עַל נַהֲרוֹת בָּבֶל שָׁם יָשַׁבְנוּ
גַּם בָּכִינוּ בְּזָכְרֵנוּ אֶת צִיּוֹן | 1 | By the rivers of Babel - there we sat yea we wept when we remembered Zion |
עַל עֲרָבִים בְּתוֹכָהּ
תָּלִינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵינוּ | 2 | on willows in the midst of her we hung our harps |
כִּי שָׁם שְׁאֵלוּנוּ שׁוֹבֵינוּ דִּבְרֵי שִׁיר
וְתוֹלָלֵינוּ שִׂמְחָה שִׁירוּ לָנוּ מִשִּׁיר צִיּוֹן | 3 | for there our captors asked us the words of a song and our tormentors mirth Sing to us a song of Zion |
אֵיךְ נָשִׁיר אֶת שִׁיר יְהוָה
עַל אַדְמַת נֵכָר | 4 | how will we sing such a song of יְהוָה on alien ground? |
אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלִָם
תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִי | 5 | If I forget you Jerusalem let my right hand forget |
תִּדְבַּק לְשׁוֹנִי לְחִכִּי
אִם לֹא אֶזְכְּרֵכִי אִם לֹא אַעֲלֶה אֶת יְרוּשָׁלִַם עַל רֹאשׁ שִׂמְחָתִי | 6 | let my tongue cleave to my palate if I do not remember you if I do not offer you up Jerusalem over my ultimate mirth |
זְכֹר יְהוָה לִבְנֵי אֱדוֹם
אֵת יוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם הָאֹמְרִים עָרוּ עָרוּ עַד הַיְסוֹד בָּהּ | 7 | Remember יְהוָה of the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem those saying Expose expose her to the foundations |
בַּת בָּבֶל הַשְּׁדוּדָה
אַשְׁרֵי שֶׁיְשַׁלֶּם לָךְ אֶת גְּמוּלֵךְ שֶׁגָּמַלְתְּ לָנוּ | 8 | Devastating daughter of Babel happy the one who makes peace with you even rewards you as you rewarded us |
אַשְׁרֵי שֶׁיֹּאחֵז וְנִפֵּץ
אֶת עֹלָלַיִךְ אֶל הַסָּלַע | 9 | happy the one who grasps and smashes your babies on the cliff |
Hebrew words: 84. Percentage of Hebrew words that recur in this psalm: 55%. Average keywords per verse: 5.1.
| 6 | ultimate, ראשׁ (r'sh), or head, top, beginning, chief, ultimate etc. Note the Aramaic form of the second person singular suffix for remember. |
| 8 | the one who, interpreting the relative use of the letter shin, also in v9. rewards גמל (gml) in the sense of payback. See also Psalm 131 where the root indicates a nursing child on the mother's back. |
Selected recurring words in relative order
| Word and gloss * first usage | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Vs | Root |
* בבל Babel
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| 1 | בבל | ||||||||||||||
שׁם there
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| 1 | שׁם | ||||||||||||||
בזכרנו in remembering
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| 1 | זכר | ||||||||||||||
ציון Zion
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| 1 | ציון | ||||||||||||||
שׁם there
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| 3 | שׁם | ||||||||||||||
שׁיר a song
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| 3 | שׁיר | ||||||||||||||
שׂמחה mirth
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| 3 | שׂמח | ||||||||||||||
שׁירו sing
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| 3 | שׁיר | ||||||||||||||
לנו to us
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| 3 | לנו | ||||||||||||||
משׁיר a song of
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| 3 | שׁיר | ||||||||||||||
ציון Zion
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| 3 | ציון | ||||||||||||||
נשׁיר will we sing
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| 4 | שׁיר | ||||||||||||||
שׁיר a song of
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| 4 | שׁיר | ||||||||||||||
יהוה יהוה
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| 4 | יהוה | ||||||||||||||
אם if
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| 5 | אם | ||||||||||||||
אשׁכחך I forget you
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| 5 | שׁכח | ||||||||||||||
ירושׁלם Jerusalem
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| 5 | ירושׁלם | ||||||||||||||
תשׁכח let forget
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| 5 | שׁכח | ||||||||||||||
אם if
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| 6 | אם | ||||||||||||||
לא not
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| 6 | לא | ||||||||||||||
אזכרכי I do remember you
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| 6 | זכר | ||||||||||||||
אם if
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| 6 | אם | ||||||||||||||
לא not
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| 6 | לא | ||||||||||||||
ירושׁלם Jerusalem
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| 6 | ירושׁלם | ||||||||||||||
שׂמחתי my mirth
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| 6 | שׂמח | ||||||||||||||
זכר remember
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| 7 | זכר | ||||||||||||||
יהוה יהוה
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| 7 | יהוה | ||||||||||||||
ירושׁלם Jerusalem
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| 7 | ירושׁלם | ||||||||||||||
* ערו expose
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| 7 | ערה | ||||||||||||||
* ערו expose
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| 7 | ערה | ||||||||||||||
* בבל Babel
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| 8 | בבל | ||||||||||||||
אשׁרי happy
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| 8 | אשׁר | ||||||||||||||
גמולך rewards you
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| 8 | גמל | ||||||||||||||
שׁגמלת as you rewarded
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| 8 | גמל | ||||||||||||||
לנו us
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| 8 | לנו | ||||||||||||||
אשׁרי happy
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| 9 | אשׁר |
Verses 5 and 6 are first person singular. They are about Jerusalem, the place that is remembered when the people are in Babel.
Verses 7 to 9 are prayer and address concerning the persecutors, Edom and Babel, who itself is directly addressed in the third person singular. Recall the only other use of smash in the Psalter is in Psalm 2, in which the anointed is reminded that he will like fashioned pots, smash them.
The three sections are held together by remember with support in the second section by a repeated forget. This reading was pointed out by Magonet in his lecture at Oxford 2010. His advice for the reading of the psalms is a good part of the reason for my study, analysis, and writing on the psalms.
Psalm 137 reminds us of the exile. This is the last direct mention of the exile, closing the bracket opened in Psalms 42-44.
If one has not experienced exile, one cannot appreciate the shame, the memory, the loss of identity, home, place, and dislocation of community. While exile may be deserved or not, there are captors instrumental within it that need correction.
To have noted that quotation from Charles Williams is a curious accident. Indeed the foundations of Jerusalem are exposed. We hear no more of exile after this. We had heard nothing of it prior to Book 2. The exile is not the saving event. While we may learn from our affliction, even affliction for our own sin, salvation is effected differently and is remembered. So Passover, so the Eucharist. But God makes his presence known both in rebuke and in mercy - and both are good. As the psalmist said - of affliction Psalm 119:71, 75, and of mercy Psalm 63:3. And I did not hesitate to translate the loving-kindness in Psalm 23 as rebuke.
The videos etc which I had here were no longer available. You will find several sample performances on the music page. And the videos etc are available here.
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