Psalm 137

Steps to Scripture Analysis Paper

1. Psalm 137 read in five different translations. The New Oxford Annotated Bible (NOAB), King James Version (KJV), The Living Bible (Paraphrased), Revised Standard Version (RSV), and New International Version (NIV).

I read the KJV and The Living Bible most often because the KJV is the version that was given to me as a child and used at our church and The Living Bible because it was given to me by my grandmother.

Psalm 137 is a hymn that expresses the desires of the Jews who have been displaced following the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Psalm 137 reflects the hatred the Jews have for the Babylonians.

I found that the translations for NOAB, KJV, The Living Bible, RSV, and NIV all had the same message. The Jewish people are praying for vengeance against the Babylonians and Endomites because of their destruction of Jerusalem.

2. Our text book A Brief Introduction To The Old Testament states “Many of the Psalms are from the time of the monarchy, with their repeated references to the king and the Temple. Others are from the exilic period, including Psalm 137 and some that describe a community without a Temple, either in Judah before the Temple was rebuilt or in exile without access to the restored Temple” (M. D. Coogan). The NOAB, The Living Bible and KJV’s that I have made no mention of Psalms 137 in their introductions.

3. After reading the entire book of Psalms I found that its content consists of 150 hymns or prayers. Each hymn or prayer has a poetic character and are from several periods in Israel’s

history. Psalm 136 is a hymn of praise recounting the acts of God, from creation to the Exodus to the battles for the possession of the land. Psalm 138 is about Thanksgiving in the Temple.

4. Footnotes found in the NOAB state that Psalm 137 is the Remembering of Zion; a lament from the exilic or postexilic era, as the references to the Babylonian captivity attest. Exile is...