Amplified Bible
Psalms 137:2
2On the willow trees in the midst of Babylon We hung our harps.
Psalms 137:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
- New International Version (NIV)There on the poplars we hung our harps,
- English Standard Version (ESV)On the willows there we hung up our lyres.
- New King James Version (NKJV)We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it.
Context of Psalms 137:2
1By the rivers of Babylon, There we [captives] sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion [the city God imprinted on our hearts]. On the willow trees in the midst of Babylon We hung our harps. 3For there they who took us captive demanded of us a song with words, And our tormentors [who made a mockery of us demanded] amusement, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” 4How can we sing the Lord’s song In a strange and foreign land?
Read all of Psalms 137Psalms 137:2 word by word
עַֽל־עֲרָבִ֥ים בְּתוֹכָ֑הּ תָּ֝לִ֗ינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵֽינוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 137:2
- Psalms 33:2Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; Sing praises to Him with the harp of ten strings.
- Psalms 81:2Raise a song, sound the timbrel, The sweet sounding lyre with the harp.
- Isaiah 24:8The mirth of the timbrels (tambourines) ceases, The noise of those who rejoice ends, The joy of the harp ceases.
- Ezekiel 26:13So I will silence your songs, and the sound of your lyres will no longer be heard.
- Amos 8:10And I shall turn your festivals and feasts into mourning And all your songs into dirges (funeral poems to be sung); And I shall cause sackcloth to be put on everyone’s loins And baldness on every head [shaved for mourning]. And I shall make that time like a time of mourning for an only son [who has died], And the end of it shall be like a bitter day.
- Revelation 18:22And the sound of harpists and musicians and flutists and trumpeters will never again be heard in you, and no skilled artisan of any craft will ever again be found in you, and the sound of the millstone [grinding grain] will never again be heard in you [for commerce will no longer flourish, and normal life will cease].
Commentaries on Psalms 137:2
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2We hanged our harps upon the willows - The harps once used to accompany the songs of praise and the service of God in the temple; the harps with which they had sought to beguile their weary hours, and to console their sad spirits in their captivity. The word rendered “willows” - ערבים ‛ărâbiym - used only in the plural, denotes the willow or osier, so called from its white, silvery leaves. Gesenius, Lexicon. Compare Isaiah 15:7. It is probable that the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-4Because the music of Jerusalem was connected to the joy of life in the promised land, the exile took away any reason to sing joyful songs. The Babylonians asked the Judeans to sing and dance for them, but the people were so full of grief that they could not do it. The songs about the Lord celebrate his power and goodness, but his people were now filled with doubt and questions. They hung their harps in the trees, which may show that their joy had come to…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. upon the willows--which may have grown there then, if not now; as the palm, which was once common, is now rare in Palestine.Read the comment
- Rashi on Tanakh · v. 2On willows Willows of the brook.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 137:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 137
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
Amplified Bible — © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631
Commentaries