Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock! Psalm 137:7-9

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Passage & Genre

Psalm 137:7–9 (ESV) — Imprecatory lament (community lament with judicial petitions).
Imprecation appears in vv. 8–9 via two macarisms (“Blessed is the one…”), functioning as covenant-court appeals for retributive justice against national enemies.

Text (ESV)
7 Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!”
8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!
9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!

Book Purpose (1 sentence)

Psalms instructs God’s people to pray and sing through the full range of covenant life—praise, lament, confession, and hope—confident that the faithful King will vindicate his people and judge wickedness in his time.

Unit Outline (3–6 bullets)

  • 137:1–4 Exilic setting: grief by Babylon’s rivers.

  • 137:5–6 Oath of Zion-loyalty and memory.

  • 137:7 Petition against Edom for complicity in Jerusalem’s fall.

  • 137:8–9 Judicial macarisms against Babylon, invoking lex talionis.

Paragraph Topic Sentence (interpretive)

The psalmist petitions the covenant Judge to remember and requite the nations complicit in Jerusalem’s destruction, invoking covenant-sanctioned retributive justice (lex talionis) upon Babylon.

Historical Setting (author/recipients/occasion)

Likely composed during or soon after the Babylonian exile (6th c. BC), reflecting the community’s trauma after 586 BC. “Edom” aided or exulted in Judah’s downfall (cf. Obad 10–14). “Daughter of Babylon” personifies the imperial oppressor. In the ANE war-context, atrocities against civilians (including children) were tragically common (cf. 2 Kgs 8:12; Nah 3:10; Hos 13:16); the psalm frames such horrors judicially—as what Babylon did and thus what God may justly repay.

Observations (text-level)

  • Repetitions/keywords: remember (zākar), blessed (ʾašrê), repays (gāmul).

  • Connectors: implicit lex talionis (“with what you have done to us”).

  • Structures: two parallel macarisms (vv. 8–9) after a petition (v. 7).

  • Voices/imperatives: Address to YHWH (v. 7), then address to Babylon (v. 8).

  • Imagery: personified city (“daughter of Babylon”); rock as execution surface (judicial/war image).

  • Allusion field: Obadiah against Edom; Isa 13–14; Jer 50–51 on Babylon’s doom.

Key Words (2–6) & Contextual Sense

  • zākar (זָכַר, zākar) — verb, “remember”; here: covenant-forensic recall to bring to account (v. 7).

  • ʾašrê (אַשְׁרֵי, ʾašrê) — interjection “blessed/happy”; here: judicial felicity for the agent of divinely sanctioned recompense (vv. 8–9).

  • gāmal (גָּמַל, gāmal) — verb, “deal, repay”; here: requite in kind (v. 8; cf. Ps 7:4).

  • ʿōlêl (עוֹלֵל, ʿōlēl) — noun, “infant/little one”; here: representative of a nation’s future/continuance (v. 9).

  • nāpaṣ (נָפַץ, nāpaṣ) — verb, “dash to pieces”; here: depiction of ANE wartime destruction invoked as lex talionis imagery (v. 9).

Syntax Highlights (purpose/condition/contrast/emphasis)

  • Imperative-petition: “Remember, O LORD…” (v. 7) → invokes divine judicial action.

  • Vocative + participial description: “O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed” marks Babylon as an object of certain judgment.

  • Macarisms (ʾašrê + yiqtol) convey normative valuation of just recompense, not private vengeance.

  • Comparative justice: “as you have dealt with us” marks proportional retribution.

Textual Note (only if meaning changes)

No significant variants are known here that alter the sense; major witnesses support the Masoretic reading of vv. 7–9.

Parallels (concentric cross-references)

  • Same book: Ps 79:6–7 (nations devour Jacob); Ps 94:1–3 (God of vengeance, shine forth).

  • Same corpus: Ps 7:4–17; Ps 9–10 (God repays the wicked).

  • Same testament: Obad 10–14 (Edom’s cruelty); Isa 13:16–19; Jer 50–51 (Babylon’s fall, measure-for-measure).

  • Whole Bible: Deut 32:35 (vengeance is mine); Rom 12:19 (leave vengeance to God); Rev 18 (fall of “Babylon” with payback “as she herself glorified”).

Exegesis (concise synthesis)

The psalmist petitions YHWH to remember Edom’s complicity in Judah’s catastrophe—“the day of Jerusalem”—and to bring their words and actions into the covenant court (v. 7). He then addresses Babylon with two macarisms that evaluate as “blessed” the one who executes just recompense “as you have done to us” (v. 8). The final line (v. 9) employs horrific wartime imagery familiar in the ANE to describe the total reversal of Babylon’s violence: the destruction of “little ones” symbolizes the complete termination of a nation’s future. The psalm neither mandates vigilante violence nor celebrates cruelty; it appeals to the Judge to measure back to Babylon what Babylon measured out, within the covenantal-judicial framework and prophetic proclamations against the empire.

Theological Analysis

Arminian/Provisionist & Dispensational synthesis

  • Affirms divine justice and human moral responsibility: nations are accountable for real choices (Obad; Jer 50–51).

  • Prayer for judgment is a submission to God’s jurisdiction, not license for personal revenge (Deut 32:35; Rom 12:19).

  • Within a non-extreme Dispensational frame, the text sits in Israel’s theocratic context; its eschatological resonance (e.g., Rev 17–18) warns oppressive world-systems that measured recompense awaits.

  • The shocking imagery functions judicially (lex talionis), not prescriptively for personal ethics; modern application transposes to prayer for righteous judgment and trust in God’s timing.

Reformed/Calvinist contrast (fair summary)

  • Many Reformed interpreters similarly see covenantal/judicial language but emphasize divine sovereignty in raising a “minister of justice.” Some extend typology: “Babylon” as the city of man; the church prays the imprecations in Christ, the Davidic King, against unrepentant evil (with care to avoid personal malice). (Cf. general Reformed readings in imprecation discussions.)

Scholarly Insight (conservative voices)

  • Derek Kidner: The macarisms are judicial valuations, not bloodlust; the psalm voices “the love of justice and the hatred of cruelty” in covenant terms. Psalms 73–150 (Downers Grove: IVP, 1975), 459–61.

  • Willem A. VanGemeren: The imprecation is anchored in Zion-theology and prophetic oracles; the psalmist seeks divine retribution proportionate to Babylon’s crimes. In Psalms (EBC rev.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 826–29.

  • Allen P. Ross: v. 9’s brutality is depictive, not directive; it mirrors prophetic judgment language and functions representationally for total overthrow. A Commentary on the Psalms, Vol. 3 (90–150) (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2016), 474–78.

  • John N. Day: Imprecations can be ethically appropriated by Christians as court-of-appeal prayers for God’s justice, avoiding personal vindictiveness. “The Imprecatory Psalms and Christian Ethics,” Bibliotheca Sacra 159 (2002): 166–86.

Conner Passage-Study Matrix

A. Persons/Places/Time — Persons: YHWH; Edom; “daughter of Babylon.” Place: Jerusalem (destroyed), Babylon (exile). Time: post-586 BC exile horizon.
B. Commands/Prohibitions/Promises/Warnings/Conditions/Results — Petition: “Remember, O LORD” (command/request to Judge). Condition/result: “as you have done to us” → recompense. Macarisms evaluate the result of just retribution as “blessed.”
C. Doctrinal/Thematic Threads & Progressions — Justice/lex talionis; covenant memory; Zion loyalty; theodicy in lament.
D. Figures of Speech & Idioms — “Daughter of Babylon” (personification); v. 9 vivid metonymy/synecdoche (children as future) within ANE judgment metaphor.
E. Contrasts & Comparisons — Edom’s mockery vs. Zion’s loyalty; Babylon’s deeds vs. proportional repayment.
F. Cause–Effect; Purpose–Means — Cause: Babylon’s atrocities; Means: divine judgment via human agent; Effect: complete reversal of oppression.
G. Question Map — Ethical tension: Can believers pray such lines? Answered by covenant-court frame and NT “leave it to the wrath of God.”
H. Quotation/Allusion Tracking (OT/NT) — Obad 10–14; Isa 13:16–19; Jer 50–51; Deut 32:35; Rom 12:19; Rev 18.
I. Progressive Revelation & Dispensational Location — Israel under theocratic covenant; forward resonance with eschatological Babylon; no mandate for church violence; prayer for divine justice remains.
J. Early Church Witness (Didache/Patristic) — Augustine spiritualizes “little ones” as sinful thoughts of Babylon to be “dashed” against the Rock (Christ)—a moral reading, not the grammatical-historical sense. Expositions of the Psalms 121–150, trans. Maria Boulding (Hyde Park, NY: New City, 2004), on Ps 137.

Practical Application

  • Then-and-there: (1) Israel entrusts vengeance to YHWH; (2) national crimes invite proportional judgment; (3) Zion-loyalty forbids complicity in her downfall.

  • Timeless principles: (1) God’s justice repays evil in his time; (2) believers may lament atrocities and appeal to God’s court; (3) prayer may name oppressors yet must surrender vengeance to God.

  • My concrete steps (this week): (1) I will pray specifically for God to thwart violent oppression and to vindicate the innocent. (2) I will refrain from vindictive speech, entrusting justice to God (Rom 12:19). (3) I will support a concrete act that relieves victims of injustice.

Citations

  • Augustine. Expositions of the Psalms 121–150. Translated by Maria Boulding. The Works of Saint Augustine III/20. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2004.

  • Day, John N. “The Imprecatory Psalms and Christian Ethics.” Bibliotheca Sacra 159 (2002): 166–86.

  • Kidner, Derek. Psalms 73–150. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1975.

  • Ross, Allen P. A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150). Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2016.

  • VanGemeren, Willem A. “Psalms.” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, rev. ed., 5:1–1152. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008.

TSV Blocks

Observations.tsv
Feature Reference Note
Macarism (ʾašrê) vv.8–9 Judicial felicity for proportional payback
Petition (“Remember”) v.7 Forensic appeal to covenant Judge
Lex talionis v.8 “As you have done to us” frames proportional retribution
Personification v.8 “Daughter of Babylon” = the imperial oppressor as a persona
Graphic judgment image v.9 War-court imagery depicting total overthrow

Keywords.tsv
Lemma (translit) POS Core gloss Contextual sense here Comparable ref
zākar Verb remember Forensic recall to judge Ps 25:7
ʾašrê Interj blessed/Joyful Judicial valuation of just recompense Ps 1:1
gāmal Verb repay/deal with Measure back in kind Ps 7:4
ʿōlēl Noun infant/little one Nation’s future/survival Isa 13:16
nāpaṣ Verb dash to pieces ANE judgment depiction Nah 3:10

Syntax.tsv
Construction Reference Function in argument
Imperative petition v.7 Invokes YHWH’s judicial action
Vocative + participle v.8 Frames Babylon as destined for judgment
Macarisms (ʾašrê + yiqtol) vv.8–9 Normative evaluation of proportional justice
Comparative clause (“as”) v.8 States principle of lex talionis

TextualVariants.tsv
Variant unit Reading A (witnesses) Reading B (witnesses) Preferred Interpretive impact
Psalm 137:7–9 No significant variants noted — MT/major witnesses No change to sense

Parallels.tsv
Tier Reference Why parallel fits here
Same book Ps 79:6–7 Prayer for judgment on nations that devoured Jacob
Same testament Obad 10–14 Edom’s culpable gloating and violence
Prophetic oracles Isa 13:16–19; Jer 50–51 Babylon’s downfall with proportional recompense
Whole Bible Deut 32:35; Rom 12:19 Vengeance belongs to God; believers relinquish it
Apocalyptic Rev 18 Babylon’s measured payback

CommandsEtc.tsv
Category (Command/Prohibition/Promise/Warning/Condition/Result) Verbatim (ESV) Normalized proposition
Command/Petition “Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites…” God is asked to bring Edom’s deeds to account
Condition “as you have done to us” Measure-for-measure principle governs the appeal
Result (evaluative) “Blessed shall he be who repays you…” The agent of just recompense is called “blessed”

DoctrinalThreads.tsv
Theme Local anchor (verse) Canonical trajectory (brief) Notes
Divine justice vv.7–9 Deut 32; Ps 9–10; Rom 12; Rev 18 Justice is God’s; prayer appeals to His court
Lex talionis v.8 Exod 21; Isa 47; Jer 50–51 Proportional judgment against imperial cruelty
Zion loyalty v.7 Ps 132; Neh 1–2 Memory of Jerusalem shapes petitions

FiguresIdioms.tsv
Type Reference Explanation
Personification v.8 “Daughter of Babylon” = Babylon personified as a woman/city
Metonymy/Synecdoche v.9 “Little ones” represent national future; total overthrow imagery

DisputedViews.tsv
View label Key evidence Weaknesses Reasoned conclusion
Literal-only judicial Prophetic oracles; ANE context Modern ethical shock if read as prescriptive Depictive judicial imagery; prayer, not policy
Spiritualizing (Augustine) Patristic moral reading Risks bypassing historical sense Primary meaning is forensic; spiritual use secondary

Application.tsv
Scope (Then/Timeless/This week) Statement
Then Israel entrusts vengeance to YHWH, not to private actors
Timeless God’s justice repays measured evil in His time
Timeless Prayer may name oppression yet surrender retribution to God
This week I will pray specifically for God to restrain violent oppression and vindicate victims
This week I will refuse vindictive speech and entrust justice to God (Rom 12:19)

Categories: Difficult Passages