλων Babylōn; Vavilon
ο the
ταλαίπωρος ταλαιπωρος wretched
μακάριος μακαριος blessed; prosperous
ὃς ος who; what
ἀνταποδώσει ανταποδιδωμι repay
σοι σοι you
τὸ ο the
ἀνταπόδομά ανταποδομα repayment
σου σου of you; your
ος who; what
ἀνταπέδωκας ανταποδιδωμι repay
ἡμῖν ημιν us
136:8
אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker]
הַ֭ ˈha הַ the
שֶּׁמֶשׁ ššemˌeš שֶׁמֶשׁ sun
לְ lᵊ לְ to
מֶמְשֶׁ֣לֶת memšˈeleṯ מֶמְשֶׁלֶת dominion
בַּ ba בְּ in
הַ the
יֹּ֑ום yyˈôm יֹום day
כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that
לְ lᵊ לְ to
עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity
חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:8. filia Babylon vastata beatus qui retribuet tibi vicissitudinem tuam quam retribuisti nobis
O daughter of Babylon, miserable: blessed shall he be who shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us.
136:8. the sun to rule the day, for his mercy is eternal:
136:8. The sun to rule by day: for his mercy [endureth] for ever:
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
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А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
8-9. У пророка Исаии (XIII:16-18) предсказана тяжелая судьба Вавилона именно теми чертами, которые указаны в этом псалме. Тяжесть этого приговора - непреложная воля Господа, которая непреложно же осуществится и найдет своего исполнителя. Последний называется писателем псалма блаженным, так как им осуществляется одно из предначертаний Божественных, а потому справедливых и благодетельных, хотя бы они казались в глазах человека жестокими и тяжкими.

Весь псалом прекрасно передает то грустно-покаянное настроение, каким жили евреи в плену, их тоску по родине и мечту о своем национальном возрождении.
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. 8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. 9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
The pious Jews in Babylon, having afflicted themselves with the thoughts of the ruins of Jerusalem, here please themselves with the prospect of the ruin of her impenitent implacable enemies; but this not from a spirit of revenge, but from a holy zeal for the glory of God and the honour of his kingdom.
I. The Edomites will certainly be reckoned with, and all others that were accessaries to the destruction of Jerusalem, that were aiding and abetting, that helped forward the affliction (Zech. i. 15) and triumphed in it, that said, in the day of Jerusalem, the day of her judgment, "Rase it, rase it to the foundations; down with it, down with it; do not leave one stone upon another." Thus they made the Chaldean army more furious, who were already so enraged that they needed no spur. Thus they put shame upon Israel, who would be looked upon as a people worthy to be cut off when their next neighbours had such an ill-will to them. And all this was a fruit of the old enmity of Esau against Jacob, because he got the birthright and the blessing, and a branch of that more ancient enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent: Lord, remember them, says the psalmist, which is an appeal to his justice against them. Far be it from us to avenge ourselves, if ever it should be in our power, but we will leave it to him who has said, Vengeance is mine. Note, Those that are glad at calamities, especially the calamities of Jerusalem, shall not go unpunished. Those that are confederate with the persecutors of good people, and stir them up, and set them on, and are pleased with what they do, shall certainly be called to an account for it against another day, and God will remember it against them.
II. Babylon is the principal, and it will come to her turn too to drink of the cup of tremblings, the very dregs of it (v. 8, 9): O daughter of Babylon! proud and secure as thou art, we know well, by the scriptures of truth, thou art to be destroyed, or (as Dr. Hammond reads it) who art the destroyer. The destroyers shall be destroyed, Rev. xiii. 10. And perhaps it is with reference to this that the man of sin, the head of the New-Testament Babylon, is called a son of perdition, 2 Thess. ii. 3. The destruction of Babylon being foreseen as a sure destruction (thou art to be destroyed), it is spoken of, 1. As a just destruction. She shall be paid in her own coin: "Thou shalt be served as thou hast served us, as barbarously used by the destroyers as we have been by thee," See Rev. xviii. 6. Let not those expect to find mercy who, when they had power, did not show mercy. 2. As an utter destruction. The very little ones of Babylon, when it is taken by storm, and all in it are put to the sword, shall be dashed to pieces by the enraged and merciless conqueror. None escape if these little ones perish. Those are the seed of another generation; so that, if they be cut off, the ruin will be not only total, as Jerusalem's was, but final. It is sunk like a millstone into the sea, never to rise. 3. As a destruction which should reflect honour upon the instruments of it. Happy shall those be that do it; for they are fulfilling God's counsels; and therefore he calls Cyrus, who did it, his servant, his shepherd, his anointed (Isa. xliv. 28; xlv. 1), and the soldiers that were employed in it his sanctified ones, Isa. xiii. 3. They are making way for the enlargement of God's Israel, and happy are those who are in any way serviceable to that. The fall of the New-Testament Babylon will be the triumph of all the saints, Rev. xix. 1.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
137:8: O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed - Or, O thou daughter of Babylon the destroyer, or, who art to be ruined. In being reduced under the empire of the Persians, Babylon was already greatly humbled and brought low from what it was in the days of Nebuchadnezzar; but it was afterwards so totally ruined that not a vestige of it remains. After its capture by Cyrus, A.M. 3468, it could never be considered a capital city; but it appeared to follow the fortunes of its various conquerors till it was, as a city, finally destroyed.
Rewardeth thee as thou hast served us - This was Cyrus, who was chosen of God to do this work, and is therefore called happy, as being God's agent in its destruction. Greater desolations were afterwards brought upon it by Darius Hystaspes, who took this city after it had revolted, and slaughtered the inhabitants, men and women, in a barbarous manner. Herod. lib. iii.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
137:8: O daughter of Babylon - That is, Babylon itself; the city of Babylon. On the word "daughter" as thus used, see the notes at Isa 1:8.
Who art to be destroyed - Certainly to be destroyed; of whose destruction there are fixed and absolute prophecies. See the notes at Isa 13:19-22.
Happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us - Margin, that recompenseth unto thee thy deed which thou didst to us. Literally, "Happy shall he be who shall repay to thee the recompence which thou hast recompensed unto us." The idea is, who shall repay thee for thy treatment of us; or, as we should say in common language, "Who shall pay thee back?" That is, he will be esteemed a fortunate man who is made the instrument of inflicting deserved punishment on a city so guilty and so cruel. He will acquire fame and honor by doing it; his name will be made known abroad and perpetuated among people. In fact, the name of Cyrus, who conquered Babylon, is among the names of the most celebrated of conquerors; and the manner in which he took Babylon and overthrew the government and kingdom, has given him a most eminent place among successful princes and conquerors.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
137:8: daughter: Isa 47:1-5; Jer 50:42, Jer 51:33; Zac 2:7
who art: isa 13:1-22, isa 14:4-24, Isa 21:1, Isa 47:1; Jer 25:12-14, Jer 50:1-51:64; Rev 14:8-11, Rev 17:1-18, Rev 18:6
destroyed: Heb. wasted
happy: Psa 149:6-9; Isa 13:3-5, Isa 44:28; Rev 17:5, Rev 17:6, Rev 17:14, Rev 18:6, Rev 18:20
rewardeth: etc. Heb. recompenseth unto thee thy deed which thou didst unto us, Jer 50:15-29; Rev 18:6
John Gill
137:8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed,.... By the determinate counsel and decree of God, and according to divine predictions; see Jer 50:1; so mystical Babylon, antichrist, and the man of sin, who therefore is called the son of perdition, Th2 2:3; because appointed to destruction, and shall certainly go into it, Rev_ 17:8; or "O thou destroyer", as the Targum, which paraphrases it thus,
"Gabriel, the prince of Zion, said to the Babylonish nation that spoileth or destroyeth;''
which is true of literal Babylon, called the destroying mountain, Jer 51:25; and of mystical Babylon, the destroyer both of the bodies and souls of men, Rev_ 11:18;
happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us; meaning Darius the Mede, as Kimchi; or rather, or however who must be added, Cyrus the Persian, as R. Obadiah; who were ordered by the Lord to retaliate her, and do as she had done to others, Jer 50:15; and in so doing pronounced happy, being the Lord's shepherd, raised up in righteousness to perform his pleasure, Is 44:28; and here wished success by the godly Jews. In like manner the Christian princes will reward mystical Babylon, and be the happy instruments of her ruin, Rev_ 18:6.
John Wesley
137:8 Happy - As being God's instrument to vindicate his honour, and execute his just judgments.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
137:8 daughter of Babylon--the people (Ps 9:13). Their destruction had been abundantly foretold (Is 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.
136:8136:8: Դուստր Բաբելացւոց թշուառական, երանի՛ որ հատոյց զհատուցումն քո զոր դու մեզ հատուցեր։
8 Ո՛վ Բաբելոնի թշուառ դուստր, երանի՜ նրան, ով քեզ պիտի հատուցի այնպէս, ինչպէս դու մեզ հատուցեցի՛ր:
8 Ո՛վ Բաբելոնի աւերող* աղջիկ, Երանի՜ անոր՝ որ քեզի կը հատուցանէ Մեզի ըրած գործերուդ փոխարէնը։
Դուստր Բաբելացւոց թշուառական, երանի՛ որ հատոյց զհատուցումն քո զոր դու մեզ հատուցեր:

136:8: Դուստր Բաբելացւոց թշուառական, երանի՛ որ հատոյց զհատուցումն քո զոր դու մեզ հատուցեր։
8 Ո՛վ Բաբելոնի թշուառ դուստր, երանի՜ նրան, ով քեզ պիտի հատուցի այնպէս, ինչպէս դու մեզ հատուցեցի՛ր:
8 Ո՛վ Բաբելոնի աւերող* աղջիկ, Երանի՜ անոր՝ որ քեզի կը հատուցանէ Մեզի ըրած գործերուդ փոխարէնը։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
136:8136:8 Дочь Вавилона, опустошительница! блажен, кто воздаст тебе за то, что ты сделала нам!
136:9 μακάριος μακαριος blessed; prosperous ὃς ος who; what κρατήσει κρατεω seize; retain καὶ και and; even ἐδαφιεῖ εδαφιζω level τὰ ο the νήπιά νηπιος minor σου σου of you; your πρὸς προς to; toward τὴν ο the πέτραν πετρα.1 cliff; bedrock
136:9 אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker] הַ ha הַ the יָּרֵ֣חַ yyārˈēₐḥ יָרֵחַ moon וְ֭ ˈw וְ and כֹוכָבִים ḵôḵāvîm כֹּוכָב star לְ lᵊ לְ to מֶמְשְׁלֹ֣ות memšᵊlˈôṯ מֶמְשָׁלָה dominion בַּ ba בְּ in † הַ the לָּ֑יְלָה llˈāyᵊlā לַיְלָה night כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that לְ lᵊ לְ to עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:9. beatus qui tenebit et adlidet parvulos tuos ad petramBlessed be he that shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock.
9. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock.
136:9. the moon and the stars to rule the night, for his mercy is eternal.
136:9. The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy [shall he be], that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us:

136:8 Дочь Вавилона, опустошительница! блажен, кто воздаст тебе за то, что ты сделала нам!
136:9
μακάριος μακαριος blessed; prosperous
ὃς ος who; what
κρατήσει κρατεω seize; retain
καὶ και and; even
ἐδαφιεῖ εδαφιζω level
τὰ ο the
νήπιά νηπιος minor
σου σου of you; your
πρὸς προς to; toward
τὴν ο the
πέτραν πετρα.1 cliff; bedrock
136:9
אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker]
הַ ha הַ the
יָּרֵ֣חַ yyārˈēₐḥ יָרֵחַ moon
וְ֭ ˈw וְ and
כֹוכָבִים ḵôḵāvîm כֹּוכָב star
לְ lᵊ לְ to
מֶמְשְׁלֹ֣ות memšᵊlˈôṯ מֶמְשָׁלָה dominion
בַּ ba בְּ in
הַ the
לָּ֑יְלָה llˈāyᵊlā לַיְלָה night
כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that
לְ lᵊ לְ to
עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity
חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:9. beatus qui tenebit et adlidet parvulos tuos ad petram
Blessed be he that shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock.
9. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock.
136:9. the moon and the stars to rule the night, for his mercy is eternal.
136:9. The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
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Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
137:9: Happy - that taketh and dasheth thy little ones - That is, So oppressive hast thou been to all under thy domination, as to become universally hated and detested; so that those who may have the last hand in thy destruction, and the total extermination of thy inhabitants, shall be reputed happy - shall be celebrated and extolled as those who have rid the world of a curse so grievous. These prophetic declarations contain no excitement to any person or persons to commit acts of cruelty and barbarity; but are simply declarative of what would take place in the order of the retributive providence and justice of God, and the general opinion that should in consequence be expressed on the subject; therefore praying for the destruction of our enemies is totally out of the question. It should not be omitted that the Chaldee considers this Psalm a dialogue, which it thus divides: - The three first verses are supposed to have been spoken by the psalmist, By the rivers, etc. The Levites answer from the porch of the temple, in Psa 137:4, How shall we sing, etc. The voice of the Holy Spirit responds in Psa 137:5, Psa 137:6, If I forget thee, etc. Michael, the prince of Jerusalem, answers in Psa 137:7, Remember, O Lord, etc. Gabriel, the prince of Zion, then addresses the destroyer of the Babylonish nation, in Psa 137:8, Psa 137:9, Happy shall be he that rewardeth thee, etc. To slay all when a city was sacked, both male and female, old and young, was a common practice in ancient times. Homer describes this in words almost similar to those of the psalmist: -
Υἱας τ' ολλυμενους, ἑλκυσθεισας τε θυγατρας,
Και θαλαμους κεραΐζομενους, και νηπια τεκνα
Βαλλομενα προτι γαιῃ εν αινῃ δηΐοτητι,
Ἑλκομενας τε νυους ολοης ὑπο χερσιν Αχαιων.
Il. lib. xxii., ver. 62.
My heroes slain, my bridal bed o'erturned;
My daughters ravished, and my city burned:
My bleeding infants dashed against the floor;
These I have yet to see; perhaps yet more.
Pope.
These excesses were common in all barbarous nations, and are only prophetically declared here. He shall be reputed happy, prosperous, and highly commendable, who shall destroy Babylon.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
137:9: Happy shall he be that taketh ... - Margin, as in Hebrew, rock. This refers to what was not uncommon in ancient warfare, as it is now among savage tribes - the indiscriminate slaughter of those of all ages, and of both sexes, in war. It was expressly foretold of Babylon that this would occur (see Isa 13:16, and the notes at that place), and there may be a reference here to that prediction, and the psalmist may mean to say that the man would be accounted happy, or would be happy, who wreaked vengeance on Babylon in carrying out that prophecy. The idea is, "This will certainly occur, for it is foretold, and happy or fortunate will he be who is the instrument in fulfilling it." Compare Kg2 8:12; Nah 3:10; Hos 13:16. See also Homer, II xxii. 63, 373, following It is impossible to reconcile such barbarous customs with the idex of "honorable war," or with the principles of war as carried on among "civilized" nations now.
It should be added, however, that there is much - very much - that is practiced in war by "civilized" nations still, which it is equally impossible to reconcile with any just notions of morality or humanity, and which in coming ages, and when people shall come to view things aright, will seem to the people of those times to be not less monstrous, strange, and barbarous. In regard to this passage, we are not necessarily to suppose that the author of the psalm approved of this, or desired it, or prayed for it. He looked forward to the fulfillment of a prediction; he saw that a just and terrible judgment would certainly come upon Babylon; he expressed that in the common language of the times, and states the manner in which it would occur; he described the feelings - the gratification - of those who would execute the divine purpose in the overthrow of Babylon; he referred to the estimate in which the conqueror would be held by people, and the glory of the achievement as giving him fame among people.
It must be admitted that the feelings of the author of the psalm appear to accord with this; that he considers it proper that the city should be destroyed; and that he regards its overthrow as a righteous judgment, and as a thing to be desired in the divine administration. It is true that he might approve of such an overthrow, and see it to be right - he might describe the feelings of those by whom it would be done, their joy, their exultation, and even their barbarity, without himself approving of their barbarity, or sympathizing with their feelings, or partaking of their spirit; but still it cannot in fairness be denied that there is an apparent approval of the act here referred to, which savors more of imprecation than forgiveness, and which is apparently prompted more by the spirit of Rev_enge than by a desire of just punishment. On this subject, however, see the General Introduction, Section 6 (4); and the notes at Psa 109:10. A correct record may be made, whether of facts or of feelings, without any design of expressing either approbation or disapprobation on the part of the historian, the prophet, or the poet.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
137:9: and dasheth: Isa 13:16; Hos 10:14, Hos 13:16
the stones: Heb. the rock
Geneva 1599
137:9 (h) Happy [shall he be], that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
(h) He alludes to Isaiah's prophecy in (Is 13:16) promising good success to Cyrus and Darius, whom ambition moved to fight against Babylon, but God used them as his rods to punish his enemies.
John Gill
137:9 Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. That takes the infants from their mothers' breasts, or out of their arms, and dashes out their brains against a "rock", as the word (k) signifies; which, though it may seem a piece of cruelty, was but a just retaliation; the Babylonians having done the same to the Jewish children, and is foretold elsewhere should be done to theirs, Is 13:16. Nor is this desired from a spirit of revenge, but for the glory of divine justice, and that such a generation of cruel creatures might be rooted out of the earth; see Rev_ 2:2. Some allegorically understand this of crushing and mortifying the first motions of sin in the heart; but such a sense seems to have no place here.
(k) "ad petram", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c. "ad repem", Cocceius.
136:9136:9: Երանի՛ որ կալաւ զմանկունս քո, եւ հար զքարի։ Տունք. ժ̃։
9 Երանի՜ նրան, ով կը բռնի քո մանուկներին ու կը խփի քարին:
9 Երանի՜ անոր՝ որ քու զաւակներդ կը բռնէ Ու քարի կը զարնէ։
երանի՛ որ կալաւ զմանկունս քո եւ եհար զքարի:

136:9: Երանի՛ որ կալաւ զմանկունս քո, եւ հար զքարի։ Տունք. ժ̃։
9 Երանի՜ նրան, ով կը բռնի քո մանուկներին ու կը խփի քարին:
9 Երանի՜ անոր՝ որ քու զաւակներդ կը բռնէ Ու քարի կը զարնէ։
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136:9136:9 Блажен, кто возьмет и разобьет младенцев твоих о камень!
136:10 לְ lᵊ לְ to מַכֵּ֣ה makkˈē נכה strike מִ֭צְרַיִם ˈmiṣrayim מִצְרַיִם Egypt בִּ bi בְּ in בְכֹורֵיהֶ֑ם vᵊḵôrêhˈem בְּכֹר first-born כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that לְ lᵊ לְ to עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:10. He struck Egypt along with their first-born, for his mercy is eternal.
136:10. To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy [endureth] for ever:
Happy [shall he be], that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones:

136:9 Блажен, кто возьмет и разобьет младенцев твоих о камень!
136:10
לְ lᵊ לְ to
מַכֵּ֣ה makkˈē נכה strike
מִ֭צְרַיִם ˈmiṣrayim מִצְרַיִם Egypt
בִּ bi בְּ in
בְכֹורֵיהֶ֑ם vᵊḵôrêhˈem בְּכֹר first-born
כִּ֖י kˌî כִּי that
לְ lᵊ לְ to
עֹולָ֣ם ʕôlˈām עֹולָם eternity
חַסְדֹּֽו׃ ḥasdˈô חֶסֶד loyalty
136:10. He struck Egypt along with their first-born, for his mercy is eternal.
136:10. To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy [endureth] for ever:
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