We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
Parallel translations
- WEB On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.
- BSB There on the willows we hung our harps,
- NKJV We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it.
- NASB Upon the willows in the midst of it We hung our harps.
- NLT We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The exiles hung up their harps, too grieved to make music in captivity.
Overview
The silent harps hanging on the willows picture a sorrow too deep for song. Instruments meant for joyful temple worship were laid aside in a land of exile. This image of suspended praise reminds believers that true worship belongs to God's presence, ultimately restored to us in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ezek 26:13And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.
- Isa 24:8The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
- Rev 18:22And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
- Ps 33:2Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
- Amos 8:10And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
- Ps 81:2Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 137:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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