Psalms 137 · Verse 5

Psalms 137:5

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
Psalms 137:5, King James Version

Psalms 137:5 in other translations

BSBIf I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.
WEBIf I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.
ASVIf I forget thee, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget her skill.
YLTIf I forget thee, O Jerusalem, my right hand forgetteth!
DARBYIf I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill;
BBEIf I keep not your memory, O Jerusalem, let not my right hand keep the memory of its art.
WebsterIf I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her skill.

What does Psalms 137:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 137:5-6
5-6. For joyful songs would imply forgetfulness of their desolated homes and fallen Church. The solemn imprecations on the hand and tongue, if thus forgetful, relate to the cunning or skill in playing, and the power of singing.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem - Such conduct would be, in effect, a renunciation of our land a tacit acknowledgment that we were reconciled to our bondage; a concession that we were pleased with our captivity, and could profane holy ordinances by using them as means of sport or pastime to the heathen. No: Jerusalem! we remember thee and thy Divine ordinances: and especially thy King and our God, whose indignation we must bear, because we have sinned against him. Let my right hand forget - Let me forget the use of my right hand. Let me forget that which is dearest and most profitable to me; and let me lose my skill in the management of my harp, if I ever prostitute it to please the ungodly multitude or the enemies of my Creator!

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 137:5-9
What we love, we love to think of. Those that rejoice in God, for his sake make Jerusalem their joy. They stedfastly resolved to keep up this affection. When suffering, we should recollect with godly sorrow our forfeited mercies, and our sins by which we lost them. If temporal advantages ever render a profession, the worst calamity has befallen him. Far be it from us to avenge ourselves; we will leave it to Him who has said, Vengeance is mine. Those that are glad at calamities, especially at the calamities of Jerusalem, shall not go unpunished. We cannot pray for promised success to the church of God without looking to, though we do not utter a prayer for, the ruin of her enemies. But let us call to mind to whose grace and finished salvation alone it is, that we have any hopes of being brought home to the heavenly Jerusalem.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Psalms 137:5 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אִֽם\־'im-ifH518
אֶשְׁכָּחֵ֥ךְ'esh.ka.ChekhI will forget youH7911
יְֽרוּשָׁלִָ֗םye.ru.sha.LimO JerusalemH3389
תִּשְׁכַּ֥חtish.Kachmay it forgetH7911
יְמִינִֽי\׃ye.mi.Niright [hand] myH3225

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 137:5

  • Daniel 6:10-11

    Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

  • Jeremiah 51:50

    Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.

  • Psalms 122:5-9

    For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. …

  • Psalms 84:10

    For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

  • Zechariah 11:17

    Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

  • Isaiah 62:1

    For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

  • Nehemiah 2:2-3

    Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

  • Nehemiah 1:2-4

    That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

  • Isaiah 62:6-7

    I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

  • Psalms 102:13-14

    Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.

  • Psalms 84:1-2

    To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I forget.
84:1,2,10; 102:13,14; 122:5-9; Ne 1:2-4; 2:2,3; Isa 62:1,6,7
Jer 51:50; Da 6:10,11
let my right.
Zec 11:17

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 137:4

    How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?

  • Psalms 137:5

    If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

  • Psalms 137:6

    If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

Read all of Psalms 137

Psalms 137:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Si me olvidare de ti, oh Jerusalem, mi diestra sea olvidada.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Si je t’oublie, ô Jérusalem, que ma droite s’oublie!
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wenn ich dein vergesse, Jerusalem, so vergesse meine Rechte!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et cantent in viis Domini, quoniam magna est gloria Domini;