Psalms 137:8-9

Context

137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated!¹

How blessed will be the one who repays you

for what you dished out to us!²

137:9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies

and smashes them on a rock!³

[137:8] ¹tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.

[137:8] ²tn Heb “O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.”

[137:9] ³sn 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.