Psalms 137:5

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
forget	אֶשְׁכָּחֵ֥ךְ 'esh.ka.Chekh	H7911	to mislay · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
Jerusalem	יְֽרוּשָׁלִָ֗ם ye.ru.sha.Lim	H3389	Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
hand	יְמִינִֽי ye.mi.Ni	H3225	the right hand or side (leg · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
forget	תִּשְׁכַּ֥ח tish.Kach	H7911	to mislay · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Jeremiah 51:50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
Daniel 6:10-11 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kne…
Psalms 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wicked…
Psalms 122:5-9 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
Isaiah 62:1 For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness,…
Zechariah 11:17 Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, a…
Nehemiah 1:2-4 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left o…
Nehemiah 2:2-3 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 137:1-6

We have here the daughter of Zion covered with a cloud, and dwelling with the daughter of Babylon; the people of God in tears, but sowing in tears. Observe, I. The mournful posture they were in as to their affairs and as to their spirits. 1. They were posted by the rivers of Babylon, in a strange land, a great way from their own country, whence they were brought as prisoners of war. The land of Babylon was now a house of bondage to that people, as Egypt had been in their beginning. Their conquerors quartered them by the rivers, with design to employ them there, and keep them to work in their galleys; or perhaps they chose it as the most melancholy place, and therefore most suitable to their…

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John Gill on Psalms 137:5

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,.... This was said by one or everyone of the Levites; or singers, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; or by the congregation of Israel, as Jarchi; by one of them, in the name of the rest; or by the composer of the psalm. The Targum is, "the voice of the Spirit of God answered and said, "if I forget", &c.'' that is, to weep over the calamities of Jerusalem; which might be thought, if the songs of Zion were sung; or to pray for the restoration of her prosperity and peace; as the church of Christ may be said to be forgotten, when men forget to mourn over its breaches, and show no concern for the reparation of them; or at the death of principal persons, which they lay not to…

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John Calvin on Psalms 137:5–end

Psalm 137:5-9 5. If I shall forget thee, O Jerusalem! let my right had forget. [184] 6. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not, if I set not Jerusalem over the head of all my joy. 7. Remember, O Jehovah! the children or Edom, in the day of Jerusalem, saying, Lay it bare, lay it bare even to the foundation thereof. 8. O daughter of Babylon laid waste. [185] happy he who shall pay thee back the retribution wherewith thou retributedst us! 9. Happy he who shall take and dash thy little ones upon the stones. [186] 5. If I shall forget thee, O Jerusalem! This confirms what was said in the former verse, and leaves us in no difficulty to understand what the Psalmist m…

The Church Fathers

If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand be given over to forgetfulness. Therefore, because he has sinned and fallen, he calls to mind his former way of life and Jerusalem, and he sets before himself this resolve: that unless I shall always be mindful of you, and always hold you in mind, let my right hand be given over to forgetfulness — that is, my works. He did not say the left hand, but the right: for the left hand is always in forgetfulness. Do you wish, then, always to be in remembrance of the Lord? Do works of the right hand.
— Jerome, Homily 48, on Psalm 136

But take heed how thou dwellest among them, O people of God, O body of Christ, O high-born band of wanderers (for thy home is not here, but elsewhere), lest when thou lovest them, strivest for their friendship, and fearest to displease such men, Babylon begin to delight thee and thou forget Jerusalem. In fear then of this, see what the Psalmist subjoins, see what follows. "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem" (ver. 5), amid the speeches of those who hold me captive, amid the speeches of treacherous men, amid the speeches of men who ask with ill intent, asking, yet unwilling to learn. ...What then? "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget me."
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 137

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Music — Jubal was the inventor of musical instruments (Gen. 4:21). The Hebrews were much given to the cultivation of music. Their whole history and literature afford abundant evidence of this. After the…
Willows — (1.) Heb. ‘arabim (Lev. 23:40; Job 40:22; Isa. 15:7; 44:3, 4; Ps. 137:1, 2). This was supposed to be the weeping willow, called by Linnaeus Salix Babylonica, from the reference in Ps. 137. This tree…
Babylon · Grief of the Jews in — Grief of the Jews in
Country · LOVE OF — LOVE OF
Forgetting God · The people of God — The people of God
Jerusalem · The Jews: Loved — The Jews: Loved
Jews, The · Saints remember — Saints remember
Patriotism · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 137:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 137:1-6

John Gill on Psalms 137:5

John Calvin on Psalms 137:5–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 137:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 137:1-6

John Gill on Psalms 137:5

John Calvin on Psalms 137:5–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 137:1-6

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 137:5-6

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 137:5