By the Rivers of Babylon
Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!” Psalm 137:7 · Berean Standard Bible
The speaker calls on God to remember what the Edomites did: they joined in the destruction of Jerusalem, shouting 'tear it down, destroy it completely.'
Edom was a neighboring nation descended from Esau, and there was already ancient friction between Edom and Judah. But during the fall of Jerusalem, the Edomites didn't just stay neutral — they actively participated in the violence, cheering on the destruction. This was betrayal, cruelty to kinfolk. The exiles are asking God not to forget this treachery. It's a raw prayer for justice.
The survivor calling upon God, addressing him directly now.
Throughout Scripture, God's people cry out for justice when they've been wronged by enemies. This is that cry. It's not pretty or spiritually comfortable, but it's honest. The psalms make room for rage, for demanding that God see injustice and act.
The speaker appeals to God to remember the Edomites' cruelty during Jerusalem's fall, when they called for the city's complete destruction.
Edom, the nation descended from Esau (Jacob's brother), occupied the territory south and southeast of the Dead Sea. During Jerusalem's siege in 586 BCE, Edomite forces apparently participated in or facilitated the Babylonian assault, and more crucially, they exploited the chaos for territorial expansion and plunder (documented in Obadiah and Lamentations 4:21-22). The verb זָכַר (zakar, remember) here carries juridical weight — it's a petition that God take judicial action based on past crimes. The Edomites' cry to "tear it down to its foundations" (עִרּוּ עִרּוּ עַד־הַיְסוֹד בָּהּ, iru iru ad-ha-yesod bah) represents not merely military conquest but existential erasure — the desire to eliminate Jerusalem so completely that no trace remains. This historical moment became encoded in later Jewish tradition as an exemplary betrayal; the medieval commentator Ibn Ezra connected Edomite treachery to the eschatological expectation that divine justice would eventually restore Israel's dignity.
The exilic community's representative voice, now transitioning from personal covenant-oath to communal petition for divine justice.
This introduces the psalter's theology of divine justice — the belief that God maintains historical memory and will ultimately vindicate the oppressed. It connects to the prophetic tradition (particularly Obadiah's oracle against Edom) and establishes a framework where exile is not final abandonment but temporary judicial discipline before restoration. The psalm moves from lament to a plea for God's vindication.
5If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.
6May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!
7Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
8O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
9Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
Read all of Psalm 137 — The exiles sit down and weep. How can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? A psalm of grief that ends with rage.
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