7 Remember, Jehovah, for the sons of Edom, The day of Jerusalem, Those saying, `Rase, rase to its foundation!'
Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of the doings of Edom, In taking vengeance on the house of Judah, Yea, they are very guilty, And they have taken vengeance on them. Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have stretched out My hand against Edom, And I have cut off from it man and beast, And given it up -- a waste, from Teman even to Dedan, By sword they do fall. And I have given My vengeance on Edom, By the hand of My people Israel, And they have done in Edom, According to My anger, and according to My fury, And they have known My vengeance, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
For slaughter, for violence `to' thy brother Jacob, Cover thee doth shame, And thou hast been cut off -- to the age. In the day of thy standing over-against, In the day of strangers taking captive his force, And foreigners have entered his gates, And for Jerusalem have cast a lot, Even thou `art' as one of them! And -- thou dost not look on the day of thy brother, On the day of his alienation, Nor dost thou rejoice over sons of Judah, In the day of their destruction, Nor make great thy mouth in a day of distress. Nor come into a gate of My people in a day of their calamity, Nor look, even thou, on its misfortune in a day of its calamity, Nor send forth against its force in a day of its calamity, Nor stand by the breach to cut off its escaped, Nor deliver up its remnant in a day of distress.
Concerning Edom: `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Perished hath counsel from the intelligent? Vanished hath their wisdom? Flee, turn, go deep to dwell, ye inhabitants of Dedan, For the calamity of Esau I brought in upon him, The time I inspected him. If gatherers have come in to thee, They do not leave gleanings, If thieves in the night, They have destroyed their sufficiency! For I -- I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, And to be hidden he is not able, Spoiled `is' his seed, and his brethren, And his neighbours, and he is not. Leave thine orphans -- I do keep alive, And thy widows -- on Me trust ye, For thus said Jehovah: They whose judgment is not to drink of the cup, Do certainly drink, And thou `art' he that is entirely acquitted! Thou art not acquitted, for thou certainly drinkest. For, by Myself, I have sworn, An affirmation of Jehovah, That for a desolation, for a reproach, For a waste, and for a reviling -- is Bozrah, And all her cities are for wastes age-during. A report I have heard from Jehovah, And an ambassador among nations is sent, Gather yourselves and come in against her, And rise ye for battle. For, lo, little I have made thee among nations, Despised among men. Thy terribleness hath lifted thee up, The pride of thy heart, O dweller in clefts of the rock, Holding the high place of the height, For thou makest high as an eagle thy nest, From thence I bring thee down, An affirmation of Jehovah. And Edom hath been for a desolation, Every passer by her is astonished, And doth hiss because of all her plagues. As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, And its neighbours, said Jehovah, No one doth dwell there, Nor sojourn in her doth a son of man. Lo, as a lion he cometh up, Because of the rising of the Jordan, Unto the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause him to run from off her, And who is chosen? concerning her I lay a charge, For who is like Me? and who conveneth Me? And who `is' this shepherd who standeth before Me? Therefore, hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, That He hath counselled concerning Edom, And His devices that He hath devised Concerning the inhabitants of Teman: Drag them out do not little ones of the flock, Make desolate over them doth he not their habitation? From the noise of their fall hath the earth shaken, The cry -- at the sea of Suph is its voice heard. Lo, as an eagle he cometh up, and flieth, And he spreadeth his wings over Bozrah, And the heart of the mighty of Edom hath been in that day, As the heart of a distressed woman!'
Joy and rejoice, O daughter of Edom, Dwelling in the land of Uz, Even unto thee pass over doth a cup, Thou art drunk, and makest thyself naked. Completed `is' thy iniquity, daughter of Zion, He doth not add to remove thee, He hath inspected thy iniquity, O daughter of Edom, He hath removed `thee' because of thy sins!
Remember not for us the iniquities of forefathers, Haste, let Thy mercies go before us, For we have been very weak. Help us, O God of our salvation, Because of the honour of Thy name, And deliver us, and cover over our sins, For Thy name's sake. Why do the nations say, `Where `is' their God?' Let be known among the nations before our eyes, The vengeance of the blood of Thy servants that is shed. Let the groaning of the prisoner come in before Thee, According to the greatness of Thine arm, Leave Thou the sons of death. And turn Thou back to our neighbours, Sevenfold unto their bosom, their reproach, Wherewith they reproached Thee, O Lord.
For soaked in the heavens was My sword, Lo, on Edom it cometh down, On the people of My curse for judgment. A sword `is' to Jehovah -- it hath been full of blood, It hath been made fat with fatness, With blood of lambs and he-goats. With fat of kidneys of rams, For a sacrifice `is' to Jehovah in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
`Who `is' this coming from Edom? With dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is honourable in his clothing, Travelling in the abundance of his power?' -- `I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.' `Wherefore `is' thy clothing red? And thy garments as treading in a wine fat?' -- `A wine-press I have trodden by myself, And of the peoples there is no one with me, And I tread them in mine anger, And I trample them in my fury, Sprinkled is their strength on my garments, And all my clothing I have polluted. For the day of vengeance `is' in my heart, And the year of my redeemed hath come. And I look attentively, and there is none helping, And I am astonished that there is none supporting, And give salvation to me doth mine own arm. And my wrath -- it hath supported me. And I tread down peoples in mine anger, And I make them drunk in my fury, And I bring down to earth their strength.
And the house of Jacob hath been a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame, And the house of Esau for stubble, And they have burned among them, And they have consumed them, And there is not a remnant to the house of Esau, For Jehovah hath spoken. And they have possessed the south with the mount of Esau, And the low country with the Philistines, And they have possessed the field of Ephraim, And the field of Samaria, And Benjamin with Gilead. And the removed of this force of the sons of Israel, That `is with' the Canaanites unto Zarephat, And the removed of Jerusalem that `is' with the Sepharad, Possess the cities of the south. And gone up have saviours on mount Zion, To judge the mount of Esau, And the kingdom hath been to Jehovah!'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 137
Commentary on Psalms 137 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 137
Ps 137:1-9. This Psalm records the mourning of the captive Israelites, and a prayer and prediction respecting the destruction of their enemies.
1. rivers of Babylon—the name of the city used for the whole country.
remembered Zion—or, Jerusalem, as in Ps 132:13.
2. upon the willows—which may have grown there then, if not now; as the palm, which was once common, is now rare in Palestine.
3, 4. Whether the request was in curiosity or derision, the answer intimates that a compliance was incongruous with their mournful feelings (Pr 25:20).
5, 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.
7-9. Remember … the children of Edom—(Compare Ps 132:1), that is, to punish.
the day of Jerusalem—its downfall (La 4:21, 22; Ob 11-13).
8. daughter of Babylon—the people (Ps 9:13). Their destruction had been abundantly foretold (Isa 13:14; Jer 51:23). For the terribleness of that destruction, God's righteous judgment, and not the passions of the chafed Israelites, was responsible.