Psalms 137:2

Psalms 137:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.

Context of Psalms 137:2

1By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?

Psalms 137:2 word by word

עַֽל־עֲרָבִ֥ים בְּתוֹכָ֑הּ תָּ֝לִ֗ינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵֽינוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• We hangedתָּלָהtâlâh · to hangH8518
• our harpsכִּנּוֹרkinnôr · lyreH3658
• upon the willowsעֲרָבָה‛ârâb · willowH6155
• in the midstתָּ֫וֶךְtâvek · midstH8432

Cross-references for Psalms 137:2

• Psalms 33:2Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
• Psalms 81:2Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre.
• Isaiah 24:8The joyful timbrels are stilled, the noise of the revelers has stopped, the joyful harp is silent.
• Ezekiel 26:13I will put an end to your noisy songs, and the music of your harps will be heard no more.
• Amos 8:10I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.
• Revelation 18:22The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No worker of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.

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