Psalm 137
"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down"
Communal lament
Psalm 137 fromChludov Psalter (9th century)
Other name	Psalm 136 "Super flumina Babylonis"
Language	Hebrew (original)

Psalm 137
← Psalm 136 Psalm 138 →
Psalm 137 in theEadwine Psalter (12th century)
Book	Book of Psalms
Hebrew Bible part	Ketuvim
Order in the Hebrew part	1
Category	Sifrei Emet
Christian Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Christian part	19

Psalm 137 is the 137th psalm of theBook of Psalms, beginning in English in theKing James Version: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down". The Book of Psalms is part of thethird section of theHebrew Bible, and a book of theChristianOld Testament. In the slightly different numbering system used in the GreekSeptuagint and LatinVulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm isPsalm 136. In Latin, it is known by theincipit, "Super flumina Babylonis".^[1] The psalm is acommunal lament about remembering Zion, and yearning for Jerusalem while dwelling in exile during theBabylonian captivity.

The psalm forms a regular part of liturgy inJewish,Eastern Orthodox,Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant traditions. It has often been set to music and paraphrased in hymns.

AfterNebuchadnezzar II's successfulsiege of Jerusalem in 597 BC, and subsequent campaigns, inhabitants of theKingdom of Judah were deported toBabylonia, where they wereheld captive until some time after theFall of Babylon (539 BC). The rivers ofBabylon are theEuphrates river, its tributaries, and theTigris river.

Psalm 137 is ahymn expressing the yearnings of the Jewish people during their Babylonian exile. In its whole form of nine verses, the psalm reflects the yearning for Jerusalem as well as hatred for the Holy City's enemies with sometimes violent imagery.

Rabbinical sources attributed the poem to the prophetJeremiah,^[2] and the Septuagint version of the psalm bears the superscription: "For David. By Jeremias, in the Captivity."^[3]

The early lines of the psalm describe the sadness of theIsraelites in exile, while remembering their homeland, weeping and hanging theirharps on trees. Asked to "sing the Lord's song in a strange land", they refuse.

Methodist writerJoseph Benson reflects on the "inexpressible pathos ... in these few words! How do they, at once, transport us to Babylon, and place before our eyes the mournful situation of the Israelitish captives! Driven from their native country, stripped of every comfort and convenience, in a strange land among idolaters, wearied and broken-hearted, they sit in silence by those hostile waters." He argues that the reference to harps reflects "all instruments of music" and that the words can probably be interpreted to mean that the singers wereLevites used to the performance of music in the service of thetemple.^[4]

In verses 5–6 the speaker turns into self-exhortation to remember Jerusalem:

The psalm ends with prophetic predictions of violent revenge.

The psalm is customarily recited onTisha B'Av and by some during the nine days preceding Tisha B'Av, commemorating the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem.^{[citation needed]}

Psalm 137 is traditionally recited before theBirkat Hamazon (Grace After Meals) on a weekday. However, onShabbat andJewish holidays, and at the celebratorymeal accompanying aJewish wedding,brit milah, orpidyon haben,Psalm 126 is recited before the Birkat Hamazon instead.^[5]

Verses 5 and 6 are customarily said by the groom atJewish wedding ceremony shortly before breaking a glass as a symbolic act of mourning over the destruction of the Temple.^{[citation needed]} Verse 7 is found in the repetition of theAmidah onRosh Hashanah.^{[6][full citation needed]}

Psalm 137 is one of the ten Psalms of theTikkun HaKlali of RebbeNachman of Breslov.^[7][8]

In theEastern Orthodox Church, Psalm 136 (Psalm 137 in the Masoretic Text) is part of the nineteenthKathisma division of the Psalter, read atMatins on Friday mornings, and on Wednesdays and Fridays duringLent, atMatins and theThird Hour, respectively.

It is also chanted solemnly at Matins on the last 1 to 3 Sundaysbefore Lent (depending on the local custom), with the refrain,Alleluia.^[9]

In theAgpeya, theCoptic Church'sbook of hours, this psalm is prayed in the office ofCompline^[10] and the third watch of theMidnight office.^[11] It is also in the prayer of the Veil, which is generally prayed only by monks.^[12]

In following theRule of Saint Benedict (530AD), theCatholic Church hadSuper flumina Babylonis set in theRoman Breviary forVespers on Wednesdays.^[13][14] In theRoman Missalof 1962, the first verse of was theOffertory for theMass on the 20th Sunday afterPentecost.^[15]

After theSecond Vatican Council, the last three verses of the psalm were deleted from liturgical books because their contents were seen as incompatible with the 'Gospel message'.^[16] In the three-year cycle of texts for theMass of Paul VI, promulgated in 1970 and called the Ordinary Form, this psalm is read onLaetare Sunday (that is the Fourth Sunday inLent) of Year B.^{[citation needed]}

As with the reforms in the Catholic Church, the1962Book of Common Prayer used by theAnglican Church of Canada has also removed the last three verses.^[17]

InLutheranism, awell-known hymn based on the psalm has been associated with aGospel reading in whichJesus foretells andmourns theDestruction of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41–48).^[18]

The psalm has been set to music by many composers. Many settings omit the last verse. The hymnwriterJohn L. Bell comments alongside his own setting of this Psalm: "The final verse is omitted in this metricization, because its seemingly outrageous curse is better dealt with in preaching or group conversation. It should not be forgotten, especially by those who have never known exile, dispossession or the rape of people and land."^[19]

Latin settings ("Super flumina Babylonis") as four-partmotets were composed byCostanzo Festa,^[20]Nicolas Gombert,^[21]Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina^[22] andOrlando di Lasso.^[23]Philippe de Monte^[24] andTomás Luis de Victoria set the text for eight parts.^[25] French Baroque settings were written byHenry Dumont,^[26]Marc-Antoine Charpentier, 2 settings, H.170 (1670) and H.171-H.171 a (? late 1670),^[27]Charles-Hubert Gervais (1723),Michel-Richard Delalande S.13 (1686).^[28] andFrançois Giroust (1768).

Wolfgang Dachstein's "An Wasserflüssen Babylon", a German rhymed paraphrase and setting of the psalm, was first published in 1525.^[29] It was soon adopted as aLutheran hymn, and appeared in publications such as theBecker Psalter.^[30][31] A manuscript written in the early 17th century and a 1660s print illustrate that Dachstein's version of the psalm was adopted inAshkenazi culture.^[32]Four-part chorale settings of Dachstein's hymn were realised by, among others,Johann Hermann Schein^[33][34] andHeinrich Schütz.^[31][35] Schütz also setLuther's prose translation of Psalm 137 ("An den Wassern zu Babel",SWV 37, included in thePsalmen Davids, Op. 2, 1619),^[36][37] and another setting,SWV 242, for theBecker Psalter, published first in 1628. Organ compositions based on Dachstein's hymn includeJohann Adam Reincken'sAn Wasserflüssen Babylon, and one ofJohann Sebastian Bach'sGreat Eighteen Chorale Preludes.^[29]

The first composition inEustache Du Caurroy'sMeslanges de la musique, published in 1610, a year after the composer's death, is "Le long des eaux, ou se bagne", a six-part setting ofGilles Durant de la Bergerie's paraphrase of Psalm 137.^[38][39][40]Salamone Rossi (1570–1630) set the psalm in Hebrew (עַל נַהֲרוֹת בָּבֶל,Al naharot Bavel) for four parts.^[41]Matthew Locke'sSuper flumina Babylonis motet is an extended setting of the first nine verses of the psalm.^[42][43] The psalm's first two verses were used for a musical setting in around by English composerPhilip Hayes.^[44]William Billings adapted the text to describe the British occupation of Boston in his anthem "Lamentation over Boston".^[45][46]

Artemy Vedel composed two choral concertos based on the psalm in Ukrainian,Na rekakh Vavilonskikh.^[47]

Lord Byron's "We sat down and wept by the waters", a versified paraphrase of Psalm 137, was published in hisHebrew Melodies in 1815. The poetry was set by, among others,Isaac Nathan (1815) andSamuel Sebastian Wesley (c. 1834). The poem was translated in French byAlexis Paulin Paris, and in German byAdolf Böttger. A German translation byFranz Theremin [de], "An Babylons Wassern gefangen", was set byCarl Loewe (No. 2 of hisHebräische Gesänge, Op. 4, 1823). Another German translation was set byFerruccio Busoni ("An Babylons Wassern wir weinten" inZwei hebräische Melodien von Lord Byron,BV 202, 1884).^[48][49]

Psalm 137 was the inspiration for the famous slave chorus "Va, pensiero" from Verdi's operaNabucco (1842).^[50]Charles-Valentin Alkan's piano pieceSuper flumina Babylonis: Paraphrase, Op. 52 (1859), is in the printed score preceded by a French translation of Psalm 137.^[51][52]Charles Gounod set "Près du fleuve étranger", a French paraphrase of the psalm, in 1861.^[53][54] In 1866 this setting was published withHenry Farnie's text version, as "By Babylon's wave: Psalm CXXXVII".^[55][56]

In 1863,Gabriel Fauré wrote aSuper Flumina Babylonis for mixed chorus and orchestra.^{[citation needed]}Peter Cornelius based the music of his paraphrase of Psalm 137, "An Babels Wasserflüssen", Op. 13 No. 2 (1872), on the "Sarabande" of Bach's thirdEnglish Suite.^[57][58] Czech composerAntonín Dvořák (1841–1904) set verses 1–5 to music as No. 7 of hisBiblical Songs (1894).^[59][60]

20th and 21st-century settings based on, or referring to, Psalm 137 include:

• Super flumina Babylonis (1916) for mixed choir and organ, byJules Van Nuffel.^[61]
• InWilliam Walton'sBelshazzar's Feast, a 1931cantata, a version of the opening section is set to music, as if sung by the Israelite captives in Babylon.^[62]
• The second of theTwo Psalms byHarry Partch (1901–1974) is "By the Rivers of Babylon", which he recorded in 1942 in a version for voice, chromelodeon and adapted viola.^[63]
• An English setting ("By the Rivers of Babylon") byDavid Amram (b. 1930), for solo soprano andSSAA choir (1969).^{[64][65][66][relevant?]}
• "Rivers of Babylon", in part based on the opening verses of the Psalm, is aRastafarian song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of theJamaicanreggae groupThe Melodians in 1970. It is featured in the 1972 filmThe Harder They Come and well known through its hit single 1978 rendition byBoney M. In 1992, the rock/reggae groupSublime released a live cover of the song on their40oz. to Freedom album.U Roy,I Roy,Ras Michael andBrent Dowe also released adaptations of the Psalm^[67]
• Sinead O Connor recorded a version of the Melodians' adaption of the Psalm with bassistRobbie Shakespeare on her 2007 album,Theology
• The psalm was set, asOn the Willows, in theStephen Schwartz Broadway musicalGodspell (1971).^[68]
• Don McLean covered Hayes's round as "Babylon", which was the final track on his 1971 albumAmerican Pie. Another cover of the round was featured at the end of the episode "Babylon" during the first season ofMad Men.^[69]
• Estonian composerArvo Pärt composedAn den Wassern zu Babel saßen wir und weinten in 1976 (revised 1984).^[70]
• In 1981,Herbert Sumsion composedIn Exile, a motet for double choir on verses 1–6, premiered at theGloucester Cathedral.^[71]
• The Judy Hauff compositionWood Street (1986) inThe Sacred Harp is a setting of the psalm in the rendition fromTate and Brady’sNew version of the Psalms of David (1696)
• The psalm was the inspiration for Leonard Cohen's "By the Rivers Dark" on his 2001 albumTen New Songs.^[72]
• Psalm 137:5–6 is the basis for the chorus ofMatisyahu's single "Jerusalem" (2006).^[73]
• Psalm 137 is the central text ofJohn Tavener's "Lament for Jerusalem – a mystical love song".^[74][75]
• The artistFernando Ortega based the song "City of Sorrows" on Psalm 137.^{[citation needed][relevant?]}
• "I Hung My Harp Upon the Willows" is a song byThe Trashcan Sinatras about poetRobert Burns.^{[citation needed][relevant?]}
• It is referenced inThe Mountain Goats' "September 15th 1983" off ofHeretic Pride.^{[citation needed][relevant?]}
• Psalm 137:1–4 is the basis for "By These Rivers" for solo recorder (2022) byGilad Hochman.^[76]
• Song published by Joshua Aaron (23 April 2018).Joshua Aaron - Bring Us Back (By The Rivers of Babylon) Psalm 137. Retrieved 23 May 2024 – via YouTube.^[77]
• Poem byJohn Beecher,If I Forget Thee, O Birmingham!^[78]

This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Psalm 137" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• The title ofWilliam Faulkner'sIf I Forget Thee, Jerusalem (1939).
• The Portuguese 16th century poetLuís de Camões's poemSôbolos rios que vão por Babilónia is based on Psalm 137.
• Welsh poetEvan Evans' work "A Paraphrase of Psalm CXXXVII" is a direct answer to Psalm 137 and parallels the plight of the Welsh bards with that of the Jews in the psalm.^{[citation needed]}
• InSamuel Richardson's 1740 novelPamela; or, Virtue Rewarded, Pamela adapts psalm 137 to describe her spiritual exile from home.

Phrases from the psalm have been referenced in numerous works, including:

• In the third stanza,The Fire Sermon, ofT. S. Eliot's 1922 poemThe Waste Land line 182 is: 'By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept...'.Leman is both the French forLake Geneva and an archaic word for "mistress".^[79]
• "By the Waters of Babylon", 1937 short story byStephen Vincent Benét.
• Elizabeth Goudge used a version of the opening words as the title, and in the text of her short story about an Egyptian slave girl who meets Mary and Joseph shortly after the Nativity, and then warns them about King Herod, and helps them escape to a hilltown in the Egyptian desert,By the Waters of Babylon inThe Ikon on the Wall, and Other Stories (Gerald Duckworth, London, 1943), and also inThe Reward of Faith, and Other Stories (Gerald Duckworth, London, 1950).
• By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, 1945prose poem byElizabeth Smart.
• The Italian poetSalvatore Quasimodo quoted the psalm in his 1947 poem "On the Boughs of the Willows".
• "If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth", a short story written byArthur C. Clarke and first published in 1951 in the magazineFuture.
• By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, 1994 novel byPaulo Coelho.
• InJob: A Comedy of Justice byRobert A. Heinlein, the last line of this psalm is referenced to depict the potential nature of God.
• Leonard Cohen makes several references to the psalm in the song and poem By the Rivers Dark which appears on his 2001 albumTen New Songs, and in his 2006 poetry collectionBook of Longing.
• In Book X, Chapter 7 ofThe Brothers Karamazov, Captain Snegiryov quotes verses 5 and 6.
• In the 2010 video gameFallout New Vegas, in the Honest Hearts DLC, Joshua Graham quotes Psalm 137, likening the Babylonian captivity of the Jews to the White Legs' war with two other tribes, the Dead Horses and the Sorrows.^[80]
• In the 2021 debut of the comic, "King Spawn", writer Sean Lewis and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane introduce a cult called "Psalm 137" which initiates a terrorist campaign targeting children.^[81]

This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Psalm 137" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• Pope Gregory X quoted Psalm 137 ("If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning") before departing from theCrusades upon his election by thepapal conclave, 1268–1271.
• In his "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"^[82] speech,Frederick Douglass compared the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society asking him to deliver theirFourth of July speech to the actions of the antagonists asking theJews to sing in a foreign land.

The following table shows the Hebrew text^[83][84] of the Psalm with vowels, alongside theKoine Greek text in theSeptuagint^[85] and the English translation from theKing James Version. Note that the meaning can slightly differ between these versions, as the Septuagint and theMasoretic Text come from different textual traditions.^{[note 1]} In the Septuagint, this psalm is numbered Psalm 136.

• Buelow, George J. (2004).A History of Baroque Music. Indiana University Press.ISBN 9780253343659.
• Matut, Diana (2011).Dichtung und Musik im frühneuzeitlichen Aschkenas: Ms. opp. add. 4° 136 der Bodleian Library, Oxford (das so genannte Wallich-Manuskript) und Ms. hebr. oct. 219 der Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek, Frankfurt a. M. [Poetry and Music inAshkenazi culture of theearly modern period: Ms. opp. add. 4° 136 of theBodleian Library, Oxford (the so-called Wallich Manuscript) and Ms. hebr. oct. 219 of theFrankfurt City and University Library]. Studies in Jewish History and Culture (in German). Vol. 29.Brill.ISBN 9789004181946.
• Stowe, David W. (2016).Song of Exile: The Enduring Mystery of Psalm 137.Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-046683-1.

EnglishWikisource has original text related to this article:

Psalm 137

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPsalm 137.

• Pieces with text from Psalm 137: Scores at theInternational Music Score Library Project
• Psalm 137: Text, translations and list of free scores by several composers at theChoral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• By the rivers of Babylon text and footnotes, usccb.org United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
• Psalm 137:1 introduction and text, biblestudytools.com
• Psalm 137 – The Mournful Song of the Exiles enduringword.com
• Hymnary.org,Hymns for Psalm 137
• Hebrew text of verses 5–6, translation, transliteration, and recordings on the Zemirot Database
• Psalm 137 at the Bible Gateway, NIV

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