9 Happy H835 shall he be, that taketh H270 and dasheth H5310 thy little ones H5768 against the stones. H5553
Their children H5768 also shall be dashed to pieces H7376 before their eyes; H5869 their houses H1004 shall be spoiled, H8155 and their wives H802 ravished. H7901 H7693
And Hazael H2371 said, H559 Why weepeth H1058 my lord? H113 And he answered, H559 Because I know H3045 the evil H7451 that thou wilt do H6213 unto the children H1121 of Israel: H3478 their strong holds H4013 wilt thou set H7971 on fire, H784 and their young men H970 wilt thou slay H2026 with the sword, H2719 and wilt dash H7376 their children, H5768 and rip up H1234 their women with child. H2030
Therefore shall a tumult H7588 arise H6965 among thy people, H5971 and all thy fortresses H4013 shall be spoiled, H7703 as Shalman H8020 spoiled H7701 Betharbel H1009 in the day H3117 of battle: H4421 the mother H517 was dashed in pieces H7376 upon her children. H1121
Yet was she carried away, H1473 she went H1980 into captivity: H7628 her young children H5768 also were dashed in pieces H7376 at the top H7218 of all the streets: H2351 and they cast H3032 lots H1486 for her honourable men, H3513 and all her great men H1419 were bound H7576 in chains. H2131
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 137
Commentary on Psalms 137 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 137
There are divers psalms which are thought to have been penned in the latter days of the Jewish church, when prophecy was near expiring and the canon of the Old Testament ready to be closed up, but none of them appears so plainly to be of a late date as this, which was penned when the people of God were captives in Babylon, and there insulted over by these proud oppressors; probably it was towards the latter end of their captivity; for now they saw the destruction of Babylon hastening on apace (v. 8), which would be their discharge. It is a mournful psalm, a lamentation; and the Septuagint makes it one of the lamentations of Jeremiah, naming him for the author of it. Here
In singing this psalm we must be much affected with the concernments of the church, especially that part of it that is in affliction, laying the sorrows of God's people near our hearts, comforting ourselves in the prospect of the deliverance of the church and the ruin of its enemies, in due time, but carefully avoiding all personal animosities, and not mixing the leaven of malice with our sacrifices.
Psa 137:1-6
We have here the daughter of Zion covered with a cloud, and dwelling with the daughter of Babylon; the people of God in tears, but sowing in tears. Observe,
Psa 137:7-9
The pious Jews in Babylon, having afflicted themselves with the thoughts of the ruins of Jerusalem, here please themselves with the prospect of the ruin of her impenitent implacable enemies; but this not from a spirit of revenge, but from a holy zeal for the glory of God and the honour of his kingdom.