Though there is no title prefixed to this beautiful psalm, and no direct intimation as to the occasion on which it was composed, yet there can be no doubt as to the circumstances in which it was written. There is, indeed, no mention of the name of the author, and no possibility of recovering that na... [ Continue Reading ]
BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON - The streams, the water-courses, the rivulets. There was properly only one river flowing through Babylon - the Euphrates; but the city was watered, as Damascus now is, by means of canals or water-courses cut from the main river, and conveying the water to different parts of... [ Continue Reading ]
WE 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_... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR 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... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW SHALL WE SING THE LORD’S SONG - The song designed to celebrate his praise; that is, appropriate to the worship of Yahweh. IN A STRANGE LAND - Far from our home; far from the temple; exiles; captives: how can we find spirit in such circumstances to sing? How can we do that which would be indicat... [ Continue Reading ]
IF 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... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I DO NOT REMEMBER THEE - Equivalent to, “If I forget thee.” If I ever fail to remember thee; if I shall ever act as if I had forgotten thee. Singing in a strange land, among those who had perpetrated such wrongs in thee - appearing to be happy, cheerful, joyous, happy, merry there - would be unde... [ Continue Reading ]
REMEMBER, O LORD, THE CHILDREN OF EDOM - The Edomites; the people of Idumea. On the situation of Edom or Idumea, see introductory notes to Isaiah 34. IN THE DAY OF JERUSALEM - In the day when Jerusalem shall be restored; in the day when punishment shall be inflicted on the nations that destroyed it;... [ Continue Reading ]
O DAUGHTER OF BABYLON - That is, Babylon itself; the city of Babylon. On the word “daughter” as thus used, see the notes at Isaiah 1:8. WHO ART TO BE DESTROYED - Certainly to be destroyed; of whose destruction there are fixed and absolute prophecies. See the notes at Isaiah 13:19. HAPPY SHALL HE BE... [ Continue Reading ]
HAPPY SHALL HE BE THAT TAKETH ... - Margin, as in Hebrew, rock. This refers to what was not uncommon in ancient warfare, as it is now among savage tribes - the indiscriminate slaughter of those of all ages, and of both sexes, in war. It was expressly foretold of Babylon that this would occur (see Is... [ Continue Reading ]