Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 137:7
Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Raze [it], raze [it, even] to the foundation thereof.
7. Remember, Jehovah, against the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem] Remember and punish the conduct of the Edomites in the fatal day of Jerusalem’s fall. For this sense of ‘remember’ cp. Neh 6:14; Neh 13:29; and for ‘day’ cp. Oba 1:12; Psa 37:13. The hostility of the Edomites to Israel was of long standing, and it was aggravated by the fact of their relationship through their descent from Esau and Jacob. They are repeatedly denounced for it by the prophets, and threatened with vengeance. See Amo 1:11; Oba 1:10 ff.; Joe 3:19; Jer 49:7 ff.; Lam 4:21 f.; Eze 25:12 ff; Eze 35:2 ff.; Isaiah 34; Isa 63:1 ff. Rase it ] Lit. lay ( it) bare.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
7 9. The Psalmist’s love for Jerusalem leads him to invoke vengeance on her enemies: upon Edom for the unbrotherly spite which rejoiced at her destruction; upon Babylon, for having accomplished that destruction
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom – The Edomites; the people of Idumea. On the situation of Edom or Idumea, see introductory notes to Isa. 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; then, do not forget the Edomites, who took so large and so active a part in its overthrow. This is to be understood as a continued remembrance of Zion; as a purpose not to forget Jerusalem. The psalmist, representing the feelings of the captives in Babylon, says, that so far from doing anything which would imply a forgetfulness of their native land – as singing cheerful songs there might be understood to be, they would do everything to call Jerusalem to remembrance. They would remember her former splendor; they would remember her desolations; they would go further – they would not forget those who had brought these calamities upon her; those who had done most for her overthrow. As among the most prominent, they would remember particularly the ancient; enemies of their nation – the Edomites – who had been among the most active in its destruction, and who had united with the Babylonians in the work of ruin. They would remember all this; and they prayed God that he also would remember the desolation itself, and all the actors in that work of desolation.
Who said – Implying that they had been associated with the Babylonians in the destruction of the city. On the hostility of that people to the Hebrews, and the grounds of their hostility – and on their agency as united with the Babylonians in destroying Jerusalem, and the divine vengeance threatened them on that account – see, as above, the introduction to Isa. 34.
Rase it, rase it – Margin, as in Hebrew, make bare. That is, Strip it of everything – temple, houses, ornaments, fountains – and leave it a bare and naked rock. Let nothing remain but the rocks – the foundations – on which it is built. In the history of the Edomites, as stated in the introduction to Isa. 34, there were abundant facts to show that they were particularly zealous and active in seeking the destruction of the hated city. This verse and the one following constitute a portion of the imprecatory Psalms; of those which seem to cry for vengeance, and to manifest a revengeful and unforgiving spirit; the portion of the Psalms which has been regarded as so difficult to be reconciled with the forgiving spirit enjoined in the gospel. On this subject, see the General Introduction, Section 6.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 137:7-9
Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem.
Imprecation against the enemies of the Church
1. False brethren are the chief instruments of persecution of the true members of the Church whensoever they find occasion.
2. Whosoever do delight in the Churchs calamity, and do endeavour the Churchs ruin by word or deed; by their stirring up of others to afflict them; or by any oppression which may tend to the Churchs prejudice, when the Lord is visiting her, their sin shall not be forgotten of God in the day when the Lord judgeth His people, but shall be severely punished.
3. No less will suffice the adversaries of the Church than the utter ruin and razing of it to the ground.
4. The estate of the Church at the worst is better than the estate of Babylon, or any estate of her adversaries, how prosperous soever at the best; for albeit the Church be in captivity and oppressed, yet she shall not be destroyed, but it is not so with her adversaries.
5. Faith is neither blinded by the prosperity of the wicked, nor by the adversity of the Church, but doth see through the prospect of the Lords Word, both her approaching delivery of the Church and the ruin of her enemies.
6. As the enemies of Gods Church have measured out unto the Lords people, so it shall be measured back again and more, for a reward unto her adversaries.
7. There is a happiness, wherein blessedness doth not consist, which neither is a part or branch of blessedness, nor a proper mark of blessedness, but only signifieth some happiness in the consequence of a mans work, tending to the glory of God and good of His Church; and such is the happiness of the Modes and Persians here spoken of, who, whatsoever were their corrupt intentions in their war, did work, albeit not as religious servants, yet as Gods instruments, a good work of justice upon the oppressors of Gods people, and a good work of delivery of the Lords people.
8. Albeit it be a sinful thing to satisfy our carnal affection in the misery of any man; yet it is lawful in Gods cause to wish that God be glorified, albeit in the confusion of His enemies; and here great need is to have the heart well guarded with the fear of God, for wherewise to allow the dashing of little ones against the stones might make a man guilty of savage cruelty. (D. Dickson.)
.
Psa 138:1-8
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. Remember – the children of Edom] It appears from Jer 12:6; Jer 25:14; La 4:21-22; Eze 25:12; Ob 1:11-14; that the Idumeans joined the army of Nebuchadnezzar against their brethren the Jews; and that they were main instruments in rasing the walls of Jerusalem even to the ground.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Remember, O Lord, so as to punish them,
the children of Edom, our constant and inveterate enemies, who had no regard either to consanguinity or humanity.
In the day; in the time of its calamity or destruction, which is oft called a day, as Job 18:20; Psa 37:13; Eze 30:9; Hos 1:11; Ob 12.
Who said to the Babylonians, whom they assisted and provoked against Jerusalem; of which see Lam 4:21; Eze 25:12; Ob 11-14.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7-9. Remember . . . the children ofEdom(Compare Ps 132:1),that is, to punish.
the day of Jerusalemitsdownfall (Lam 4:21; Lam 4:22;Oba 1:11-13).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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, Ob 1:11. 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 i 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.
i “nudate”, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The second part of the Psalm supplicates vengeance upon Edom and Babylon. We see from Obadiah’s prophecy, which is taken up again by Jeremiah, how shamefully the Edomites, that brother-people related by descent to Israel and yet pre-eminently hostile to it, behaved in connection with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans as their malignant, rapacious, and inhuman helpers. The repeated imper. Piel , from (not imper. Kal from , which would be ), ought to have been accented on the ult .; it is, however, in both cases accented on the first syllable, the pausal (cf. in Psa 37:20, and also , Neh 8:11) giving rise to the same accentuation of the other (in order that two tone-syllables might not come together). The Pasek also stands between the two repeated words in order that they may be duly separated, and secures, moreover, to the guttural initial of the second its distinct pronunciation (cf. Gen 26:28; Num 35:16). It is to be construed: lay bare, lay bare (as in Hab 3:13, cf. in Mic 1:6) in it ( Beth of the place), of in respect of it ( Beth of the object), even to the foundation, i.e., raze it even to the ground, leave not one stone upon another. From the false brethren the imprecation turns to Babylon, the city of the imperial power of the world. The daughter, i.e., the population, of Babylon is addressed as . It certainly seems the most natural to take this epithet as a designation of its doings which cry for vengeance. But it cannot in any case be translated: thou plunderer (Syriac like the Targum: bozuzto ; Symmachus ), for does not mean to rob and plunder, but to offer violence and to devastate. Therefore: thou devastator; but the word so pointed as we have it before us cannot have this signification: it ought to be , like in Jer 3:7, Jer 3:10, or (with an unchangeable a ), corresponding to the Syriac active intensive form aluso , oppressor, godufo , slanderer, and the Arabic likewise active intensive form Arab. faul , e.g., fashus , a boaster, and also as an adjective: goz fashus , empty nuts, cf. = , a fowler, like natur ( ), a field-watcher. The form as it stands is part. pass., and signifies (Aquila), vastata (Jerome). It is possible that this may be said in the sense of vastanda , although in this sense of a part. fut. pass. the participles of the Niphal (e.g., Ps 22:32; Psa 102:19) and of the Pual (Psa 18:4) are more commonly used. It cannot at any rate signify vastata in an historical sense, with reference to the destruction of Babylon by Darius Hystaspes (Hengstenberg); for Psa 137:7 only prays that the retribution may come: it cannot therefore as yet have been executed; but if signified the already devastated one, it must (at least in the main) have been executed already. It might be more readily understood as a prophetical representation of the executed judgment of devastation; but this prophetic rendering coincides with the imprecative: the imagination of the Semite when he utters a curse sees the future as a realized fact. “Didst thou see the smitten one ( madrub ),” i.e., he whom God must smite? Thus the Arab inquires for a person who is detested. “Pursue him who is seized ( ilhak elma’chudh ),” i.e., him whom God must allow thee to seize! Thy speak thus inasmuch as the imagination at once anticipates the seizure at the same time with the pursuit. Just as here both madrub and ma’chudh are participles of Kasl , so therefore may also have the sense of vastanda (which must be laid waste!). That which is then further desired for Babylon is the requital of that which it has done to Israel, Isa 47:6. It is the same penal destiny, comprehending the children also, which is predicted against it in Isa 13:16-18, as that which was to be executed by the Medes. The young children (with reference to , , vid., on Psa 8:3) are to be dashed to pieces in order that a new generation may not raise up again the world-wide dominion that has been overthrown, Isa 14:21. It is zeal for God that puts such harsh words into the mouth of the poet. “That which is Israel’s excellency and special good fortune the believing Israelite desires to have bestowed upon the whole world, but for this very reason he desires to see the hostility of the present world of nations against the church of God broken” (Hofmann). On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the “blessed” of this Psalm is not suited to the mouth of the New Testament church. In the Old Testament the church as yet had the form of a nation, and the longing for the revelation of divine righteousness clothed itself accordingly in a warlike garb.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Sorrows of Captivity. | |
7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. 8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. 9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
The pious Jews in Babylon, having afflicted themselves with the thoughts of the ruins of Jerusalem, here please themselves with the prospect of the ruin of her impenitent implacable enemies; but this not from a spirit of revenge, but from a holy zeal for the glory of God and the honour of his kingdom.
I. The Edomites will certainly be reckoned with, and all others that were accessaries to the destruction of Jerusalem, that were aiding and abetting, that helped forward the affliction (Zech. i. 15) and triumphed in it, that said, in the day of Jerusalem, the day of her judgment, “Rase it, rase it to the foundations; down with it, down with it; do not leave one stone upon another.” Thus they made the Chaldean army more furious, who were already so enraged that they needed no spur. Thus they put shame upon Israel, who would be looked upon as a people worthy to be cut off when their next neighbours had such an ill-will to them. And all this was a fruit of the old enmity of Esau against Jacob, because he got the birthright and the blessing, and a branch of that more ancient enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent: Lord, remember them, says the psalmist, which is an appeal to his justice against them. Far be it from us to avenge ourselves, if ever it should be in our power, but we will leave it to him who has said, Vengeance is mine. Note, Those that are glad at calamities, especially the calamities of Jerusalem, shall not go unpunished. Those that are confederate with the persecutors of good people, and stir them up, and set them on, and are pleased with what they do, shall certainly be called to an account for it against another day, and God will remember it against them.
II. Babylon is the principal, and it will come to her turn too to drink of the cup of tremblings, the very dregs of it (Psa 137:8; Psa 137:9): O daughter of Babylon! proud and secure as thou art, we know well, by the scriptures of truth, thou art to be destroyed, or (as Dr. Hammond reads it) who art the destroyer. The destroyers shall be destroyed, Rev. xiii. 10. And perhaps it is with reference to this that the man of sin, the head of the New-Testament Babylon, is called a son of perdition, 2 Thess. ii. 3. The destruction of Babylon being foreseen as a sure destruction (thou art to be destroyed), it is spoken of, 1. As a just destruction. She shall be paid in her own coin: “Thou shalt be served as thou hast served us, as barbarously used by the destroyers as we have been by thee,” See Rev. xviii. 6. Let not those expect to find mercy who, when they had power, did not show mercy. 2. As an utter destruction. The very little ones of Babylon, when it is taken by storm, and all in it are put to the sword, shall be dashed to pieces by the enraged and merciless conqueror. None escape if these little ones perish. Those are the seed of another generation; so that, if they be cut off, the ruin will be not only total, as Jerusalem’s was, but final. It is sunk like a millstone into the sea, never to rise. 3. As a destruction which should reflect honour upon the instruments of it. Happy shall those be that do it; for they are fulfilling God’s counsels; and therefore he calls Cyrus, who did it, his servant, his shepherd, his anointed (Isa 44:28; Isa 45:1), and the soldiers that were employed in it his sanctified ones, Isa. xiii. 3. They are making way for the enlargement of God’s Israel, and happy are those who are in any way serviceable to that. The fall of the New-Testament Babylon will be the triumph of all the saints, Rev. xix. 1.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
7. Remember, O Jehovah! the children of Edom Vengeance was to be executed upon the other neighboring nations which had conspired to destroy Jerusalem, so that they are all doubtless included here under the children of Edom, who are specified, a parr, for the whole, either because they showed more hatred and cruelty than the rest, or that theirs were not so easily borne, considering that they were brethren, and of one blood, being the posterity of Esau, and that the Israelites had, by God’s commandment, spared the Edomites, when they devoted all beside them to destruction. (Deu 2:4.) It was, therefore, the height of cruelty in them to invite the Babylonians to destroy their own brethren, or fan the flames of their hostility. We are to notice, however, that the Psalmist does not break forth into these awful denunciations unadvisedly, but as God’s herald, to confirm former prophecies. God both by Ezekiel and Jeremiah had predicted that he would punish the Edomites, (Eze 25:13; Jer 49:7; and Lam 4:21) and Obadiah distinctly gives the reason, answerable to what is here stated — that they had conspired with the Babylonians. (Oba 1:11.) We know that God intended in this way to comfort and support the minds of the people under a calamity so very distressing, as that Jacob’s election might have seemed to be rendered frustrate, should his descendants be treated with impunity in such a barbarous manner, by the posterity of Esau. The Psalmist prays, under the inspiration of the Spirit, that God would practically demonstrate the truth of this prediction. Anti when he says, Remember, O Jehovah! he would remind God’s people of the promise to strengthen their belief in his avenging justice, and make them wait for the event with patience and submission. To pray for vengeance would have been unwarrantable, had not God pro-raised it, and had the party against whom it was sought not been reprobate and incurable; for as to others, even our greatest enemies, we should wish their amendment and reformation. The day of Jerusalem,, is a title given by him, and of frequent occurrence in Scripture, to the time of visitation, which had a divinely appointed and definite term.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Remember . . .Remember, Jehovah, for the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem. The prophecy of Obadiah gives the best comment on this verse: For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress (Oba. 1:10-12.) (See Excursus on the date and authorship of that book.)
Rase . . .Literally, make naked or bare. (Comp. a similar use of another verb, Mic. 1:6.) The LXX. and Vulg. have empty out, empty out.
Thereof.Literally, in it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7-9. The bitter execrations of the enemies of Jerusalem follow the loving vows of remembrance.
Children of Edom That is, the Edomites, who, with the adjacent Syrian and Arabian nations, gladly assisted the army of Nebuchadnezzar in taking Jerusalem.
The day of Jerusalem The day of her downfall, for which see 2Ch 36:11-21; Jeremiah 52.
Rase it, rase it Hebrew, Make bare, or, uncover; that is, utterly demolish the city walls and houses. This was the fierce battle cry of unsparing slaughter and rapine. Edom was conspicuous for cruelty among the nations represented in the army of Nebuchadnezzar. On their iniquity and their punishment see the prophecy of Obadiah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 137:7. Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom “Who instead of pitying Jerusalem, as became neighbours and relations, were glad to see the day of its desolations.” The time when God’s judgments are executed, is frequently called, emphatically, the day. See Oba 1:12-13; Oba 1:15 and Psa 37:13. The Edomites, who thus rejoiced at the desolations of Jerusalem, were the descendants of Esau. See Eze 25:12. And for this their malicious joy, God’s judgments came upon them. See Jer 49:7; Jer 49:39.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
These words are both a prayer and a prophecy. Edom is the seed of Esau, and as such there was, and is, and ever will be, the same hatred subsisting. But the Church looketh forward to the hour, when Edom shall be ruined; Babylon must fall; Israel shall be delivered. And as these events were typical of the Gospel Church in after ages; so the Babylon spoken of in the New Testament shall be destroyed. Rev 18:2-10 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 137:7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase [it], rase [it, even] to the foundation thereof.
Ver. 7. Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom ] Those unbrotherly bitter enemies. The Jews call Romists Edomites.
Rase it, rase it
Diruite, ex imis subvertite fundamentis
(Buchanan).
Darius, hearing that Sardis was sacked and burnt by the Athenians, commanded one of his servants to say to him thrice always at supper, Sir, remember the Athenians to punish them, D A (Herod.).
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 137:7-9
7Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, Raze it, raze it
To its very foundation.
😯 daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With the recompense with which you have repaid us.
9How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.
Psa 137:7 Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom As humans are to remember God’s grace, God is encouraged to forget (Qal imperative used in prayer) Israel’s sins, for when God remembers it is usually in the context of judgment. That is exactly the purpose of this statement, that the God of vengeance, Deu 32:35, will act fairly and justly toward the sons of Edom who violated their own relatives (i.e., the Jews). There is much biblical evidence that Edom participated in the siege, fall, and sack of Jerusalem (cf. Psa 87:4-7; Jer 49:7-22; Lam 4:21; Eze 25:12-14; Eze 35:1 ff; Amo 1:11; Joe 3:19; and especially Oba 1:10-14). See SPECIAL TOPIC: EDOM AND ISRAEL .
Who said, Raze it, raze it’ This is supposedly the words (two Piel imperatives) of the Edomites in the day that Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar’s army. However, the new translation of the Jewish Publication of America has, strip her, strip her. This is quite possible in light of Isa 47:2-3; Lam 1:8; Eze 16:37. The metaphor here is of a woman who is publicly shamed. This interpretation is bolstered by the fact that in the next phrase, to its very foundation, can be translated as buttocks (BDB 414, KB 417, AB, p. 273). I think the first option is better.
Psa 137:8 O daughter of Babylon It is quite common to call nations by the term, daughter of. This is a Hebrew idiom used to include an entire population. See full note at Jer 46:11 online. It is interesting that the three verbs of Psa 137:8 are repeated in Jer 51:56.
NASByou devastated one
NKJVyou who are destroyed
NRSV,
NASB marginyou devastator
TEVyou will be destroyed
NJBdoomed to destruction
JPSOA,
Targumsyou predator
REBthe destroyer
The UBS Text Project, p. 419, gives devastated one a B rating (some doubt). The differences between the options are
1. – devastated one
2. – devastating one
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With the recompense with which you have repaid us This is simply the OT example of the eye for an eye justice of Lev 24:19-22; Deu 19:19; repeated in Jeremiah 51. We Reap what we sow (often called the two ways, cf. Job 34:11; Psa 28:4; Psa 62:12; Pro 24:12; Pro 24:29; Ecc 12:14; Jer 17:10; Jer 32:19; Mat 16:27; Mat 25:31-46; Rom 2:6; Rom 14:12; 1Co 3:8; 2Co 5:10; Gal 6:7; 2Ti 4:14; 1Pe 1:17; Rev 2:23; Rev 20:12; Rev 22:12).
There are six imprecatory (i.e., cursing) Psalms, i.e., Psalms 55; Psalms 59; Psalms 69; Psalms 79; Psalms 109; Psalms 137.
Psa 137:9 dashes our little ones This was a common practice in the ANE (cf. 2Ki 8:12; Isa 13:16; Isa 13:18; Hos 10:14; Nah 3:10). It is interesting to note that the specific prophecy mentioned in Isa 13:16 was against Babylon. This seems to be a horrible example of the truth that what we sow, we reap. The historian, Prideaux, tells us that when Babylon came under siege that the women and children were killed in order that more food would be preserved for the military defenders of the city.
the rock The noun (BD 700) has the definite article. It could refer to
1. a name for Petra (often called the red city), a capital in Edom (BDB 701, cf. 2Ki 14:7)
2. a way of referring to idolatry, which is opposite of YHWH, the true rock
3. some emend the term to Aram (a country)
4. a way of referring to a hard surface, like a wall or side of a house. This fits the context and parallelism best.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. Why was the Babylonian captivity such a theological crisis?
2. How do these historical examples in the life of the nation of Israel apply to us in the Church?
3. Discuss the words forget and remember and how they are used in an OT setting.
4. How does one compare the ancient practices of war in a moral sense with our own modern practices?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
children = sons.
Edom. Gen 27:39, Gen 27:40 was not fulfilled until the reign of Joram (2Ki 8:20-23. 2Ch 21:8-10 (compare 1Ki 22:47). From that time they were implacable enemies.
day. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct) for what happened at the time (App-6). Compare Job 18:20. Hos 1:11. Joe 1:15. Luk 17:22, Luk 17:26; Luk 19:42. 1Co 4:3.
Who said. The reference is to what they said, not to what they did; to the encouragement given to Sennacherib, not to the help given to Nebuchadnezzar. That is what Obadiah, a later prophet, refers to. Isaiah (Hezekiah’s contemporary) refers to the earlier words. See Isa 34:6. Here Edom does not go beyond words.
Rase it, rase it. Figure of speech Epizeuxis (App-6) for emphasis. This was said, not done, at that time.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 137:7-9
Psa 137:7-9
IMPRECATIONS AGAINST ENEMIES
The bitterness of Israel against their enemies who had vented their sadistic cruelties upon them is understandable enough, however foreign to the spirit of Christianity they must appear to us who follow Christ.
“Remember, O Jehovah, against the children of Edom
The day of Jerusalem;
Who said, Rase it, rase it,
Even to the foundation thereof.
O daughter of Babylon, thou art to be destroyed,
Happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee
As thou hast served us.
Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones
Against the rock.”
“Remember … against the children of Edom” (Psa 137:7). The bitter mutual hatred of the two branches of Isaac’s family, the Edomites and the Israelites, continued without abatement throughout their history. As Amos said of Edom, “His anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever” (Psalms 1). The Edomites seem to have been almost totally a wicked people. Their terminal representatives are featured in the New Testament in the evil dynasty of the Herods.
In the words here, the Israelites, even in the circumstances of their captivity, still cherished their hatred of the Edomites, calling for God’s judgment against them, even along with his judgment of the Babylonians. The basis of that undying hatred is stated in the book of Obadiah. “In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them” (Oba 1:11).
The historical occasion for that behavior of Edom was apparently the capture of Jerusalem by the Philistines and the Arabians a couple of centuries before the fall of the city to Babylon. (See a full discussion of this in Vol. 2 of my commentaries on the minor prophets, pp. 241-244.)
Jerusalem was not totally destroyed on that occasion, despite the plea of the Edomites that it be “rased.”
“Babylon … thou art to be destroyed” (Psa 137:8). The psalmist here had evidently read and believed the prophecy of Jeremiah in that tremendous fiftieth chapter describing the utter destruction of Babylon.
“Happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us” (Psa 137:8). See my full comment on the prophecy of Babylon’s destruction in the fourth year of Zedekiah, at the very climax of Babylonian authority and power in the whole world of that era.
“Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock” (Psa 137:9). An imprecation of this type invoked against innocent and helpless little children is contrary to the word of Christ and the holy apostles; yet this is an accurate statement of the attitude that was common among the warring peoples of antiquity. That such shameful cruelty and brutality against tiny children was actually executed upon the victims of conquest is a matter of Biblical record (Nah 3:10). Christ prophesied that the same atrocities would be executed upon Israel herself in the destruction of Jerusalem (Luk 19:44). There is this factor that entered into the destruction of the children, namely, that with the defeat and death of their parents, the fate of the children was sealed; and in the views of ancient conquerors it was, in a sense, merciful to destroy the children instead of abandoning them to a fate of starvation or something worse. Ancient armies had no medical corps, or battalion of nurses, to take care of the infant children of their slaughtered enemies!
It was indeed a long and terrible trail of blood and suffering that was initiated by our ancestors in Eden who failed to honor God’s Word regarding the “forbidden fruit”
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 137:7. Before closing their sad speech, they turned their revengeful mind toward some of their enemies who had wished for just such a calamity to come. To raise means to wreck a city and the Edomites had longed to see that done to Jerusalem. The Jews now wish for some penalty to be brought upon their foes.
Psa 137:8. This verse turns against Babylon, and the Jews may not have known that they were actually uttering a prophecy in the words who art to be destroyed, but It was really brought to pass a half century later. The ones here promised happiness over it were the Persians, the people who overthrew the Babylonian Empire.
Psa 137:9. This wish seems harsh, but such is the way of warfare, especially as it was done in ancient times. (2Ki 8:12.) Children were the possible soldiers of the future. When one nation conquered another, it was considered military foresight not only to destroy the men in arms, but also those who might later rise up armed.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Edom See Jer 49:7; Lam 4:22; Eze 25:12; Oba 1:1; Gen 36:1. (See Scofield “Gen 36:1”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Remember: Psa 74:18, Psa 79:8-12, Exo 17:14, 1Sa 15:2, Hos 7:2
the children: Isa 63:1-6, Jer 49:7-22, Lam 4:21, Lam 4:22, Eze 25:12-14, Oba 1:10-14, Oba 1:18-21
Raze it: Heb. make bare
Reciprocal: Gen 8:1 – God remembered Deu 30:7 – General Job 18:20 – his day Psa 5:10 – let Psa 74:8 – said Psa 122:6 – Pray Isa 21:11 – me out Isa 34:5 – upon Idumea Jer 25:21 – Edom Lam 1:21 – they are Lam 1:22 – all their Eze 35:5 – thou hast had Eze 35:11 – I will even Eze 35:15 – didst Eze 36:5 – against all Joe 3:19 – for Amo 1:11 – because Oba 1:11 – even Zec 1:15 – and Mal 1:4 – The people Mat 7:2 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 137:7. Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom Their constant and inveterate enemies, who had no regard either to consanguinity or humanity, but, instead of pitying Jerusalem, as became kind neighbours and relations, were glad to see the day of its desolations; and encouraged their destroyers with their acclamations, saying, Rase it, rase it, &c. Hebrew, , make it bare, empty it, or lay it flat, even to the foundation thereof, or the ground on which it stands. Edom is charged with this unnatural behaviour, and threatened for it by God himself in the prophecy of Obadiah, Oba 1:10, and for it Gods judgments came upon them, as it was here foretold they should do.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
137:7 Remember, O LORD, the children of {f} Edom in the {g} day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase [it], rase [it, even] to the foundation thereof.
(f) As was prophesied in Eze 25:13,Jer 49:7,Oba 1:10, showing that the Edomites who came from Esau, conspired with the Babylonians against their brethren and kinsfolk.
(g) When you visited Jerusalem.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. Hatred for enemies 137:7-9
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The psalmist had previously said that he would remember Jerusalem. Now he called God to remember Jerusalem’s destroyers. The Edomites had encouraged the Babylonians as they besieged and devastated the city (cf. Eze 25:12; Joe 3:19).