The Meaning of Psalms 137:2 Explained

Psalms 137:2

KJV: We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

YLT: On willows in its midst we hung our harps.

Darby: We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

ASV: Upon the willows in the midst thereof We hanged up our harps.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

We hanged  our harps  upon the willows  in the midst  thereof. 

What does Psalms 137:2 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalm 137:1-9 - Loyalty In Adversity
It seems as if the exiles had withdrawn from the city, with its distractions, to some natural retreat beside the Euphrates. They had brought their harps with them, but had not the heart to touch their chords. Songs were choked by sobs. Suddenly a band of insolent revelers broke in on the scene, demanding one of those Temple songs for which Hebrew minstrelsy was famed.
But the Lord's song was possible only in the Lord's house. To be separated from the Temple seemed to the Jews like separation from God. When we have been led captive by our sins and have lost the sense of God's presence, we, too, lose the spring of holy joy. Let us make not Jerusalem, but the glory and interests of Christ's kingdom, our chief joy. The closing imprecation on Edom reminds one of Jeremiah 49:7-22; Lamentations 4:2; Lamentations 4:22; Ezekiel 25:12-14. We can understand it, but we must remember that we belong to another covenant. See Luke 9:54, r.v., margin; Romans 12:20. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalm 137

1  The constancy of the Jews in captivity
7  The prophet curses Edom and Babel

What do the individual words in Psalms 137:2 mean?

Upon the willows in the midst of it we hung our harps
עַֽל־ עֲרָבִ֥ים בְּתוֹכָ֑הּ תָּ֝לִ֗ינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵֽינוּ

עַֽל־  Upon 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
עֲרָבִ֥ים  the  willows 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: עֲרָבָה  
Sense: poplar, willow.
בְּתוֹכָ֑הּ  in  the  midst  of  it 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: תָּוֶךְ  
Sense: midst, middle.
תָּ֝לִ֗ינוּ  we  hung 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common plural
Root: תָּלָה  
Sense: to hang.
כִּנֹּרוֹתֵֽינוּ  our  harps 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common plural
Root: כִּנּׄור  
Sense: lyre, harp.