Psalms 136 (DRB)

Chapter Text

136:1 Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Sion:

136:2 On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments.

136:3 For there they that led us into captivity required of us the words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion.

136:4 How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?

136:5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.

136:6 Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy.

136:7 Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem: Who say: Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

136:8 O daughter of Babylon, miserable: blessed shall he be who shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us.

136:9 Blessed be he that shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "upon", "rivers", "babylon", "wept", "remembered", "sion", "willows", and "midst". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "upon" and "rivers", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local DRB text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "upon" and "rivers" carries the first interpretive weight. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "upon" and "rivers" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.