Psalms 137:3

Psalms 137:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
• New International Version (NIV)for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
• English Standard Version (ESV)For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
• New Living Translation (NLT)For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!”

Context of Psalms 137:3

1By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion. 2We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it. For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And those who plundered us requested mirth, Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4How shall we sing the Lord’s song In a foreign land? 5If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill!

Psalms 137:3 word by word

כִּ֤י שָׁ֨ם שְֽׁאֵל֪וּנוּ שׁוֹבֵ֡ינוּ דִּבְרֵי־שִׁ֭יר וְתוֹלָלֵ֣ינוּ שִׂמְחָ֑ה שִׁ֥ירוּ לָ֝֗נוּ מִשִּׁ֥יר צִיּֽוֹן׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For there they that carried us away captiveשָׁבָהshâbâh · to take captiveH7617
• requiredשָׁאַלshâ'al shâ'êl · to askH7592
• of us a songשִׁירshîyr shîyrâh · songH7892
• of us a songדָּבָרdâbâr · word: becauseH1697
• and they that wastedתּוֹלָלtôlâl · tormentorH8437
• mirthשִׂמְחָהώimchâh · joyH8057
• Singשִׁירshîyr shûr · to singH7891
• of Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726

Cross-references for Psalms 137:3

• Psalms 123:3Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
• Lamentations 2:15All who pass by clap their hands at you; They hiss and shake their heads At the daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that is called ‘The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth’?”
• Psalms 79:1O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance; Your holy temple they have defiled; They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
• Nehemiah 4:2And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?”
• Jeremiah 9:11“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.”
• Jeremiah 26:18“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest.” ’
• Micah 3:12Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest.
• Luke 21:6“These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.”
• Psalms 9:14That I may tell of all Your praise In the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Your salvation.
• Psalms 65:1Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion; And to You the vow shall be performed.
• 1 Chronicles 15:27David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the music master with the singers. David also wore a linen ephod.
• 1 Chronicles 16:7On that day David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the Lord:
• Isaiah 35:10And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
• Isaiah 51:11So the ransomed of the Lord shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
• Jeremiah 31:12Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, Streaming to the goodness of the Lord— For wheat and new wine and oil, For the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, And they shall sorrow no more at all.
• Revelation 14:1Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.

Commentaries on Psalms 137:3

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3For there they that carried us away captive - The Babylonians. Required of us a song - Asked of us a song. The word does not express the idea of compulsion or force. Margin, as in Hebrew, words of a song. Perhaps the idea is that they did not merely ask music, but they wished to hear the words - the songs themselves - in which they were accustomed to praise God. This may have been a taunt, and the request may have been in derision; or it may have been…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
• Rashi on Tanakh · v. 3and our tormentors mirth Heb. ותוללינו, kinds of musical instruments that they hang up. This is how Menachem interpreted it (p. 184): וְתוֹלָלֵינוּ שמחה, and our musical instruments of joy. וְתוֹלָלֵינוּ can also be interpreted as: our enemies who would scorn and mock and joke with us, an expression of (102: 9): “those who scorn me (מהוללי) swear by me.”Read the comment

Topics related to Psalms 137:3

• Church
• Country
• Jerusalem
• Music
• Patriotism

In the dictionaries

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

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