New Living Translation
Psalms 137:2
2We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.
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
1Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. 3For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” 4But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?
Read all of Psalms 137Psalms 137:2 word by word
עַֽל־עֲרָבִ֥ים בְּתוֹכָ֑הּ תָּ֝לִ֗ינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵֽינוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 137:2
- Psalms 33:2Praise the Lord with melodies on the lyre; make music for him on the ten-stringed harp.
- Psalms 81:2Sing! Beat the tambourine. Play the sweet lyre and the harp.
- Isaiah 24:8The cheerful sound of tambourines is stilled; the happy cries of celebration are heard no more. The melodious chords of the harp are silent.
- Ezekiel 26:13I will stop the music of your songs. No more will the sound of harps be heard among your people.
- Amos 8:10I will turn your celebrations into times of mourning and your singing into weeping. You will wear funeral clothes and shave your heads to show your sorrow— as if your only son had died. How very bitter that day will be!
- Revelation 18:22The sound of harps, singers, flutes, and trumpets will never be heard in you again. No craftsmen and no trades will ever be found in you again. The sound of the mill 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
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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