The Prophet describeth how lamentably the people in captiuitie of Babylon, wil bewaile the want of meanes to serue God, and of their natiue soyle 7. with iust desire of their enimies punishment.
1Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Sion:Salmo di David. Sulle rive de' fiumi di Babilonia ivi sedemmo, e piangemmo in ricordandoci di te, o Sionne:A Psalme of Dauid for Ieremie. VPON the riuers of Babylon, there we sate and wept: whiles we remembred Sion.Psalmus David, Jeremiæ. Super flumina Babylonis illic sedimus et flevimus, / cum recordaremur Sion. 2On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments.Ai salci appendemmo in mezzo a lei i nostri strumenti.On the willowes in the middes therof, we hanged vp our instrumentes.In salicibus in medio ejus / suspendimus organa nostra: 3For there they that led us into captivity required of us the words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion.Perché ivi domandarono a noi quelli, che ci avevano menati schiavi, le parole de' nostri cantici: E coloro, che ci avevano rapiti dissero: cantate a noi un inno di que', che si cantano in Sionne:Because there they that led vs captiue, demanded of vs wordes of songes. And they that led vs away: Sing ye an hymne to vs of the songes of Sion.quia illic interrogaverunt nos, qui captivos duxerunt nos, / verba cantionum; / et qui abduxerunt nos: / Hymnum cantate nobis de canticis Sion. 4How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?E come mai canteremo un cantico del Signore in una terra straniera?How shal we sing the song of our Lord in a strange land?Quomodo cantabimus canticum Domini / in terra aliena ? 5If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.Se io mi dimenticherò di te, o Gerusalemme, sia messa in oblìo la mia destra.If I shal forget thee ô Ierusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.Si oblitus fuero tui, Jerusalem, / oblivioni detur dextera mea. 6Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy.Si attacchi la mia lingua alle mie fauci, se io non avrò memoria di te: Se io non metterò Gerusalemme ai di sopra di qualunque mia allegrezza.Let my tongue cleaue to my iawes, if I doe not remember thee: If I shal not set Ierusalem in the beginning of my ioy.Adhæreat lingua mea faucibus meis, / si non meminero tui; / si non proposuero Jerusalem / in principio lætitiæ meæ. 7Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem: Who say: Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.Ricorditi, o Signore, de' figliuoli di Edom, i quali nel giorno di Gerusalemme Dicevano: Distruggete, distruggete fino a' suoi fondamenti.Be mindful ô Lord of the childrem of Edom, in l the day of Ierusalem: That say: Rase it, rase it, euen vnto the foundation therof.Memor esto, Domine, filiorum Edom, / in die Jerusalem: / qui dicunt: Exinanite, exinanite / usque ad fundamentum in ea. 8O daughter of Babylon, miserable: blessed shall he be who shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us.Figliuola infelice di Babilonia: beato colui, che farà a te quello, che tu hai fatto a noi.Daugther of Babylon miserable: blessed is he, that shal repay thee thy payment, which thou hast payed vs.Filia Babylonis misera ! beatus qui retribuet tibi / retributionem tuam quam retribuisti nobis.
9Blessed be he that shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock.Beato colui; che prenderà, e infrangerà sulle pietre i tuoi figliuolini.Blessed is he, that shal hold, and shal dash thy litle ones against the rocke.Beatus qui tenebit, / et allidet parvulos tuos ad petram.
136:1
Challoner
For Jeremias. For the time of Jeremias, and the captivity of Babylon. (Challoner)
Worthington
Or "of" (Jeremiae.; Haydock) Jeremias; on which subject he composed his Lamentations, as the Septuagint thus insinuate. (Worthington)
Calmet
The title may be a later insertion, and is not the same in all the Greek or Latin copies. It is wholly omitted in Hebrew, etc. Theodoret blames those who have written the name of Jeremias, as he was never at Babylon. (Calmet)
Berthier
He might send the psalm to the captives, (Grotius) though it were written by David, (Gerer.) who was a prophet. See Psalm lxxviii. (Berthier)
St. Augustine
The captives express their sentiments at Babylon, (Bossuet) or at their return; (Calmet) and thus, under the figure of the earthly Jerusalem, (Berthier) aspire to heaven. (St. Augustine)
Haydock
Rivers. Euphrates, etc. The Jews retired to such places to pray. (Philo, con. Flac.) (Acts 16:13.) (Haydock)
Worthington
Sion, and all the ceremonies of religion. (Worthington)
136:2
Calmet
Willow. With which the Euphrates was lined, Isaias 15:7. It passed through the city, which was adored with trees, and contained extensive tracts of land for cultivation. (Calmet)
Berthier
Babylon may also include all the territory. (Berthier)
Calmet
Instruments. Hebrew Kinnor means properly the ancient lyre, but here it is put for all instruments of music. (Calmet)
Berthier
In grief, music was laid aside, Isaias 24:8., Ezechiel 26:13., and Apocalypse 18:21. Yet Christians may unite spiritual canticles with holy compunction, Colossians 3:16. We must not expose the word of truth to the ridicule of infidels. (Berthier)
136:3
St. Augustine
Sion. The Levites were trained to singing from their infancy, at the expense of the nation. Under David, there were 288 masters, and 8,000 Levites who played on music, 1 Paralipomenon xv. The Babylonians wished to hear them, (Calmet) or (Worthington) spoke insultingly, (Theodoret) as the pagans asked what good Christ had done? (St. Augustine)
136:4
Calmet
Land. They were oppressed with grief, (Ecclesiasticus 22:6.) and unwilling to expose sacred things to profanation, though there was no prohibition for them to sing out of Judea, for their mutual comfort. (Calmet)
They excuse themselves on both accounts.
136:5
Haydock
Forgotten. May all that is most dear to us perish, if we do not serve God, (Worthington) and seek to procure the welfare of Jerusalem. (Haydock)
Berthier
Yet they knew that the joy of their earthly abode in that city could not satisfy their desires. They allude, therefore, ultimately to heaven. (Berthier)
136:7
Haydock
Day. When Jerusalem was taken, or when it shall be re-established. (Haydock)
The Idumeans incited the Babylonians to destroy it entirely, and even cut in pieces such as had escaped, Abdias 5:11., and Jeremias 12:6.
Calmet
But Nabuchodonosor punished them five years afterwards, and Hircanus forced them to receive circumcision. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 10:11., and 13:18.) (Calmet)
Worthington
Isaias (xxi. 11.) denounced their ruin, as the psalmist does here. (Worthington)
Berthier
St. Chrysostom thinks that the latter expresses the vindictive sentiments of the Jews: but he rather desires that God's cause should be maintained in the manner in which He should judge best. The illusions of our own imagination and vanity are most dangerous and domestic enemies, as the Edomites sprung from the same stock as Israel. (Berthier)
136:8
Daughter. Citizens.
Theodoret
Miserable "plunderer," (Symmachus) or "ruined," (Aquila) or "which shalt be given up to plunder." (Theodoret)
Haydock
Cyrus reduced the city to a state of abjection, and it has since experienced other miseries, (Calmet) so that its situation is now unknown. (Haydock)
Worthington
Isaias (xiii.) foretold this destruction. (Worthington)
136:9
Worthington
Dash thy little ones, etc. In the spiritual sense, we dash the little ones of Babylon against the rock, when we mortify our passions, and stifle the first motions of them, by a speedy recourse to the rock, which is Christ. (Challoner) (St. Augustine) (St. Gregory) (Psalm l.) (Worthington)
Calmet
We do not read that Cyrus treated Babylon with this rigour; but such practices were then customary, (Osee 14:1.; Homer, Iliad xxii.) and Darius cruelly punished the revolted city. (Herodotus 3:159.) (Calmet)
Worthington
God will reward those who execute his decrees (Haydock) against Babylon. (Worthington)
Berthier
The psalmist contrasts the felicity of the conqueror, with the misery of the citizens, without approving of his conduct. (Berthier)
136:9
Dash thy little ones, etc.... In the spiritual sense, we dash the little ones of Babylon against the rock, when we mortify our passions, and stifle the first motions of them, by a speedy recourse to the rock which is Christ.
136:1
By adding to this title [for Ieremie] the Septuagint Interpreters signifie that this Psalme treateth of the same captiuitie, in which Ieremias writte his Lamentations.
Nere the riuers in Chaldea, wherof Babylon was the head citie,
the Iewes remained mourning,
remembring the holie rites and seruice of God, which had bene in Sion, wherof they were depriued in the captiuitie.
136:2
Al their musical instruments, as hauing no vse of them.
136:3
Either in earnest, or in scorne the Chaldees willed them to sing, as they were accustomed in their countrie.
136:4
They excused themselues, and refused to sing sacred Psalmes before prophane people, neither had they mind to sing in that mourning state of captiuitie.
136:5
The people shew not only their feruent present desire to serue God in Ierusalem, but also their firme purpose stil to desire the same, wishing that if they forget it, or lose this affection, their right handes, or what soeuer is most deare, or necessarie for them, may be forgotten, not conserued, but suffered to perish,
136:6
If I lose this affection, let me also lose the vse of my tongue.
136:7
The Idomeans incensed the Chaldees to be cruel against the Iewes, wherof they pray for iust reuenge, and withal the Psalmist prophecieth that it wil be reuenged, which Isaias also prophecieth, c. 21. v. 11. l. for their reioycing in Ierusalems miserie.
The voice of the Idumeans, inciting the Babylonians vtterly to destroy Ierusalem.
136:8
A prophecie that the people of Babylon should also be punished, for their crueltie against the Iewes, wherof Isaias likewise prophecieth. c. 13.
136:9
God wil blesse, or reward them that shal seuerly afflict the Babylonians.
not sparing their children. Morally he is blessed, that mortifieth his owne passions, cutteth of first il motions, or punisheth venial sinnes, that they grow not strong vvithin his soule, and so draw it to committe mortal sinne. S. Aug. hic. & S. Greg. in fine expos. Psal. 4. paeuit.
136:1
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Concerning Repentance 2.11
101. But of those who as exiles and banished from their ancestral homes, which the holy law of Moses had assigned them, will be entangled in the errors of the world, you hear him saying: “By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.”
san Giovanni Crisostomo † 407 d.C. Homilies on First Corinthians 33
Now, in the first place, not all things spoken in the Psalms by David, are spoken in the person of David. For it is he himself who saith, “I have dwelt in the tents of Kedar;” ( Ps. cxx. 5 .) and, “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept:” (
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 46.2
… to leave also the plain of Shinar, where the tower of pride had been raised to heaven. He has to pass through the waves of this world, and to ford its rivers; those by which the saints sat down and wept when they remembered Zion,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 137.1
1. …But to-day we have sung, “By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered Sion” (
san Giovanni Damasceno † 749 d.C. An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.6
… Thereafter He was seen upon the earth and dwelt among men . For as yet God was not seen nor did He dwell among men when this was said. And here again: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; yea wept
136:2
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Concerning Repentance 2.11
104. And so no one in a state of sin ought to claim a right to or the use of the sacraments, for it is written: “Thou hast sinned, be still.” As David says in the Psalm lately quoted: “We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof;” and again: “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 137.5
5. “On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments of music” (
136:3
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 7.3
… There he has laid upon me the yoke of captivity; there inserting in my nostrils a ring of iron, he has commanded me to sing one of the songs of Zion. To whom I have said, “The Lord looseth the prisoners; the Lord openeth the eyes of the blind.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 137.6
6. “For there they that led us captive demanded of us words of songs, and they that led us away, an hymn” (
136:4
Tertulliano † 220 d.C. To His Wife 2.6
… whose hand will she yearn after? of whose cup will she partake? What will her husband sing to her, or she to her husband? From the tavern, I suppose, she who sups upon God
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 45.6
… Pray for me that, after Babylon, I may see Jerusalem once more; that Joshua, the son of Josedech, may have dominion over me, and not Nebuchadnezzar, that Ezra, whose name means helper, may come and restore me to my own country. I was a fool in wishing to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land,
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 137.7
… What answer we? Babylon beareth thee, Babylon containeth thee, Babylon nourisheth thee, Babylon speaks by thy mouth, thou knowest not to take in save what glitters for the present, thou knowest not how to meditate on things of eternity, thou takest not in what thou askest. “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” (
Pseudo-Clement The Second Epistle of the Same Clement 6
… we may not be like common singers, either those who play on the lyre, or those who sing with the voice, or like soothsayers, as many are, who follow these practices and do these things, that they may sate themselves with a paltry mouthful of bread, and who, for the sake of a sorry cup of wine, go about “singing the songs of the Lord in the strange land”
136:5
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 62.4
4. Give heed, brethren, give heed, I entreat you. For it delighteth me yet to speak a few words to you of this beloved City. For “most glorious things of Thee have been spoken, City of God.” And, “if I forget Thee, O Jerusalem, let mine own right hand forget me.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 137.8
… In fear then of this, see what the Psalmist subjoins, see what follows. “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem” (
136:6
san Gregorio Nazianzeno † 389 d.C. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.95
… and my lips bound, to use the words of wisdom, by divine knowledge, and, as I would add, loosed in due season: before my tongue had been filled with exultation, and become an instrument of Divine melody, awaking with glory, awaking right early, and laboring till it cleave to my jaws:
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 137.9
9. “Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I remember not thee” (
136:7
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Concerning Repentance 2.11
… For we are then specially oppressed when the flesh yields. And some there are who trouble heavily the wretched soul, seeking to deprive it of all protection. To which case the words apply: “Rase it, rase it, even to the foundations.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 137.10
10. Then he turneth to God in prayer against the enemies of that city. “Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom” (
136:8
Origene † 254 d.C. Origen Against Celsus 7.22
… In this sense also we understand the language of the 137th Psalm : “O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us: happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.”
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Concerning Repentance 2.11
106. And David, pitying her, says: “O wretched daughter of Babylon.”
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 137.11
11. Then he turneth himself to her, “O daughter of Babylon, unhappy;” unhappy in thy very exulting, thy presumption, thine enmity; “unhappy daughter of Babylon!” (
136:9
san Gregorio di Nissa † 395 d.C. Against Eunomius 1-2.1
… but when at last and with great difficulty he brought it to the light, it was a poor little abortion, quite prematurely born. However, those who share his ruin nurse it and coddle it; while we, seeking the blessing in the prophet (“Blessed shall he be who shall take thy children, and shall dash them against the stones
sant'Ambrogio † 397 d.C. Concerning Repentance 2.11
106. And David, pitying her, says: “O wretched daughter of Babylon.” Wretched indeed, as being the daughter of Babylon, when she ceased to be the daughter of Jerusalem. And yet he calls for a healer for her, and says: “Blessed is he who shall take thy little ones and dash them against the rock.”
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 22.6
… Slay the enemy while he is small; and, that you may not have a crop of tares, nip the evil in the bud. Bear in mind the warning words of the Psalmist: “Hapless daughter of Babylon, happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.”
san Girolamo † 420 d.C. The Letters of St. Jerome 130.8
… keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins,” and come not to “the great transgression” which is sin in act. Rather slay the allurements to vice while they are still only thoughts; and dash the little ones of the daughter of Babylon against the stones
sant'Agostino d'Ippona † 430 d.C. Expositions on the Book of Psalms 137.12
12. “Happy shall he be that repayeth thee, as thou hast served us.” What repayment meaneth he? Herewith the Psalm closeth, “Happy, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock” (
136:7
… A. rispecchierebbe perciò l'odio ebreo contro gli Idumei, accresciutosi con l'esilio (Ps. 136, 7; Eccl. 50, 58). La dipendenza di Gioele da A. andrebbe rovesciata, e tanto Geremia quanto A. forse dipendono entrambi da un ignoto oracolo anteriore. …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · Douay-Rheims originale (Douai 1609-10), trascrizione EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Pubblico dominio.