“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.”
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! The second self-imposed curse addresses speech: if the psalmist forgets Jerusalem, let their tongue lose all capacity for speech. The tongue's adhesion to the mouth's roof would render speech impossible, silencing the very voice that would celebrate. The condition (if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy) establishes that Jerusalem must be prioritized even above personal happiness; forgetting Zion or allowing other joys to supersede it would be betrayal. This verse transforms the individual speaker into representative of all faithful Israelites; their oath represents collective commitment to Zion.
Church Fathers on Psalms 137:6
1. ...But today we have sung, “By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered Sion” Psalm 136:1.... 2. Observe “the waters of Babylon.” “The waters of Babylon” are all things which here are loved, and pass away. One man, for example, loves to practise husbandry, to grow rich thereby, to employ his mind therein, thence to gain pleasure: let him observe the issue, and see that what he has loved is not a foundation of Jerusalem, but a stream of Babylon.…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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