Drawing by Ismar David from The Psalms: A new English translation, linked with permission from Ismar David Archive .
For other images of Ismar David drawings, see here.
עַ֥ל נַהֲר֨וֹת ׀ בָּבֶ֗ל שָׁ֣ם יָ֭שַׁבְנוּ גַּם־בָּכִ֑ינוּ בְּ֝זָכְרֵ֗נוּ אֶת־צִיּֽוֹן׃
Psalm 137
Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem
1By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down, and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.
Drawing by Ismar David from The Psalms: A new English translation, linked with permission from Ismar David Archive .
For other images of Ismar David drawings, see here.
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, the Jarai translation uses the exclusive pronoun. The Adamawa Fulfulde translation uses the inclusive pronoun.
In verse 1 the waters of Babylon include not only the Tigris and the Euphrates and their tributaries, but also the extensive irrigation canals in the country. The picture is that of a group of people seated on the ground and mourning. Zion here is probably the Temple or the city of Jerusalem, not the land of Israel as such (see also comments at 2.6). The use of the plural “By the rivers” will mean in many languages that the event took place many times beside many rivers, and require that the verb “sat down” reflect this. Babylon may have to be adjusted as “the country called Babylon,” or in languages with a name for the country, “Babylonia,” that is different from the name of the city, “Babylon.” In languages in which first person plural shows exclusion or inclusion, here we sat down will be exclusive if the psalm was composed after the exile, for the exiles are then speaking to people who were not with them in Babylon. However, if the psalm was composed in Babylon, the exiles are speaking to each other, and the pronoun is inclusive. In cases where it is not sufficiently clear that the weeping was caused by the sad memory, it may be necessary to say, for example, “when we thought about the destruction of Zion, we cried.” It is important that the verb “remember” not suggest that the people had forgotten, but then suddenly recalled it.
There is a difference of opinion whether the trees named in verse 2 are willows (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New English Bible) or poplars (New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Dahood); see Fauna and Flora of the Bible, pages jmp 169-170|fig:ffb_Poplar.htmjmp*. New American Bible says the tree (whose Latin name is populus euphratica) is the Mediterranean aspen. For harps see “lyre” and comments on 33.2. The figure of hanging the harps on the trees is metaphorical; it meant, of course, that their owners were setting them aside and did not plan to play them again. If the translator finds that hanging an instrument on a tree does not express the idea of ceasing to play, it will be better to say, for example, “We never played our harps (or, musical instruments) again,” or “We never made any more music with our instruments,” or “We put away….”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .