Discovery BoxPsalms 137:7-9
Context137:7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell. 1
They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, 2
right to its very foundation!”
137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! 3
How blessed will be the one who repays you
for what you dished out to us! 4
137:9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies
and smashes them on a rock! 5
[137:7] 1 tn Heb “remember, O
[137:7] 2 tn Heb “lay [it] bare, lay [it] bare.”
[137:8] 3 tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.
[137:8] 4 tn Heb “O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.”
[137:9] 5 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.
