Psalms 137:2

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 sat down; yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. 3For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that made us wail [required] mirth, [saying,] Sing us [one] of the songs of Zion. 4How should we sing a song of Jehovah's upon a foreign soil?

Psalms 137:2 word by word

עַֽל־עֲרָבִ֥ים בְּתוֹכָ֑הּ תָּ֝לִ֗ינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵֽינוּ׃Read the interlinear

• hangedתָּלָהtâlâh · to hangH8518
• harpsכִּנּוֹרkinnôr · lyreH3658
• midstתָּ֫וֶךְtâvek · midstH8432

Cross-references for Psalms 137:2

• Psalms 33:2Give thanks unto Jehovah with the harp; sing psalms unto him with the ten-stringed lute.
• Psalms 81:2Raise a song, and sound the tambour, the pleasant harp with the lute.
• Isaiah 24:8the mirth of tambours ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
• Ezekiel 26:13And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.
• Amos 8:10And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only [son], and the end thereof as a bitter day.
• Revelation 18:22and voice of harp-singers and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters shall not be heard any more at all in thee, and no artificer of any art shall be found any more at all in thee, and voice of millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee,

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

• Church
• Country
• Harp
• Jerusalem
• Music
• Patriotism
• Willow

In the dictionaries

• Cleave
• Cunning
• Harp
• Music
• Prefer
• Roof
• Willows
• Haggai
• Hanging
• Psalms, Book of

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