Fathers

Psalms 137

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By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps. For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing Yahweh’s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you, if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy. Remember, Yahweh, against the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, “Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!” Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who repays you, as you have done to us. Happy shall he be, who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.

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What the Fathers say

Psalms 137:9

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

"Happy shall he be that repayeth thee, as thou hast served us." What repayment meaneth he? Herewith the Psalm closeth, "Happy, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock" (ver. 9). Her he calleth unhappy, but him happy who payeth her as she hath served us. Do we ask, what reward? This is the repayment. For what hath that Babylon done to us? …

Exposition on Psalm 137 ↗

Jerome

Blessed is he who shall take hold of and dash your little ones against the rock. The "little ones" are said to be thoughts. For example: I have seen a woman, I have desired her: at once, if I do not cut off that desire, and, as it were, take it by the foot and dash it against the rock while the desire is small, it cannot afterwards be cut off when it has grown. Blessed, then, is he who cuts it off at once, and dashes it against the rock. And the Rock is Christ.

Homily 48, on Psalm 136 ↗

Bonaventure

Do not allow the serpent to enter into your heart through suggestion; for Gregory says that when the head of the serpent has entered into any opening, then the whole body easily enters. For this reason the Psalm says: "Blessed is he who shall seize and dash his little ones against the rock," that is, the first movements against Christ: and then he shall have peace. …

Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6 ↗