"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down." Rastafarians also identify themselves as belonging to the Twelve Tribes of Israel. In order to understand the כּי in Psalm 137:3, Psalm 137:3 and Psalm 137:4 must be taken together. Either תּולל equals תּהולל, like מהולל, Psalm 102:9, signifies the raving one, i.e., a bloodthirsty man or a tyrant, or from ילל, ejulare, one who causes the cry of woe or a tormentor, - a signification which commends itself in view of the words תּושׁב and תּלמיד, which are likewise formed with the preformative ת. Glad to be away from the noisy streets, the captives sought the river side, where the flow of the waters seemed to be in sympathy with their tears. Published December 13, 2019. Perhaps a little company of friends; perhaps those assembled for worship; perhaps those who happened to come together on some special occasion; or, perhaps, a poetic representation of the general condition of the Hebrew captives, as sitting and meditating on the desolations of their native land. It was some slight comfort to be out of the crowd, and to have a little breathing room, and therefore they sat down, as if to rest a while and solace themselves in their sorrow. Psalm 137 is not a happy, praise filled Psalm. Babylon destroyed the holy city of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E., and took the entire nation of Israel to Babylon and held them captive in Babylon for 70 years as prophesized by the Prophet Daniel. yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion; they imitated the flowing stream by which they sat, and swelled it with their tears; they wept for their sins, which brought them thither; and it increased their sorrow, when they called to mind what privileges they had enjoyed in Zion, the city of their solemnities; where they had often seen the tribes of Israel bowing before and worshipping the God of Israel; the daily sacrifices and others offered up; the solemn feasts kept; the songs of Zion, sung by the Levites in delightful harmony; and, above all, the beauty of the Lord their God, his power and glory, while they were inquiring in his sanctuary: and also when they reflected upon the sad condition and melancholy circumstances in which Zion now was; the city, temple, and altar, lying in heaps of rubbish; no worship and service performed; no sacrifices offered, nor songs sung; nor any that came to her solemn feasts; see Lamentations 1:2. Cruelty herein reached a refinement seldom thought of. 4 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? si je t'oublie jamais, que ma main oublie aussi le mouvement! The exiles had their leisure hours - they were not kept by their masters at hard work continually. Psalms 137:1 "By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion." Psalm 137:1, ESV: "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion." Glad to be away from the noisy streets, the captives sought the river side, where the flow of the waters seemed to be in sympathy with their tears. How can we sing the songs of God on foreign soil? "We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. Powered by - Designed with the Hueman theme, Foo Fighters’ “Medicine at Midnight” Lyrics Meaning, The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” Lyrics Meaning, Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” Lyrics Meaning. PSALMS 137 Other translations - previous - next - meaning - Psalms - BM Home - Full Page PSALM 137. אזכּרכי has the affixed Chirek, with which these later Psalms are so fond of adorning themselves. תּשׁכּח has been taken as an address to Jahve: obliviscaris dexterae meae (e.g., Wolfgang Dachstein in his song "An Wasserflssen Babylon"), but it is far from natural that Jerusalem and Jahve should be addressed in one clause. Our former enjoyments in Zion, which greatly aggravated their present misery, Lamentations 1:7. But there is no Aramaic תּלל equals שׁלל. 9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion (Psalm 137:1 KJV) When Israel rebelled against the commandments of the Lord, they were taken captive to Babylon, a distant land with a strange setting and foreign gods. It might more readily be referred back to a Poel תּולל ( equals התל), to disappoint, deride (Hitzig); but the usage of the language does not favour this, and a stronger meaning for the word would be welcome. Nothing will content the Babylonian mockers but one of Israel's Psalms when in her happiest days she sang unto the Lord whose mercy endureth for ever: this would make rare fun for their persecutors, who would deride their worship and ridicule their faith in Jehovah. The deeper lesson is that Nebuchadnezzar merited becoming emperor because he had more respect for God than anyone else. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. So he regains his identity and faith "in a wounded dawn, by the river's dark." Water-courses were abundant in Babylon, wherein were not only natural streams but artificial canals: it was a place of broad rivers and streams. Thus there is a correspondence between Psalm 137:5 and Psalm 137:6 : My tongue shall cleave to my palate if I do not remember thee, if I do not raise Jerusalem above the sum of my joy. The frivolous may forget, but Zion is graven on our hearts, and her prosperity is our chief desire. The Melodians were a rocksteady band formed in the Greenwich Town area of Kingston, Jamaica in 1963, by Tony Brevett, Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton. - By the rivers of Babylon The Euphrates and the canals derived from it, which were many, and filled with running, not stagnant, water. Be it ours to weep in secret for the hurt of our Zion: it is the least thing we can do; perhaps in its result it may prove to be the best thing we can do. But he is captured by God and his wedding ring is tossed away. Blind Samson in former days must be brought forth to make sport for Philistines, and now the Babylonians prove themselves to be loaves of the same leaven. הוליל, like תּועלת, תּוכחה, with הועיל and הוכיח, in a mainly abstract signification (Dietrich, Abhandlungen, S. Judgments imprecated upon Edom and Babylon, Psalm 137:7-9. Nothing could have been more malicious, nothing more productive of grief. What cruelty to make a people sigh, and then require them to sing! The city of Babylon was situated on the Euphrates river, but the plural here probably refers to the great network of canals which had been built for purposes of irrigation. Psalms, book of the Old Testament composed of sacred songs, or of sacred poems meant to be sung. This is studied torture, the iron enters into the soul. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? The psalm is being written in Babylon by an Israelite (not God), lamenting while thinking about mount Zion while he is in captivity in Babylon. By your strength you split the sea in two, in the water you smashed sea monsters' heads, Jump to: Bible Study Tools; Parallel Bible Verse; Bible Contextual Overview; Gill's Bible Notes; Clarke's Bible Notes; Barnes' Bible Notes; Bible Study Resources . Many settings omit the last verse. Destruction had swept down all their delights, and therefore they wept - the strong men wept, the sweet singers wept! Or, 2. In the midst of the willows, or in the midst of the rivers, or in the midst of Babylon, it matters little which, they hung their harps aloft - those harps which once in Zion's halls the soul of music shed. Our emotions overpowered us, and we poured forth tears. Yea, we wept - We sat there; we meditated; we wept. All Rights Reserved. Ps 137:1-9. Shall men be carried away from home and all that is dear to them, and yet chant merrily for the pleasure of their unfeeling captors? The meaning of the interrogatory exclamation is not that the singing of sacred songs in a foreign land (חוצה לארץ) is contrary to the law, for the Psalms continued to be sung even during the Exile, and were also enriched by new ones. His spiritual joy over the city of God is to soar above all earthly joys. Supposly its from the bible they say Psalm 137:1 "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion." Understand the meaning of Psalms 137:1 using all available Bible versions and commentary. From the striking contrast between the present and the former times the people of the Exile had in fact to come to the knowledge of their sins, in order that they might get back by the way of penitence and earnest longing to that which they had lost Penitence and home-sickness were at that time inseparable; for all those in whom the remembrance of Zion was lost gave themselves over to heathenism and were excluded from the redemption. He was one of the worst tyrants in the history of the world, yet was rewarded for the greater degree of understanding about God that he possessed. Zionâs present desolations and pollutions. "Saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion." Psalm 137 is only one out of 150 psalms in the Bible to be set in a particular time and place. In this demand there was an insult to their God, as well as a mockery of themselves, and this made it the more intensely cruel. Music hath charms to give unquiet spirits rest; but when the heart is sorely sad it only mocks the grief which flies to it. Be it ours also to sit down and deeply consider what is to be done. Psalm 137 – best known for its opening line, ‘By the Rivers of Babylon’ – is a 2,500-year-old Hebrew psalm that deals with the Jewish exile and is remembered each year on Tisha B’av. Of the city of Babylon, and then the river is Euphrates, here called rivers for its greatness, and by a common enallage of the plural for the singular, as Tigris also is, Nahum 2:6, yea, and Jordan, Psalm 74:15. In these our times the Babylon of error ravages the city of God, and the hearts of the faithful are grievously wounded as they see truth fallen in the streets, and unbelief rampant among the professed servants of the Lord. Even thus do true believers mourn when they see the church despoiled, and find themselves unable to succour her: we could bear anything better than this. “The rivers of Babylon”: The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Psalms 74:12. Here they were either by the appointment of their lords for the making or repairing of the works beside the river; or by choice, retiring themselves thither from the noise and observation of their enemies, as they had opportunity, that they might disburden their oppressed minds before the Lord. artem psallendi (Aben-Ezra, Kimchi, Pagninus, Grotius, Hengstenberg, and others); but this ellipsis is arbitrary, and the interpolation of מנּי after ימיני (von Ortenberg, following Olshausen) produces an inelegant cadence. To get what Psalm 137:1 means based on its source text, scroll down or follow these links for the original scriptural meaning , biblical context and relative popularity. Psalms 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat. This was wormwood and gall to the true lovers of God and his chosen land. Psalm 137:1 "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down." The daughter of Babylon seemed determined to fill up her cup of iniquity, by torturing the Lord's people. 160f.). Free will is truly free. It was some slight comfort to be out of the crowd, and to … 137 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. continued...THE ARGUMENT The penman of this Psalm is uncertain; the occasion of it was unquestionably the consideration of the Babylonish captivity; and it seems to have been composed either during the time of that captivity, or presently after their deliverance out of it. We bear our protests, but they appear to be in vain; the multitude are mad upon their idols. It should not be forgotten, especially by those who have never known exile, dispossession or the rape of people and land." i really like this song song by sublime called Rovers of babylon. But as alluded to earlier, there is also an element of Psalm’s 19 th chapter mixed therein. Sad indeed is the child of sorrow when he grows weary of his harp, from which in better days he had been able to draw sweet solaces. 1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, we also wept when we remembered Zion. The song is from Psalm 137, how they missed their home land. The history of "Rivers Of Babylon" begins way back, centuries before pop charts. Water-courses were abundant in Babylon, wherein were not only natural streams but artificial canals: it was a place of broad rivers and streams. sort form View by: Highest Rated ... General CommentIt's from Psalm 137. תּשׁכּח is to be taken reflexively: obliviscatur sui ipsius, let it forget itself, or its service (Amyraldus, Schultens, Ewald, and Hitzig), which is equivalent to let it refuse or fail, become lame, become benumbed, much the same as we say of the arms of legs that they "go to sleep," and just as the Arabic nasiya signifies both to forget and to become lame (cf. and other reggae people done a song about this. This is the line that reads “let the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart be acceptable in Thy sight”. "Rivers of Babylon" is a Rastafari song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. There we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. When we remembered Zion - When we thought on our native land; its former glory; the wrongs done to it; the desolations there; when we thought of the temple in ruins, and our homes as devastated; when we thought of the happy days which we had spent there, and when we contrasted them with our condition now. Psalms 74:14. What exactly does this mean. “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.” Verse 1. So viewed comprehensively, the singers have decided to sing their praise … Therefore, "By the rivers of Babylon" refers to living in a repressive society and the longing for freedom, just like the Israelites in captivity. Psalms 74. And that is pretty much the selfsame story which is recited in “Rivers of Babylon”, almost verbatim from Psalm 137. Others take ימיני as the subject and תּשׁכּח transitively: obliviscatur dextera mea, scil. La Harpe correctly renders: O Jerusalem! By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. Were the exiles to have no rest? Be it ours, in any case, to keep upon our mind and heart the memory of the church of God which is so dear to us. "Rivers of Babylon." Analysis. They did not weep when they remembered the cruelties of Babylon; the memory of fierce oppression dried their tears and made their hearts burn with wrath: but when the beloved city of their solemnities came into their minds they could not refrain from floods of tears. In this psalm, Babylon is not the city, but the country (modern Iraq, etc. But the shir had an end during the Exile, in so far as that it was obliged to retire from publicity into the quiet of the family worship and of the houses of prayer, in order that that which is holy might not be profaned; and since it was not, as at home, accompanied by the trumpets of the priests and the music of the Levites, it became more recitative than singing properly so called, and therefore could not afford any idea of the singing of their native land in connection with the worship of God on Zion. "Yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion." “We wept”: They even wept when the exile was over and the second temple was being built (compare Ezra 3:12), so deep was their sorrow. ), so the rivers of Babylon are the Tigris and the Euphrates. When we remembered Zion; either, 1. I don't like it when i don't know the meaning of the song or understand it. remembered Zion—or, Jerusalem, as in Ps 132:13. In little groups they sat down and made common lamentation, mingling their memories and their tears. "The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." Psalm 137 – By the Rivers of Babylon Summary The exiles in Babylon cannot sing because of their distress. The sad complaint of the Jews in captivity, Psalm 137:1-3. 2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. But why not then more simply על כּל, above the totality? Show content in: English Both Hebrew. There we sat down - There we were sitting. The lyric is based on the Biblical Psalm 137:1-4, a hymn expressing the yearnings of the Jewish people in exile following the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Glad to be away from the noisy streets, the captives sought the river side, where the flow of the waters seemed to be in sympathy with their tears. Nov 8, 2016 - Explore sarah thorne's board "rivers of babylon" on Pinterest. ראשׁ is apparently used as in Psalm 119:160 : supra summam (the totality) laetitiae meae, as Coccejus explains, h.e. Better be dumb than be forced to please an enemy with forced song. His heart is struck and what is revealed is lawless (torahless) and his wedding ring, to Babylon. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion! 6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. 1. rivers of Babylon—the name of the city used for the whole country. We sat down; the usual posture of mourners, Ezra 9:4, &c.; Job 2:13 Isaiah 47:1,5. According to the sense the word ranks itself with an Hiph. Shame they left out this part: 8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. 3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. Could they not let the sufferers alone? Gesenius, Thesaurus, p. 921b). Next » Chapter 138. There we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. Everything reminded Israel of her banishment from the holy city, her servitude beneath the shadow of the temple of Bel, her helplessness under a cruel enemy; and therefore her sons and daughters sat down in sorrow. We Wept when we remembered Zion. This Psalm records the mourning of the captive Israelites, and a prayer and prediction respecting the destruction of their enemies. Rivers of Babylon; either, 1. The two are not mutually exclusive. The lxx, Targum, and Syriac take תּוללינוּ as a synonym of שׁובינוּ, synonymous with שׁוללינוּ, and so, in fact, that it signifies not, like שׁולל, the spoiled and captive one, but the spoiler and he who takes other prisoners. Psalm 137 King James Version (KJV). (a) That is, we abode a long time, and even though the country was pleasant, yet it could not stay our tears, nor turn us from the true service of our God. The lyrics are adapted from the texts of Psalms 19 and 137 in the Hebrew Bible.The Melodians' original version of the song appeared on the soundtrack album for the 1972 movie The Harder They Come, which made it internationally known. The rivers were well enough, but, alas, they were the rivers of Babylon, and the ground whereon the sons of Israel sat was foreign soil, and therefore they wept. The drooping branches appeared to weep as we did, and so we gave to them our instruments of music; the willows could as well make melody as we, for we-had no mind for minstrelsy. 2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. Upon the willows, in the midst thereof, we hanged our harps. They hung up their citherns; for though their lords called upon them to sing in order that they might divert themselves with their national songs, they did not feel themselves in the mind for singing songs as they once resounded at the divine services of their native land. Others again assign a passive sense to תשׁכח: oblivioni detur (lxx, Italic, Vulgate, and Luther), or a half-passive sense, in oblivione sit (Jerome); but the thought: let my right hand be forgotten, is awkward and tame. eineidloffon June 08, 2006 Link. Those who had been the most active agents of Israel's undoing must needs follow up their ferocities by mockeries. Were the Psalms meant to be sung? Psalm 137- 1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. Psalms 74:13. BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON= The preposition BY means "next to, near"; by the river means on the riverbanks or near the river. These wanton persecutors had followed the captives into their retirement, and had remarked upon their sorrowful appearance, and "there" and then they bade the mourners make mirth for them. Water courses were abundant in Babylon, wherein were not only natural streams but artificial canals: it was place of broad rivers and streams. Tehillim - Psalms - Chapter 137 « Previous Chapter 136. The captives must not only sing but smile, and add merriment to their music. Psalm 137:1 Parallel Verses [⇓ See commentary ⇓] Psalm 137:1, NIV: "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion." He runs from the realization, and truly becomes a citizen of Babylon by rejecting the Lord and his ways. With the expression "song of Zion" alternates in Psalm 137:4 "song of Jahve," which, as in 2 Chronicles 29:27, cf. They weep and pray for deliverance. supra omnem laetitiam meam. The Israelites would sit by the rivers of Babylon and mourn Read More Of the scoffing of their enemies, yet their constancy to remember Jerusalem, Psalm 137:4-6. Psalm 137 is at once one of the most poignant and most troubling of the psalms. Chapter 137. 3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. Origins of the psalm. Before Psalm 137:4 we have to imagine that they answered the request of the Babylonians at that time in the language that follows, or thought thus within themselves when they withdrew themselves from them. The poet, translated into the situation of the exiles, and arming himself against the temptation to apostasy and the danger of denying God, therefore says: If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, ימיני תּשׁכּח. ראשׁ here signifies not κεφάλαιον, but κεφαλή: if I do not place Jerusalem upon the summit of my joy, i.e., my highest joy; therefore, if I do not cause Jerusalem to be my very highest joy. Psalm 137 “By the Rivers of Babylon, Part 2” One of the key words used in Psalm 137 is the word ‘remember.’ Remember, together with its counterpart ‘forget’, is a concept that is at the heart of this psalm. Psalm 137:1 "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion." These would present themselves to the exiles as "rivers." Nothing would serve their turn but a holy hymn, and a tune sacred to the worship of Jehovah. 1 Chronicles 25:7, denotes sacred or liturgical songs, that is to say, songs belonging to Psalm poesy (including the Cantica).
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