Amplified Bible
Psalms 137:4
4How can we sing the Lord’s song In a strange and foreign land?
Psalms 137:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?
- New International Version (NIV)How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?
- English Standard Version (ESV)How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?
- New King James Version (NKJV)How shall we sing the Lord’s song In a foreign land?
Context of Psalms 137:4
2On 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.” How 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]. 6Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not prefer Jerusalem Above my chief joy.
Read all of Psalms 137Psalms 137:4 word by word
אֵ֗יךְ נָשִׁ֥יר אֶת־שִׁיר־יְהוָ֑ה עַ֝֗ל אַדְמַ֥ת נֵכָֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 137:4
- Ecclesiastes 3:4A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.
- Isaiah 22:12Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to mourning, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth [in humiliation].
- Lamentations 5:14Elders are gone from the gate; Young men from their music.
- Hosea 9:4They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the Lord; Their sacrifices will not please Him. Their bread will be like mourners’ bread [eaten at funerals]; All who eat it will be [ceremonially] unclean, For their bread will be for themselves; It will not enter the house of the Lord [to be consecrated].
- Amos 8:3In that day, the songs of the palace shall turn to wailing,” says the Lord God. “There will be many dead bodies; in [sacred] silence they will throw them everywhere.”
- Isaiah 49:21Then [Zion], you will say in your heart, ‘Who has borne me these children, Since I have been bereaved of my children And am barren, an exile and a wanderer? And who has reared these? Indeed, I was left alone; From where then did these children come?’ ”
Commentaries on Psalms 137:4
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4How shall we sing the Lord‘s song - The song designed to celebrate his praise; that is, appropriate to the worship of Yahweh. In a strange land - Far from our home; far from the temple; exiles; captives: how can we find spirit in such circumstances to sing? How can we do that which would be indicative of what we do not feel, and cannot feel - joy and happiness! The idea is not that those psalms or songs would be profaned by being sung there, or that there…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
Topics related to Psalms 137:4
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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