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 King James Version (NKJV)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!”

Context of Psalms 137:3

1By the rivers of Babylon, we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. 2On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors demanded songs and our tormentors asked for joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” 4How can we sing a song of Adonai in a foreign land? 5If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither.

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 123:3Show us favor, Adonai, show us favor! For we have endured much contempt.
• Lamentations 2:15All who pass your way clap their hands at you. They hiss and shake their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem. “Is this the city of which they said, ‘The perfection of beauty,’ ‘the joy of the whole earth’?”
• Psalms 79:1A Psalm of Asaph. God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance, defiled Your holy Temple, and reduced Jerusalem to ruins.
• Nehemiah 4:2They all conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to stir up trouble against it.
• Jeremiah 9:11Who is the one wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of Adonai spoken that he may explain it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?”
• Jeremiah 26:18“Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot: ‘Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become ruins, and the mountain of the House as the high places of a forest.’
• Micah 3:12Therefore, because of you Zion will become a plowed field. Yes, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the Temple Mount will become a high place in a forest.
• Luke 21:6“As for these things you are looking at, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another. Every one will be torn down!”
• Psalms 9:14Be compassionate to me, Adonai. See my affliction from those hating me. Lift me up from the gates of death.
• Psalms 65:1For the music director, a psalm, a song of David.
• 1 Chronicles 15:27Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the Ark, and as were the singers and Henaniah the leader of the songs of the singers. David also wore a linen ephod.
• 1 Chronicles 16:7On that day David first appointed Asaph and his kinsmen to give thanks to Adonai:
• Isaiah 35:10The ransomed of Adonai will return and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
• Isaiah 51:11Now the ransomed of Adonai will return, and come to Zion with singing. Everlasting joy will be upon their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
• Jeremiah 31:12Then will the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old men together. For I will turn their mourning into joy, and I will comfort them, and make them rejoice out of their sorrow.
• Revelation 14:1Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him were 144,000 who had His name and 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