Amplified Bible
Psalms 137:3
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.”
Psalms 137:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
- New International Version (NIV)for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
- English Standard Version (ESV)For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
- New King James Version (NKJV)For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And those who plundered us requested mirth, Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
Context of Psalms 137:3
1By the rivers of Babylon, There we [captives] sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion [the city God imprinted on our hearts]. 2On the willow trees in the midst of Babylon We hung our harps. For 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? 5If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget [her skill with the harp].
Read all of Psalms 137Psalms 137:3 word by word
כִּ֤י שָׁ֨ם שְֽׁאֵל֪וּנוּ שׁוֹבֵ֡ינוּ דִּבְרֵי־שִׁ֭יר וְתוֹלָלֵ֣ינוּ שִׂמְחָ֑ה שִׁ֥ירוּ לָ֝֗נוּ מִשִּׁ֥יר צִיּֽוֹן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For there they that carried us away captiveשָׁבָהshâbâh · to take captiveH7617
- requiredשָׁאַלshâ'al shâ'êl · to askH7592
- of us a songשִׁירshîyr shîyrâh · songH7892
- of us a songדָּבָרdâbâr · word: becauseH1697
- and they that wastedתּוֹלָלtôlâl · tormentorH8437
- mirthשִׂמְחָהώimchâh · joyH8057
- Singשִׁירshîyr shûr · to singH7891
- of Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
Cross-references for Psalms 137:3
- Psalms 123:3Be gracious to us, O Lord, be gracious and favorable toward us, For we are greatly filled with contempt.
- Lamentations 2:15All who pass along the way Clap their hands in derision at you; They scoff and shake their heads At the Daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that was called ‘The perfection of beauty, The joy of all the earth’?”
- Psalms 79:1O God, the nations have invaded [the land of Your people] Your inheritance; They have defiled Your sacred temple; They have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
- Nehemiah 4:2He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the heaps of dust and rubbish, even the ones that have been burned?”
- Jeremiah 9:11I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, A haunt and dwelling place of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
- Jeremiah 26:18“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Zion will be plowed like a field, And Jerusalem will become [heaps of] ruins, And the mountain of the house [of the Lord—Mount Moriah, on which stands the temple, shall become covered not with buildings, but] like a densely wooded height.” ’
- Micah 3:12Therefore, on account of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, And the mountain of the house [of the Lord] shall become like a densely wooded hill.
- Luke 21:6“As for all these things which you see, the time will come when there will not be one stone left on another that will not be torn down.”
- Psalms 9:14That I may tell aloud all Your praises, That in the gates of the daughter of Zion (Jerusalem) I may rejoice in Your salvation and Your help.
- Psalms 65:1To You belongs silence [the submissive wonder of reverence], and [it bursts into] praise in Zion, O God; And to You the vow shall be performed.
- 1 Chronicles 15:27David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who carried the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah, director of the music of the singers. David also wore an ephod (a priestly upper garment) of linen.
- 1 Chronicles 16:7Then on that day David first entrusted to Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the Lord [as their chief task].
- Isaiah 35:10And the ransomed of the Lord will return And come to Zion with shouts of jubilation, And everlasting joy will be upon their heads; They will find joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
- Isaiah 51:11So the redeemed of the Lord will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion; Everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
- Jeremiah 31:12“They will come and sing aloud and shout for joy on the height of Zion, And will be radiant [with joy] over the goodness of the Lord— For the grain, for the new wine, for the oil, And for the young of the flock and the herd. And their life will be like a watered garden, And they shall never sorrow or languish again.
- Revelation 14:1Then I looked, and this is what I saw: the Lamb stood [firmly established] on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had His name and His Father’s name inscribed on their foreheads [signifying God’s own possession].
Commentaries on Psalms 137:3
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3For there they that carried us away captive - The Babylonians. Required of us a song - Asked of us a song. The word does not express the idea of compulsion or force. Margin, as in Hebrew, words of a song. Perhaps the idea is that they did not merely ask music, but they wished to hear the words - the songs themselves - in which they were accustomed to praise God. This may have been a taunt, and the request may have been in derision; or it may have been…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. 3-43-4. Whether the request was in curiosity or derision, the answer intimates that a compliance was incongruous with their mournful feelings (Pr 25:20).Read the comment
- Rashi on Tanakh · v. 3and our tormentors mirth Heb. ותוללינו, kinds of musical instruments that they hang up. This is how Menachem interpreted it (p. 184): וְתוֹלָלֵינוּ שמחה, and our musical instruments of joy. וְתוֹלָלֵינוּ can also be interpreted as: our enemies who would scorn and mock and joke with us, an expression of (102: 9): “those who scorn me (מהוללי) swear by me.”Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 137:3
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
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