Psalm 137:7

7 Remember, O LORD, against the sons of ¹Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, "Raze it, raze it ²To its very foundation."

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, May my right hand forget her skill.

6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.

7 Remember, O LORD , against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, "Raze it, raze it To its very foundation."

8 O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, How blessed will be the one who repays you With the recompense with which you have repaid us.

9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones Against the rock.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 83:4-8; Isaiah 34:5, 6; Jeremiah 49:7-22; Lamentations 4:21; Ezekiel 25:12-14; Ezekiel 35:2; Amos 1:11; Obad 10-14
• 2. Psalms 74:7; Habakkuk 3:13