Psalm 137:1-6 NIV

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:4

How shall we sing the Lord's song - נשיר איך 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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 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 -... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 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. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:1

Verse 1 1.By the rivers of Babylon (178) there we sat down I have elsewhere said, that it is a great mistake to suppose that it is David who here prophetically apprises the people of God of the captivity which should come upon them. The Prophets in speaking of future events employ very different language. What is brought under notice is the event as now historically come, and matter of experience. We shall briefly explain the scope of the Psalmist. There was danger that the Jews when cast off... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:2

Verse 2 2.We hanged our harps upon the willows (180) He deplores the suspension of the songs of praise, which God had enjoined in his Temple. The Levites were set over the department of singing, and led the way among the people in this devotional exercise. Is it asked how they had carried their harps with them so far from their native land, we have in this another proof mentioned by the Psalmist of their faith and fervent piety, for the Levites when stripped of all their fortunes had preserved... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:3

Verse 3 3.Then they that carried us away captive, etc. We may be certain that the Israelites were treated with cruel severity under this barbarous tyranny to which they were subjected. And the worst affliction of all was, that their conquerors reproachfully insulted them, and even mocked them, their design being less to wound the hearts of these miserable exiles, than to cast blasphemies upon their God. The Babylonians had no desire to hear their sacred songs, and very likely would not have... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:4

Verse 4 4.How shall we sing, etc. The Psalmist puts a lofty and magnanimous answer into the mouth of the Lord’s people to their insolent reproach, which is this, that they abstained from their songs, as from their legal sacrifices, because the land where they now were was polluted. The Chaldeans thought the Jews were bound down permanently to this place of their exile; the Psalmist, when he calls it a foreign land, suggests that it was but the place of their temporary stay. But the main idea... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:5

Verse 5 5.If I shall forget thee, O Jerusalem! This confirms what was said in the former verse, and leaves us in no difficulty to understand what the Psalmist meant by it. For here God’s people declare, and with the solemnity of an oath, that the remembrance of the holy city would be ever engra-yen upon their hearts, and never, under any circumstances, effaced. Having spoken of song, and of the instruments of music, the Psalmist’s appeal is made in terms which corre-spond — that his hand would... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 137:1

By the rivers of Babylon The Euphrates and the canals derived from it, which were many, and filled with running, not stagnant, water. These would present themselves to the exiles as "rivers." There we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. The exiles had their leisure hours—they were not kept by their masters at hard work continually. During these leisure hours they naturally "sat down" by the rivers of Babylon, as the most pleasant and attractive places. They brought their... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 137:1

The tears of memory. "Yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion." The rivers of Babylon and the district were the Euphrates, the Tigris, and the branch streams of those rivers. The writer of the psalm is not in Babylon, but is recalling to mind what happened when he was there. It is not easy to recognize the mood of the psalmist when he composed this psalm. Usually it is assumed that there was first a gentle and plaintive mood, and then a fierce and revengeful mood; but perhaps it is true to... read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:4

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:5

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:6

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:1

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:2

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:4

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:5

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 137:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 137:1

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