Tree of Life Version
Psalms 137:5
5If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither.
Psalms 137:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
- New International Version (NIV)If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.
- English Standard Version (ESV)If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!
- New King James Version (NKJV)If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill!
Context of Psalms 137:5
3For 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? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither. 6May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I cease to remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my chief joy. 7Remember, Adonai, the children of Edom, what they said on the day Jerusalem fell: “Strip her, strip her to her very foundation!”
Read all of Psalms 137Psalms 137:5 word by word
אִֽם־אֶשְׁכָּחֵ֥ךְ יְֽרוּשָׁלִָ֗ם תִּשְׁכַּ֥ח יְמִינִֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 137:5
- Psalms 84:1For the music director, upon the Gittite lyre, a psalm of the sons of Korah.
- Psalms 102:13But You, Adonai, sit enthroned forever. Your renown is from generation to generation.
- Psalms 122:5For there thrones for judgment are set up, the thrones of the house of David.
- Nehemiah 1:2that Hanani, one of my brothers, together with some men from Judah, arrived and I asked them about the Judeans, the remnant who had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem.
- Nehemiah 2:2So the king said to me, “Why is your face so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very frightened,
- Isaiah 62:1For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness shines out brightly, and her salvation as a blazing torch.
- Jeremiah 51:50Escapees from the sword, go! Do not stand still! Remember Adonai from afar— and make aliyah to Jerusalem in your heart.
- Daniel 6:10Thereupon King Darius issued the written decree.
- Zechariah 11:17Woe to the worthless shepherd who deserts the flock! May a sword fell his arm and his right eye! May his arm be all withered and his right eye totally blinded!”
Commentaries on Psalms 137:5
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5If I forget thee, O Jerusalem - The meaning here is, that to sing in such circumstances would seem to imply that they had forgotten Jerusalem; that they were unmindful of its sorrows, and cared not that it was desolate. The remembrance of its calamities pressed hard upon them, and they could not do anything which would seem to imply that they had become unmindful of the sufferings that had come upon their nation. One will not make merry when a wife or…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. 5-6The psalmist pledges his loyalty to Jerusalem, the city at the center of God’s reign and the location of fellowship with him.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 5-65-6. For joyful songs would imply forgetfulness of their desolated homes and fallen Church. The solemn imprecations on the hand and tongue, if thus forgetful, relate to the cunning or skill in playing, and the power of singing.Read the comment
- Rashi on Tanakh · v. 5If I forget you, O Jerusalem The congregation of Israel says this.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 137:5
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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