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English Revised Version
Psalms 137:2
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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- CondensedParallel Translations
There we hung up our lyreson the poplar trees,
On the willows in the midst of it, We hung up our harps.
We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
On the willows there we hung up our lyres.
On the poplar trees nearby we hung our harps.
On the poplars in her midst we hang our harps,
On the willow trees in the midst of Babylon We hung our harps.
Upon the willows in the midst of it We hung our harps.
On the willows in the midst of it, We hung up our harps.
Wee hanged our harpes vpon the willowes in the middes thereof.
Upon the willows in the midst of itWe hung our lyres.
There on the poplars we hung our harps,
We hung our small harps on the willow trees.
We had hung up our lyres on the willows that were there,
We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
We hung our harps nearby, there on the willow trees.
We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
On the willows near by we hung up our harps.
On the willows in her midst, we hung up our lyres.
We hung our lyres on the willows in its midst.
As for oure harpes, we hanged them vp vpon the trees, that are therin.
Upon the willows in the midst thereof We hanged up our harps.
Hanging our instruments of music on the trees by the waterside.
Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps.
Wee hanged our harpes vpon the willowes, in the midst thereof.
We hanged our harpes on the Salon trees: in the mydst of it.
We hung our harps on the willows in the midst of it.
In salewis in the myddil therof; we hangiden vp oure orguns.
On the willows in the midst thereof We hung up our harps.
We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it.
We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it.
We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.
There upon the trees we put our harps.
On the willows there we hung up our harps.
Upon the willows - in the midst thereof, hanged we our lyres:
(136-2) On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments.
On the willows there we hung up our lyres.
On willows in its midst we hung our harps.
Upon the willows in the midst of it We hung our harps.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
we hanged: Willows were so plentiful at Babylon, on the banks of the Euphrates, that Isaiah calls it "the brook or river of willows." Psalms 33:2, Psalms 81:2, Isaiah 24:8, Ezekiel 26:13, Amos 8:10, Revelation 18:22
Reciprocal: 1 Chronicles 23:30 - stand Psalms 52:1 - goodness Psalms 149:3 - with the timbrel Isaiah 15:7 - to the Isaiah 44:4 - willows Isaiah 52:5 - make Daniel 6:18 - and passed
Gill's Notes on the Bible
We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. These were musical instruments, used in the temple service by the Levites, who seem to be the persons here speaking; who took care of them, and preserved them from the plunder of the enemy; and carried them with them to Babylon, in hope of returning with them to use them as before, or to solace themselves and others in captivity; though now they had no heart to make use of them, their sorrow was so great, and therefore hung them upon the willows as useless things: these willows grew upon the banks of the rivers where they were, as such trees usually do; hence called willows of the brook x, and willows by water courses, Leviticus 23:40; and particularly upon the banks of the river Euphrates, which ran through the midst of Babylon, with which the phrase here agrees; and therefore Babylon itself is thought to be called "the brook", or "valley, of the willows", Isaiah 15:7. And, according to Ovid y, not only reeds and poplars, but willows, grew on the banks of the Euphrates. Now the state of these people was an emblem of the case of the backsliding children of God; who, through the prevalence of corruption, the force of temptation, and the snares of the world, are brought into a kind of captivity to the law of sin and death, though not willingly; nor is it pleasing to them when sensible of it, Romans 7:23; who, though they are called out of the world, and are not of it; yet sometimes are so overcome with it, and immersed in the things of it, that they are as it were in Babylon. An emblem of this world, of the confusion in it, as its name signifies; of the fading glories of it, and the wickedness and idolatry it abounds with: and here they sit by the rivers of carnal pleasures in it for a while, till brought to themselves; and then they weep over their sins, and lament them; especially when they remember what opportunities they have formerly had in Zion, and what a low condition she is now in through the conduct of themselves and others: these make use of their harps when Zion is in good and prosperous circumstances, Revelation 14:1; but when there are corruptions in doctrine, neglect or abuse of ordinances, animosities and divisions prevail, declensions in the life and power of religion, and the lives of professors disagreeable; then they hang their harps on willows, and drop their notes.
x "Amnicolae salices", Ovid. Metamorph. l. 10. Fab. 2. v. 96. "Fluminibus salices", Virgil. Georgic. l. 2. v. 110. y "Venit ad Euphratem----Populus et cannae riparum summa tegebant, spemque dabant salices----". Ovid. Fasti, l. 2.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
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 - used only in the plural, denotes the willow or osier, so called from its white, silvery leaves. Gesenius, Lexicon. Compare Isaiah 15:7. It is probable that the weeping willow - the willow with long pendulous branches - is here referred to. Trees in desert lands spring up along the courses of the streams, and appear, in the wide desolation, as long and waving lines of green wherever the rivers wind along. The course of a stream can thus be marked by the prolonged line of meandering green in the desert as far as the eye can reach. It has been objected to the statement here that the willow is not now found in the neighborhood of ancient Babylon, but that the palm is the only tree which grows there. I saw, however, in 1852, in James’ Park in London, a willow-tree with a label on it, stating that it was taken from the site of ancient Babylon; and there seems no reason to doubt the correctness of the account. The willow may be less abundant there now than it was in former times, as is true of the palm. tree in Palestine, but there is no reason to doubt that it grew there. All that the psalm, however, would necessarily demand in a fair interpretation would be that there should have been even a single clump of these trees planted there, under which a little band of exiles may have seated themselves when they gave utterance to the plaintive language of this psalm.
In the midst thereof - In the midst of Babylon; showing that this referred to the city proper. They could not sing, such was their grief, though they had their harps with them; and they hung them up, therefore, on the branches of the trees around them; or, poetically, they were as dumb as if they had hung up their harps there.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Psalms 137:2. We hanged our harps upon the willows — The ערבים arabim or willows were very plentiful in Babylon. The great quantity of them that were on the banks of the Euphrates caused Isaiah, Isaiah 15:7, to call it the brook or river of willows. This is a most affecting picture. Perhaps resting themselves after toil, and wishing to spend their time religiously, they took their harps, and were about to sing one of the songs of Zion; but, reflecting on their own country, they became so filled with distress, that they unstrung their harps with one consent, and hung them on the willow bushes, and gave a general loose to their grief. Some of the Babylonians, who probably attended such meetings for the sake of the music, being present at the time here specified, desired them to sing one of Zion's songs: this is affectingly told.
