Psalm 137:8

8 O daughter of Babylon, ¹doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who ²repays you with what you have done to us!

Psalm 137:8 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 137:8

O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed
By the determinate counsel and decree of God, and according to divine predictions; see ( Jeremiah 50:1-51:64 ) ; so mystical Babylon, antichrist, and the man of sin, who therefore is called the son of perdition, ( 2 Thessalonians 2:3 ) ; because appointed to destruction, and shall certainly go into it, ( Revelation 17:8 ) ; or "O thou destroyer", as the Targum, which paraphrases it thus,

``Gabriel, the prince of Zion, said to the Babylonish nation that spoileth or destroyeth;''

which is true of literal Babylon, called the destroying mountain, ( Jeremiah 51:25 ) ; and of mystical Babylon, the destroyer both of the bodies and souls of men, ( Revelation 11:18 ) ;

happy [shall he be] that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us;
meaning Darius the Mede, as Kimchi; or rather, or however who must be added, Cyrus the Persian, as R. Obadiah; who were ordered by the Lord to retaliate her, and do as she had done to others, ( Jeremiah 50:15 Jeremiah 50:29 ) ; and in so doing pronounced happy, being the Lord's shepherd, raised up in righteousness to perform his pleasure, ( Isaiah 44:28 ) ( 45:13 ) ; and here wished success by the godly Jews. In like manner the Christian princes will reward mystical Babylon, and be the happy instruments of her ruin, ( Revelation 18:6 ) .

Psalm 137:8 In-Context

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. 137:8 Isa. 21:9; 47:1-15; Jer. 25:12; 50:1-46; 51:1-64; See Isa. 13:1-22
• 2. 137:8 Jer. 51:24, 56; [Ps. 28:4]