Psalm 137:5, Psalm 137:6 KJV

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 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... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 137:5-6

Psalms 137:5-6. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem If I do not retain a deep and sorrowful sense of thy desolations, though never so far removed from thee; or if I indulge myself in mirth and jollity, as if I had forgotten thee; let my right hand The hand chiefly used in playing on musical instruments, and in all other actions; forget her cunning That is, lose its skill of playing. In the Hebrew it is only, Let my right hand forget, without expressing what, to intimate the extent and... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Psalms 137:1-9

Psalms 137:0 Against the BabyloniansThe Israelites who first sang this song were captives in Babylon, working in a slave camp beside one of Babylon’s rivers. The Babylonian slave-masters tried to create some amusement for themselves (and some torment for their victims) by asking the downcast slaves to sing some of the merry songs of glorious Jerusalem (1-3). The cruel insults of the slave-masters pierce the hearts of the Israelites, because their beloved Jerusalem is in ruins. How can they... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Psalms 137:5

If I forget . . . do not remember. The writer's then present personal declaration. Let my right hand forget. Supply "me" for the Ellipsis. Some codices, with Septuagint and Vulgate, read "let my right hand be forgotten". read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Psalms 137:5-6

Psalms 137:5-6. Let my right hand forget her cunning, &c.— There is nothing for her cunning in the original. The plain meaning is, "May my right hand forget to play upon the harp; may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, disenabling me from singing, if I prefer not, or according to the original, if I advance not Jerusalem in the beginning of my joy;" that is, "If again I sing any such festival songs, till that joyful day shall come, when I shall see Jerusalem and her holy solemnities... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Psalms 137:5

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

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 137:1-9

Psalms 137The psalmist mourned the plight of the exiled Israelites. He expressed strong love for Zion and strong hatred for Israel’s enemies. This is an imprecatory psalm. [Note: See the appendix in VanGemeren, pp. 830-32, on imprecations in the psalms, and Day, "The Imprecatory . . .," pp. 173-76.] "This psalm is better known, probably because it is one of the few psalms which contain a certain and explicit historical reference. It invites narrative specificity. It clearly comes out of the... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 137:5-6

2. Love for Jerusalem 137:5-6The poet promised to remember Jerusalem forever. He called down imprecations on himself if he ever were to forget the city that had been the scene of so much joyful worship in the past. The hand and tongue stand for all action and speech (by synecdoche). One reason the Israelites loved Jerusalem so much, was that it was the site of their annual festivals-that were mainly joyous occasions of praise and fellowship (cf. Lamentations 1-2). read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 137:1-9

A lifelike memorial of the bitter experiences of exile concluding with (a) a strong expression of patriotism, and (b) an outburst of hatred against the enemies of Jerusalem. Probably written soon after the exile.1. Rivers of Babylon] The river was the Euphrates, from which branched off a network of canals, on whose banks grew the willows here referred to. These were a species of poplar.2. Harps] the Kinnor was the most ancient kind of harp, properly a lyre. 3. A song] lit. ’the words of a... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 137:5

(5) Her cunning—i.e., the skill of playing on the harp. If at such a moment the poet can so far forget the miserable bondage of Jerusalem as to strike the strings in joy, may his hand for ever lose the skill to touch them. read more