Psalms 137 (YLT)

Chapter Text

137:1 By rivers of Babylon--There we did sit, Yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.

137:2 On willows in its midst we hung our harps.

137:3 For there our captors asked us the words of a song, And our spoilers--joy: `Sing ye to us of a song of Zion.'

137:4 How do we sing the song of Jehovah, On the land of a stranger?

137:5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, my right hand forgetteth!

137:6 My tongue doth cleave to my palate, If I do not remember thee, If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.

137:7 Remember, Jehovah, for the sons of Edom, The day of Jerusalem, Those saying, `Rase, rase to its foundation!'

137:8 O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one, O the happiness of him who repayeth to thee thy deed, That thou hast done to us.

137:9 O the happiness of him who doth seize, And hath dashed thy sucklings on the rock!

Study Lenses

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

The local YLT text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "rivers" and "babylon--there" 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 "rivers" and "babylon--there" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.