Psalms 137:9

9 O the happiness of him who doth seize, And hath dashed thy sucklings on the rock!

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 Remember, Jehovah, for the sons of Edom, The day of Jerusalem, Those saying, `Rase, rase to its foundation!'
8 O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one, O the happiness of him who repayeth to thee thy deed, That thou hast done to us.
9 O the happiness of him who doth seize, And hath dashed thy sucklings on the rock!
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.