Because of the Rivers of Babylon

‘By the Rivers of Babylon’ and the rest of Psalm 137 has been a musical favorite for centuries, a yearning for hope and for shelter -- but it was the Disco hit of Boney M in the 1970's that brought “biblical liturgy to the dancefloors of Europe perhaps for the first time.”  The story and the history of this hit and this psalm is fascinating enough to get its own fascinating article by David Cheal in the Financial Times. 

Psalm 137 is unique for its heartbreaking lament  and longing -- and also for its horrific desire for rageful revenge, rarely remembered. 

Perhaps more than any other post exilic texts from the bible, this chapter encapsulates the raw experience of exile and humiliation. 

The  destruction of the Judean kingdom and Temple, followed by the exile to Babylonia in 6th-5th centuries, B.C.E were massive traumatic experiences that produced sacred literature with a wide range of expressions - from grief and repentance, to deep desires for vengeance.  Psalm 137 became a hymn of national mourning.  

Why were they crying by the rivers? David Cheal frames it well:

“We are in the sixth century BCE. Jerusalem has been conquered, the Temple destroyed, the Israelites are in exile in Babylon. They weep and mourn; their fate is a punishment from God for idolatry. They sit by the waters of Babylon — perhaps the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, perhaps the irrigation canals — hang their harps in the trees in sorrow and remember Zion — Jerusalem — while their Babylonian captors mockingly demand that they sing one of their songs. The Israelites cannot. “How,” they ask themselves, “can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”

Jewish legends tell us more about the source of suffering for these exiles and the silence of their songs. 

 The words ‘By the rivers of Babylon’ - Al N’harot Bavel’ can also be translated as ‘because of the rivers” - the poem blaming the rivers themselves for the refugees’ struggles. 

A 4th Century CE Midrash suggests the possible hidden story here:

"Why did Israel see fit to weep along the rivers of Babylon? R. Yohanan said: The river Euphrates killed more people among the Israelites than the wicked Nebuchadnezzar had killed. For when Israel had been dwelling in the Land of Israel, they drank only rain water, running water and spring water; when they were exiled to Babylon they drank the water of the Euphrates, and many of them died."

Perhaps because of this connection to nourishment and substance, this Psalm was added over the centuries, by some Jewish communities, to the set of prayers recited after each meal. Over time the practice faded out, perhaps because of the problematic vicious verses that end this chapter. 

What are these verses and what do we do with it? 

  Robert Alter’ reading is helpful here:

בַּת־בָּבֶ֗ל הַשְּׁד֫וּדָ֥ה אַשְׁרֵ֥י שֶׁיְשַׁלֶּם־לָ֑ךְ אֶת־גְּ֝מוּלֵ֗ךְ שֶׁגָּמַ֥לְתְּ לָֽנוּ׃

“Fair Babylon, you predator,

a blessing on the one who repays you in kind

what you have inflicted on us”

Ps. 137:8

“No moral justification can be offered for this notorious concluding line. All one can do is to recall the background of outraged feeling that triggers the conclusion: the Babylonians have laid waste to Jerusalem, exiled much of its population, looted and massacred; the powerless captives, ordered--perhaps mockingly--to sing their Zion songs, respond instead with a lament that is not really a song and ends with this bloodcurdling curse pronounced on their captors, who, fortunately, do not understand the Hebrew in which it is pronounced.”

Today, of course, we do understand what is being written here, though it’s rarely part of the version of the chapter that is sung - in Jewish homes or on the dancefloor. Read the whole chapter to get the gist and the gore — we cringe at the cruelty  -- even if we do have empathy for the suffering that created it.

Whatever the cause of the hurt - politics and war, polluted waters, the suffering of exile and the torments of trauma -  psalm 137 perhaps reminds us to hold it all, and listen to the woven songs and silences of the human experience. I think it also calls on us today to seriously question, and challenge, any expression that calls for revenge.

When we next pray, sing or dance with the ‘Rivers of Babylon’ we may want to listen closely to the words, find what to focus on, and figure out a way to sing the sacred songs of hope wherever and however we land. 

On the eve of this holiday of Sukkot, as the moon is full,  and the psalms of Hallel are sung, may we sing less laments and and more songs that harvest hope, provide and nurture sacred solidarity and spacious, safe shelters.

May peace prevail.

Image: Wall Plaque, Psalm 137, Zalman Zwieg, c1910, Gross Family Collection, Israel

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