Psalms 136:8
O daughter of Babylon, miserable: blessed shall he be who shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us.
Open Psalms 136:8 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Filia Babylonis misera ! beatus qui retribuet tibi retributionem tuam quam retribuisti nobis.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- θυγάτηρ Βαβυλῶνος ἡ ταλαίπωρος, μακάριος ὃς ἀνταποδώσει σοι τὸ ἀνταπόδομά σου ὃ ἀνταπέδωκας ἡμῖν·
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 137:8
- בַּת בָּבֶ֗ל הַשְּׁד֫וּדָ֥ה אַשְׁרֵ֥י שֶׁיְשַׁלֶּם לָ֑ךְ אֶת גְּ֝מוּלֵ֗ךְ שֶׁגָּמַ֥לְתְּ לָֽנוּ
Haydock's commentary
Daughter. Citizens.
Miserable "plunderer," (Symmachus) or "ruined," (Aquila) or "which shalt be given up to plunder." (Theodoret)
Cyrus reduced the city to a state of abjection, and it has since experienced other miseries, (Calmet) so that its situation is now unknown. (Haydock)
Isaias (xiii.) foretold this destruction. (Worthington)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm CXXXVII
11. Then he turneth himself to her, “O daughter of Babylon, unhappy;” unhappy in thy very exulting, thy presumption, thine enmity; “unhappy daughter of Babylon!” ( ver. 8 ). The city is called both Babylon, and daughter of Babylon: just as they speak of “Jerusalem” and “the daughter of Jerusalem,” “Sion” and “the daughter of Sion,” “the Church” and “the daughter of the Church.” As it succeedeth the other, it is called “daughter;” as it is preferred before the other, it is called “mother.” There was a former Babylon; did the people remain in it? Because it succeedeth to Babylon, it is called daughter of Babylon. O daughter of Babylon, “unhappy” thou!…
St Ambrose Concerning Repentance, Chapter XI. The possibility of repentance is a reason why baptism should not be deferred to old age, a practice which is against the will of God in holy Scripture. But it is of no use to practise penance whilst still serving lusts. These must be first subdued
106. And David, pitying her, says: “O wretched daughter of Babylon.” Wretched indeed, as being the daughter of Babylon, when she ceased to be the daughter of Jerusalem. And yet he calls for a healer for her, and says: “Blessed is he who shall take thy little ones and dash them against the rock.” That is to say, shall dash all corrupt and filthy thoughts against Christ, Who by His fear and His rebuke will break down all motions against reason, so as, if any one is seized by an adulterous love, to extinguish the fire, that he may by his zeal put away the love of a harlot, and deny himself that he may gain Christ.