New International Version
Psalms 137:9
9Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
Psalms 137:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!
- New King James Version (NKJV)Happy the one who takes and dashes Your little ones against the rock!
- New Living Translation (NLT)Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!
Context of Psalms 137:9
7Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!” 8Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us. Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
Read all of Psalms 137Psalms 137:9 word by word
אַשְׁרֵ֤י׀ שֶׁיֹּאחֵ֓ז וְנִפֵּ֬ץ אֶֽת־עֹ֝לָלַ֗יִךְ אֶל־הַסָּֽלַע׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 137:9
- Isaiah 13:16Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives violated.
- Hosea 10:14the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated— as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.
- Hosea 13:16The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open.”
Commentaries on Psalms 137:9
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Happy shall he be that taketh - Margin, as in Hebrew, rock. This refers to what was not uncommon in ancient warfare, as it is now among savage tribes - the indiscriminate slaughter of those of all ages, and of both sexes, in war. It was expressly foretold of Babylon that this would occur (see Isaiah 13:16, and the notes at that place), and there may be a reference here to that prediction, and the psalmist may mean to say that the man would be accounted…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-9Verses 5-9 What we love, we love to think of. Those that rejoice in God, for his sake make Jerusalem their joy. They stedfastly resolved to keep up this affection. When suffering, we should recollect with godly sorrow our forfeited mercies, and our sins by which we lost them. If temporal advantages ever render a profession, the worst calamity has befallen him. Far be it from us to avenge ourselves; we will leave it to Him who has said, Vengeance is mine…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-9The poet saw how the Edomites betrayed the people of Judah, so he calls on God to judge Edom. The long conflict between Edom and Judah reached its worst point near the end of Judah’s history. At that time, the Edomites handed the Judeans over to the Babylonians (Obadiah 1:10–11) and celebrated Jerusalem's fall. This prayer asking God to bring justice uses strong language and can be shocking.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 7-97-9. Remember ... the children of Edom--(Compare Psa 132:1), that is, to punish. the day of Jerusalem--its downfall (La 4:21, 22; Ob 11-13).Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 137:9
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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries