Re: "Infanticide!?"

Seabrook (seabrook@clark.net)
Mon, 26 Aug 1996 16:56:57 -0400 (EDT)

On Mon, 26 Aug 1996, Morgaine NiDana wrote:

> Okay, I can't wait any longer! Would someone who has whatever
> reference book is required please tell us what the rest of the words
> to the ..psalm...? being talked about are? I know "By the Waters of
> Babylon", of course...but does this mean I am hopelessly out of it?
> It's like not seeing the end of a murder mystery or something. Help!
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Psalm 137, from _The_New_English_Bible_

By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.
There on the willow-trees
we hung up our harps,
for there those who carried us off
demanded music and singing,
and our captors called on us to be merry:
'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.'
How could we sing the LORD'S song
in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither away;
let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy.
Remember, O LORD, against the people of Edom
the day of Jerusalem's fall,
when they said, 'Down with it, down with it,
down to its very foundations!'
O Babylon, Babylon the destroyer,
happy the man who repays you
for all that you did to us!
Happy is he who shall seize your children
and dash them against the rock.
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The last lines appear to advocate violence against a particular
nation or tribe rather than children in general as implied by the
earlier poster to the harp list.

Dick S.