Psalms 137:2 (KJV)

What does Psalms 137:2 mean?

Psalms 137:2 describes people from Jerusalem putting aside their musical instruments while they are away from home in Babylon. Hanging their harps on the trees is a picture of music falling silent in a time of grief.

The speakers say “we,” giving a shared account of their experience. After remembering their tears beside Babylon’s rivers in verse 1, they picture their instruments suspended among the trees rather than being played.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 137:2

• “harps” — כִּנּוֹר (kinnor): This word refers to a stringed instrument, often called a lyre. The instruments were portable enough to be hung on trees.
• “willows” — עֲרָבִים (ʿaravim): The word refers to trees associated with waterways, often understood as willows. Their presence fits the riverside setting described just before this verse.

Why Psalms 137:2 matters

• The silence makes the captors’ request more pointed. In verse 3, the people who carried them away ask for songs of Zion, the name used here for their home in Jerusalem.

• The instruments connect music with the place the speakers miss. Verse 4 asks how they can sing a song of the Lord “in a strange land,” showing why singing there is a painful question for them.