PSALM CXXXVII _The desolate and afflicted state of the captives in Babylon_, 1, 2. _How they were insulted by their enemies_, 3, 4. _Their attachment to their country_, 5, 6. _Judgments denounced against their enemies_, 7-9. NOTES ON PSALM CXXXVII The _Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic_, and _A... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 137:2. _WE HANGED OUR HARPS UPON THE WILLOWS_] The ערבים _arabim_ or _willows_ were very plentiful in Babylon. The great quantity of them that were on the banks of the _Euphrates_ caused Isaiah, Isaiah 15:7, to call it _the brook_ or _river of willows_. This is a most affecting picture... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 137:3. _THEY THAT CARRIED US AWAY CAPTIVE REQUIRED OF US A_ _SONG_] This was as _unreasonable_ as it was _insulting_. How could they who had reduced us to slavery, and dragged us in chains from our own beautiful land and privileges, expect us to sing a sacred ode to please them, who wer... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 137:4. _HOW SHALL WE SING THE LORD'S SONG_] איך נשיר _eich!_ _nashir; O, we sing_! Who does not hear the _deep sigh_ in the strongly guttural sound of the original איך _eich_! wrung, as it were, from the bottom of the heart? _Can_ WE, in this state of _slavery_, - WE, _exiles_, from our... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 137:5. _IF I FORGET THEE, O JERUSALEM_] Such conduct would be, in effect, a renunciation of our land a tacit acknowledgment that we were reconciled to our bondage; a concession that we were pleased with our captivity, and could profane holy ordinances by using them as means of _sport_ o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 137:6. _LET MY TONGUE CLEAVE_] Let me lose my _voice_, and all its powers of _melody_; my _tongue_, and all its _faculty_ of _speech_; my _ear_, and its _discernment_ of _sounds_; if I do not prefer my _country_, my _people_, and the _ordinances of my God_, beyond all these, and whateve... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 137:7. _REMEMBER - THE CHILDREN OF EDOM_] It appears from Jeremiah 12:6; Jeremiah 25:14; Lamentations 4:21; Ezekiel 25:12; Obadiah 1:11; that the _Idumeans_ joined the army of Nebuchadnezzar against their brethren the Jews; and that they were main instruments in rasing the walls of Jeru... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 137:8. _O DAUGHTER OF BABYLON, WHO ART TO BE DESTROYED_] Or, _O_ _thou daughter of Babylon the destroyer_, or, _who art to be ruined_. In being reduced under the empire of the Persians, Babylon was already greatly humbled and brought low from what it was in the days of Nebuchadnezzar; b... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 137:9. _HAPPY - THAT TAKETH AND DASHETH THY LITTLE ONES_] That is, So oppressive hast thou been to all under thy domination, as to become universally hated and detested; so that those who may have the last hand in thy destruction, and the total extermination of thy inhabitants, shall b... [ Continue Reading ]