We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.
Parallel translations
- WEB On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.
- KJV We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
- 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.
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 26:13I will cause the noise of your songs to cease; and the sound of your harps shall be no more heard.
- Isa 24:8The mirth of tambourines ceases. The sound of those who rejoice ends. The joy of the harp ceases.
- Rev 18:22The voice of harpists, minstrels, flute players, and trumpeters will be heard no more at all in you. No craftsman, of whatever craft, will be found any more at all in you. The sound of a mill will be heard no more at all in you.
- Ps 33:2Give thanks to Yahweh with the lyre. Sing praises to him with the harp of ten strings.
- Amos 8:10I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.
- Ps 81:2Raise a song, and bring here the tambourine, the pleasant lyre with the harp.
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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.