Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Psalms 137:7 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 7. 7Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 137:7: Within “Exile memory, silenced song, and a horrific wish: Edom, Babylon, and the final violent wish,” the line “Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of…” supplies one distinct parallel claim, image, address, or response.
Read It With
- Psalms 137:7–9
- Psalms 137:1–9
Read Psalms 137:7 with 137:7–9 and 137:1–9. Read alone, “Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem” could lose the communal voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 137:7–9, the communal voice carries the movement “Edom, Babylon, and the final violent wish” as part of “Exile memory, silenced song, and a horrific wish.” Its communal-lament-imprecation form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 137:7–9 brings to a close “Exiles refuse coerced Zion songs” within Psalm 137 by carrying “Edom, Babylon, and the final violent wish.” The turn from “If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I…” to “Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it,…” explains why this movement occurs here. Within that relationship, Psalm 137:7 adds the distinct poetic line “Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem” within “Edom, Babylon, and the final violent wish,” where its parallel neighbors determine emphasis and scope.
Follow the Context
- Identify the communal voice, address, and parallel lines in Psalms 137:7–9; do not make every “I”, “we,” king, enemy, or worshiper interchangeable.
- Within Psalms 137:7–9, the communal voice carries the movement “Edom, Babylon, and the final violent wish” as part of “Exile memory, silenced song, and a horrific wish.” Its communal-lament-imprecation form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
- This reading does not authorize the following misuse: The final wish voices traumatized rage after Babylonian violence; it does not bless killing children, authorize revenge, or identify modern peoples as Edom or Babylon.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Psalms 137:7 does not allow “Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem” to become an independent promise, command, accusation, doctrine, or authorization. This verse adds the distinct poetic line “Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem” within “Edom, Babylon, and the final violent wish,” where its parallel neighbors determine emphasis and scope. The complete movement is “Edom, Babylon, and the final violent wish.” This reading does not authorize the following misuse: The final wish voices traumatized rage after Babylonian violence; it does not bless killing children, authorize revenge, or identify modern peoples as Edom or Babylon.
What Remains True
Read “Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem” as part of the communal voice in “Exile memory, silenced song, and a horrific wish: Edom, Babylon, and the final violent wish.” People in households and communities bear dignity beyond productivity, fertility, gender role, status, or usefulness; gifts of relationship never make another person property. The local movement is “Edom, Babylon, and the final violent wish.” The unit's reviewed limit is: The final wish voices traumatized rage after Babylonian violence; it does not bless killing children, authorize revenge, or identify modern peoples as Edom or Babylon.
How It Can Shape Life
- Psalm 137:7 contributes to “Exile memory, silenced song, and a horrific wish: Edom, Babylon, and the final violent wish” in a specific way: Psalm 137:7 adds the distinct poetic line “Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem” within “Edom, Babylon, and the final violent wish,” where its parallel neighbors determine emphasis and scope. Respond by doing this: Let “Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem” support a household practice of safety, listening, shared responsibility, and care without shaming childlessness, singleness, disability, or a nontraditional circumstance.
Teach It Back
Retell Psalm 137:7 as one step in Book V. Name the movement “Edom, Babylon, and the final violent wish,” explain “Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem,” keep Jewish meaning and any later reception distinguishable, give one fitting response, and reject this overreach: This reading does not authorize the following misuse: The final wish voices traumatized rage after Babylonian violence; it does not bless killing children, authorize revenge, or identify modern peoples as Edom or Babylon.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Psalms 137:7–9 — Exile memory, silenced song, and a horrific wish: Edom, Babylon, and the final violent wishSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
Where care is needed
The final wish voices traumatized rage after Babylonian violence; it does not bless killing children, authorize revenge, or identify modern peoples as Edom or Babylon.
This Lens uses WHO guidance only to avoid unsafe modern communication about distress, isolation, death wishes, or severe loss; it does not diagnose the speaker or replace exegesis and appropriate care.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 137:7–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 137:7–9
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 137:7–9.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 137 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 137:7–9
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: individual and communal lament, from lament to praise, and Bible in the World; applied to Psalms 137:7–9
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 137 for Psalms 137:7–9
Open NETS Psalms ↗peer reviewed open access research overview
An Overview of the Study of Imprecatory Psalms: Reformed and Evangelical Approaches to the Interpretation of Imprecatory Psalms
Daniel Simango and P. Paul Krüger
Old Testament Essays 29.3, 2016
Supports: Major historical, literary, covenantal, ethical, and reception approaches to curses and enemy language.
Exact location: Simango and Krüger, 'An Overview of the Study of Imprecatory Psalms,' OTE 29.3 (2016), pp. 581–600, complete approach survey; applied to Psalms 137:7–9
Open the imprecatory-psalm overview ↗peer reviewed open access literary and ethical study
Embracing the Psalter's imprecatory words in the 21st century
Nancy L. deClaissé-Walford
Acta Theologica Supplementum 32, 2021
Supports: Imprecation retained as difficult prayer and communal speech without converting violent wishes into commands or erasing Jewish reception.
Exact location: deClaissé-Walford, 'Embracing the Psalter's imprecatory words,' Acta Theologica Suppl. 32 (2021), pp. 275–292, especially literary, liturgical, trauma, and ethical proposal; applied to Psalms 137:7–9
Open deClaissé-Walford on imprecation ↗modern jewish ethical and reception study
Critiquing the Moral Failings in the Bible
Eugene Korn
TheTorah.com, 2015
Supports: Traumatized exile speech and moral criticism kept visible while child-killing and revenge are explicitly rejected.
Exact location: Korn, 'Critiquing the Moral Failings in the Bible' (2015), section treating Psalm 137:7–9; applied to Psalms 137:7–9
Open Korn on morally difficult biblical speech ↗public health communication guidance
Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023
World Health Organization
World Health Organization, 2023
Supports: Communication safeguards against romanticizing, sensationalizing, diagnosing, blaming, or simplifying despair, isolation, death wishes, and severe loss; not exegesis.
Exact location: WHO, Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023, quick guide p. xiii and dos and don'ts pp. 11–16; applied only to modern safety-aware presentation of Psalms 137:7–9
Open the WHO communication guide ↗