Psalms 137:1--138:8

Psalm 137 ¹ 

137:1 By the rivers of Babylon

we sit down and weep ² 

when we remember Zion.

137:2 On the poplars in her midst

we hang our harps,

137:3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs; ³ 

those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: ⁴ 

“Sing for us a song about Zion!” ⁵ 

137:4 How can we sing a song to the Lord

in a foreign land?

137:5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

may my right hand be crippled! ⁶ 

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. ⁷ 

137:7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did

on the day Jerusalem fell. ⁸ 

They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, ⁹ 

right to its very foundation!”

137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! ¹⁰ 

How blessed will be the one who repays you

for what you dished out to us! ¹¹ 

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

and smashes them on a rock! ¹² 

Psalm 138 ¹³ 

By David.

138:1 I will give you thanks with all my heart;

before the heavenly assembly ¹⁴  I will sing praises to you.

138:2 I will bow down toward your holy temple,

and give thanks to your name,

because of your loyal love and faithfulness,

for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky. ¹⁵ 

138:3 When ¹⁶  I cried out for help, you answered me.

You made me bold and energized me. ¹⁷ 

138:4 Let all the kings of the earth give thanks ¹⁸  to you, O Lord,

when they hear the words you speak. ¹⁹ 

138:5 Let them sing about the Lord’s deeds, ²⁰ 

for the Lord’s splendor is magnificent. ²¹ 

138:6 Though the Lord is exalted, he takes note of the lowly,

and recognizes the proud from far away.

138:7 Even when I must walk in the midst of danger, ²²  you revive me.

You oppose my angry enemies, ²³ 

and your right hand delivers me.

138:8 The Lord avenges me. ²⁴ 

O Lord, your loyal love endures.

Do not abandon those whom you have made! ²⁵ 

[137:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 137. The Babylonian exiles lament their condition, vow to remain loyal to Jerusalem, and appeal to God for revenge on their enemies.

[137:1]  ² tn Heb “there we sit down, also we weep.”

[137:3]  ³ tn Heb “ask us [for] the words of a song.”

[137:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “our [?] joy.” The derivation and meaning of the Hebrew phrase תוֹלָלֵינוּ (tolalenu, “our [?]”) are uncertain. A derivation from תָּלַל (talal, “to mock”) fits contextually, but this root occurs only in the Hiphil stem. For a discussion of various proposals, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 236.

[137:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “from a song of Zion.” Most modern translations read, “one of the songs of Zion,” taking the preposition מִן (min, “from”) as partitive and “song” as collective. The present translation assumes the mem (ם) is enclitic, being misunderstood later as the prefixed preposition.

[137:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “may my right hand forget.” In this case one must supply an object, such as “how to move.” The elliptical nature of the text has prompted emendations (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 236). The translation assumes an emendation to תִּכְשַׁח (tikhshakh), from an otherwise unattested root כשׁח, meaning “to be crippled; to be lame.” See HALOT 502 s.v. כשׁח, which cites Arabic cognate evidence in support of the proposal. The corruption of the MT can be explained as an error of transposition facilitated by the use of שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”) just before this.

[137:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “if I do not lift up Jerusalem over the top of my joy.”

[137:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem.”

[137:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “lay [it] bare, lay [it] bare.”

[137:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.

[137:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.”

[137:9]  ¹² 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.

[138:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 138. The psalmist vows to thank the Lord for his deliverance and protection.

[138:1]  ¹⁴ tn The referent of the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is unclear. It refers either to the angelic assembly (see Gen 3:5; Ps 8:5) or to the pagan gods (see Pss 82:1, 6; 86:8; 97:7), in which case the psalmist’s praise takes on a polemical tone.

[138:2]  ¹⁵ tc The MT reads, “for you have made great over all your name your word.” If retained, this must mean that God's mighty intervention, in fulfillment of his word of promise, surpassed anything he had done prior to this. However, the statement is odd and several emendations have been proposed. Some read, “for you have exalted over everything your name and your word,” while others suggest, “for you have exalted over all the heavens your name and your word.” The translation assumes an emendation of “your name” to “your heavens” (a construction that appears in Pss 8:3 and 144:5). The point is that God has been faithful to his promise and the reliability of that promise is apparent to all. For a fuller discussion of these options, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 244.

[138:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in the day.”

[138:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you made me bold in my soul [with] strength.”

[138:4]  ¹⁸ tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in the following verse are understood as jussives, for the psalmist appears to be calling upon the kings to praise God. Another option is to take them as imperfects and translate, “the kings of the earth will give thanks…and will sing.” In this case the psalmist anticipates a universal response to his thanksgiving song.

[138:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the words of your mouth.”

[138:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “ways.”

[138:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “great.”

[138:7]  ²² tn Or “distress.”

[138:7]  ²³ tn Heb “against the anger of my enemies you extend your hand.”

[138:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “avenges on my behalf.” For the meaning “to avenge” for the verb גָּמַר (gamar), see HALOT 197-98 s.v. גמר.

[138:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the works of your hands.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the singular, “work of your hands.”