Psalm 137:7

7 Remember, O Lord, against the ¹Edomites ²the day of Jerusalem, how they said, ³“Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations! ”

Psalm 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Psalm 137:7 In-Context

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!

6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!

7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations! ”

8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!

9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!

Cross References

• 1. 137:7 Isa. 34:5, 6; Lam. 4:21, 22; Ezek. 35:2; [Amos 1:11, 12]; See Jer. 49:7-22; Ezek. 25:12-14; Obad. 8-14
• 2. 137:7 See Job 18:20
• 3. 137:7 Hab. 3:13; Zeph. 2:14