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Psalm 137:9

Happy shall he be, who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.

7Remember, LORD, against the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, “Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!”
8Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who repays you, as you have done to us.
9Happy shall he be, who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.
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Notice

“Happy” is attached to the killing of children, a shocking demand for repayment voiced against Babylon after Jerusalem’s destruction.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What do you notice when you read “Happy” beside “your little ones”?

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How does the demand for repayment in verse 8 shape your reading of verse 9?

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What would you want to discuss with a trusted Christian about this cry for vengeance?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

9 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Isaiah 13:16Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped.Both passages name children being dashed to death, exposing the violence against children within the destruction of a people.
Hosea 13:16Samaria will bear her guilt, for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant …Both passages speak of infants or little ones being dashed to death; Hosea places this horror within Samaria’s coming judgment.
Nahum 3:10Yet was she carried away. She went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets, and they cast lots for her …Nahum recounts children dashed to death during conquest, the same violence Psalm 137 wishes upon Babylon’s children.
Hosea 10:14Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle. The …Both passages name children being dashed to death; Hosea recalls mothers dying with their children in battle.
2 Kings 8:12Hazael said, “Why do you weep, my lord?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel. You will set their strongholds on …Both texts name the killing of little ones; the speaker in Kings weeps over the violence he foresees.
Luke 19:44and will dash you and your children within you to the ground. They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn’t know the time of your …Both passages speak of children being dashed down as part of the destruction falling upon a city.
Isaiah 13:12I will make people more rare than fine gold, even a person than the pure gold of Ophir.Both passages concern devastating loss of human life, though Isaiah’s image of scarcity does not single out children.
Jeremiah 48:4Moab is destroyed. Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.Both passages bring little ones into the account of a people’s destruction, with Jeremiah naming the cry associated with them.
Jeremiah 51:3Against him who bends, let the archer bend his bow, also against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail. Don’t spare her young men! Utterly destroy all …Both texts speak of violent destruction, though this psalm names children and Jeremiah’s command targets an army.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 137:7–9 with a trusted Christian friend

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Encouragement

You do not have to make these words gentle. Scripture preserves this terrible cry for repayment before God; it gives you no command to harm another person.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 137:9. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 137 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).