By the rivers of Babylon, along the banks of which many of the Jews had settled for the period of the captivity, THERE WE SAT DOWN, their deep grief having driven them away into the solitude of the country, YEA, WE WEPT WHEN WE REMEMBERED ZION, for the anxiety of the believing Jews did not concern t... [ Continue Reading ]
SONG OF GRIEF OF THE CAPTIVE JEWS. The unknown poet here records the deep grief and mourning of the Jews during the Babylonian captivity and includes a prayer for the destruction of their enemies, since their enmity was a challenge to the God of Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
We hanged our harps, otherwise used to accompany joyous and festal songs, UPON THE WILLOWS IN THE MIDST THEREOF, to indicate that all their joyful hymns were hushed. The silent and pensive sitting among the weeping willows by the side of the gently flowing streams agrees well with the feeling of hom... [ Continue Reading ]
For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song, either out of curiosity or in derision; AND THEY WASTED US, those who had inflicted pain upon them, their oppressors, REQUIRED OF US MIRTH, an expression of happiness, SAYING, SING US ONE OF THE SONGS OF ZION. The enemies did not rea... [ Continue Reading ]
How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? Their sacred songs were, in their minds, inseparably connected with the worship of the Temple, the Sanctuary in Jerusalem, and it seemed to them a desecration to strike up their psalms for the entertainment of their captors; it was opposed to thei... [ Continue Reading ]
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, the Sanctuary with the worship of Jehovah, LET MY RIGHT HAND FORGET HER CUNNING, the power of motion in general, and especially her skill with the harp.... [ Continue Reading ]
If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, in an agony of thirst and suffering; IF I PREFER NOT JERUSALEM ABOVE MY CHIEF JOY, literally, "if I do not place Jerusalem above the summit of my joy," that is, if he, and all believing Jews with him, did not consider the Sanct... [ Continue Reading ]
es of the earth and of the masses of people as well, but that he maintained his righteous cause in the power of the Lord.... [ Continue Reading ]