Psalms 137:7

7 Remember, Yahweh, against the children of Edom, The day of Jerusalem; Who said, "Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!"

Psalms 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.


FOOTNOTES:

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

Psalms 137:7 In-Context

5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill.
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, If I don't remember you; If I don't prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 Remember, Yahweh, against the children of Edom, The day of Jerusalem; Who said, "Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!"
8 Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, He will be happy who rewards you, As you have served us.
9 Happy shall he be, Who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.
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