Psalms 137:9

9 Yes, a reward to the one who grabs your babies and smashes their heads on the rocks!

Psalms 137:9 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 137:9

Happy [shall he be] that taketh and dasheth thy little ones
against the stones.
] That takes the infants from their mothers' breasts, or out of their arms, and dashes out their brains against a "rock", as the word F11 signifies; which, though it may seem a piece of cruelty, was but a just retaliation; the Babylonians having done the same to the Jewish children, and is foretold elsewhere should be done to theirs, ( Isaiah 13:16 ) . Nor is this desired from a spirit of revenge, but for the glory of divine justice, and that such a generation of cruel creatures might be rooted out of the earth; see ( Revelation 2:2 Revelation 2:3 ) . Some allegorically understand this of crushing and mortifying the first motions of sin in the heart; but such a sense seems to have no place here.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 (elo la) "ad petram", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus "ad repem", Cocceius.

Psalms 137:9 In-Context

7 God, remember those Edomites, and remember the ruin of Jerusalem, That day they yelled out, "Wreck it, smash it to bits!"
8 And you, Babylonians - ravagers! A reward to whoever gets back at you for all you've done to us;
9 Yes, a reward to the one who grabs your babies and smashes their heads on the rocks!
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.