Psalms 137:3

for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

ASV

For there they that led us captive required of us songs, And they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

YLT

For there our captors asked us the words of a song, And our spoilers--joy: `Sing ye to us of a song of Zion.'

DBT

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that made us wail [required] mirth, [saying,] Sing us [one] of the songs of Zion.

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Commentary voices

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Voices4

On this verse

For there they that led us away captive asked of us the words of songs. The demons, who deceived us and led us away captive, now, as though mocking us and boasting, say to us: "Give us back a word about your faith, and just as when you were in Jerusalem, sing a hymn to God."

Jerome· Homily 48, on Psalm 136, 420patristic

Related commentary

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song,.... Or, "words of a song" (z).

John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed

. Ver. 3. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song. It was ill to be a singer at all when it was demanded that this talent should go into bondage to an oppressor's will. Better be dumb than be forced to please an enemy with forced song. What cruelty to make a people sigh, and then require them to sing! Shall men be carried away from home and all that is dear to them, and yet chant merrily for the pleasure of their unfeeling captors?

Charles Spurgeon· The Treasury of David (1869-1885)reformed

They had carried them away captive from their own land and then wasted them in the land of their captivity, took what little they had from them. But this was not enough; to complete their woes they insulted over them: They required of us mirth and a song. This was very barbarous and inhuman; even an enemy, in misery, is to be pitied and not trampled upon.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

Voices on this verse

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Cross-references

24 linked verses

The verses this one reaches12

Luke 21:6
“As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
Lamentations 2:15–16
All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”
Micah 3:12
Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
Psalms 9:14
that I may declare all Your praises— that within the gates of Daughter Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation.
Psalms 80:6
You make us contend with our neighbors; our enemies mock us.
Revelation 14:1–3
Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
Isaiah 35:10
So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.
Jeremiah 26:18
“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.’
Jeremiah 9:11
“And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
Psalms 123:3–4
Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.
Nehemiah 4:2
before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”
1 Chronicles 16:7
On that day David first committed to Asaph and his brothers this song of thanksgiving to the LORD:

12 more linked verses are grouped by book below ↓

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Original language

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Around this verse

Word doors

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

Who & where

PlaceJerusalemZionThe Temple hill and, by extension, Jerusalem as the dwelling-place of God — the gravitational center of the Psalms (Ps 48; 132; 13…

Featured studies

Featured studyPraying the Hard Psalms — the Imprecatory ProblemThis study walks through this verse.

About this book

Saul attempts to kill David (the harpist of Israel) — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Psalms — The canon's longest book — 150 Psalms edited into five doxology-bookended books, composed across a millennium, attributed to David, Asaph, Korah's sons, Moses, Solomon, Heman, Ethan, and anonymous voices. A ''Torah of David''; the Bible's longest continuous liturgical-devotional corpus.

Canon: Old Testament
Author: David principally (73 Psalms + 2 NT-cited); Asaph, Sons of Korah, Solomon, Moses, Heman, Ethan; ~50 anonymous.
Date: Composed c. 1400 BC (Mosaic Ps 90) through the post-exilic period (Ps 126 ''when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion''). Roughly a millennium of composition; editorial compilation likely into the Persian period.

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Micah 3:12
Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
leads to
- Jeremiah 26:18
  “Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Psalms 79:1
  The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
- Micah 4:1–2
  In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to…
Through
Luke 21:6
“As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
leads to
- Matthew 24:2
  “Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
Psalms 9:14
that I may declare all Your praises— that within the gates of Daughter Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation.
leads to
- Psalms 13:5
  But I have trusted in Your loving devotion; my heart will rejoice in Your salvation.
- Psalms 20:5
  May we shout for joy at your victory and raise a banner in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your petitions.
- Psalms 51:12
  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.
- 1 Samuel 2:1
  At that time Hannah prayed: “My heart rejoices in the LORD in whom my horn is exalted. My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, for I rejoice in Your salvation.

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

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