Psalms 137:7

7 O LORD, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. “Destroy it!” they yelled. “Level it to the ground!”

Psalms 137:7 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 137:7

Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of
Jerusalem
Of her visitation, calamity, and destruction, how they behaved then, and them for it; who, though the children of Esau and brethren of the Jews, as well as their neighbours, yet hated them; the old grudge of their father, because of the birthright and blessing, as well as the old enmity of the serpent, continuing in them; and who rejoiced at their ruin, helped forward their affliction, and were assistants to the Babylonians in the plunder and destruction of them, ( Obadiah 1:11-14 ) . The Targum is,

``Michael, the prince of Jerusalem, said, remember, O Lord, the people of Edom who destroyed Jerusalem.''

Many Jewish writers, as Aben Ezra observes, interpret this of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans:

who said, rase [it], rase [it even] to the foundation thereof:
or "make [it] naked" or "bare F9 to the foundation"; pull down its walls, lay them level with the ground; root up the very foundation of them, and let nothing be left or seen but the bare naked ground; so spiteful and malicious were they.


FOOTNOTES:

F9 (wre) "nudate", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt.

Psalms 137:7 In-Context

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp.
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.
7 O LORD, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. “Destroy it!” they yelled. “Level it to the ground!”
8 O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.