Text -- Psalms 137:6-9 (NET)

137:6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, and do not give Jerusalem priority over whatever gives me the most joy. 137:7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, right to its very foundation!” 137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! How blessed will be the one who repays you for what you dished out to us! 137:9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies and smashes them on a rock!

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 137:6

¹ tn Heb “if I do not lift up Jerusalem over the top of my joy.”

NET Notes: Psa 137:7

¹ tn Heb “remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem.”

² tn Heb “lay [it] bare, lay [it] bare.”

NET Notes: Psa 137:8

¹ tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.

² tn Heb “O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.”

NET Notes: Psa 137:9

¹ sn For other references to the wholesale slaughter of babies in the context of ancient Near Eastern warfare, see 2 Kgs 8:12; Isa 13:16; Hos 13:16; Nah 3:10.