“O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.”
O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! The address to Babylon (personified as female, daughter Babylon) invokes God's judgment against the destructive empire. Happy shall they be represents a blessing upon those who take vengeance, expressing hope that Babylon's destruction will bring joy to Israel. The principle of retaliation (what you have done to us) grounds the curse in justice; the punishment should fit the crime. This verse frames Babylon's destruction as legitimate, indeed righteous, retribution. The intensity of the hoped-for vengeance reflects the depth of Israel's suffering and loss.
Church Fathers on Psalms 137:8
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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