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Psalm 137:5-7
New English Translation
Psalm 137:5-7
New English Translation
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand be crippled.[a]
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
and do not give Jerusalem priority
over whatever gives me the most joy.[b]
7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.[c]
They said, “Tear it down, tear it down,[d]
right to its very foundation!”
Footnotes
- Psalm 137:5 tn Heb “may my right hand forget.” In this case one must supply an object, such as “how to move” or “its skill.” The elliptical nature of the text has prompted emendations (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 236). The translation assumes an emendation to תִּכְשַׁח (tikhshakh), from an otherwise unattested root כָּשַׁח (kashakh), meaning “to be crippled; to be lame.” See HALOT 502 s.v. כשׁח, which cites Arabic cognate evidence in support of the proposal. The difficulty of the MT can be explained as an error of transposition facilitated by the use of שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”) just before this.
- Psalm 137:6 tn Heb “if I do not lift up Jerusalem over the top of my joy.”
- Psalm 137:7 tn Heb “remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem.”
- Psalm 137:7 tn Heb “lay [it] bare, lay [it] bare.”
New English Translation (NET)
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