American Standard Version
Psalms 137:4
4How shall we sing Jehovah’s songIn a 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
2Upon the willows in the midst thereof We hanged up our harps. 3For there they that led us captive required of us songs, And they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing Jehovah’s song In a foreign land? 5If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget her skill. 6Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, If I remember thee not; If I prefer not 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
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 22:12And in that day did the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
- Lamentations 5:14The elders have ceased from the gate, The young men from their music.
- Hosea 9:4They shall not pour out wine-offerings to Jehovah, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted; for their bread shall be for their appetite; it shall not come into the house of Jehovah.
- Amos 8:3And the songs of the temple shall be wailings in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah: the dead bodies shall be many; in every place shall they cast them forth with silence.
- Isaiah 49:21Then shalt thou say in thy heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?
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
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries