New International Version
Psalms 137:4
4How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in 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?
- 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?
- New Living Translation (NLT)But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?
Context of Psalms 137:4
2There 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!” How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? 5If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. 6May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest 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 22:12The Lord, the Lord Almighty, called you on that day to weep and to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.
- Lamentations 5:14The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.
- Hosea 9:4They will not pour out wine offerings to the Lord, nor will their sacrifices please him. Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat them will be unclean. This food will be for themselves; it will not come into the temple of the Lord.
- Amos 8:3“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!”
- Isaiah 49:21Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up? I was left all alone, but these—where have they come from?’ ”
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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