Psalm 137 Study Notes

137:1 The rivers of Babylon were a series of canals running through the southern plain (Ezk 1:1; Dn 8:2). During the exile, the assembled community grieved there.

137:2 The trees of Babylon were not the familiar olive and cedar trees of the promised land.

137:3 By asking the community to sing songs of Zion, Israel’s captors were tormenting and mocking them (42:3,10; 79:10).

137:4 The Israelites could not engage in worship since the land of Babylon was unclean and Israel had no temple.

137:5-6 The psalmist took an oath to stay loyal to Jerusalem, which represented the city, the land, and the temple, symbols of God’s promise to Israel.

137:7 Remember reflects the theme of the psalm. Israel “remembered” Zion (v. 1), made a pledge to remember Jerusalem (vv. 5-6), and asked the Lord to “remember” Jerusalem’s devastation by the Edomites (v. 7). The Edomites descended from Esau, the twin brother of Jacob, and served as Babylon’s allies in the destruction of Jerusalem (Ezk 25:12; 36:5). Destroy it is literally “strip it down,” that is, “raze it.”

137:8 Who pays you back what you have done to us reinforces the concept of (Lat) lex talionis, or receiving a punishment equal to the crime (Ex 21:23-25; Mt 5:38-42). God pays back those who reject him (Dt 7:10; 32:35; Is 65:6), and he specifically promised to repay Babylon for their crimes against his people (Jr 51:56).

137:9 This imprecation (see note at 109:1-31) is startling. Out of the psalmist’s intense emotional state, seething with righteous anger, he called for the execution of just vengeance against the wicked who had perhaps done the described acts (takes . . . and dashes) to Israel’s little ones (see note at Is 13:16).