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Thursday April 16 2026
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Psalm 137.9-Happy the one who takes and dashes Your little ones against the rock!
When studying the Word of God, context is key.
Psalm 137 is a great example of this principle!
Someone says, “How can the Bible be inspired of God and then say that He will bless people taking babies and beating them against rocks till they are dead?!”
Good question.
Let’s study.
First, the “little ones” here likely are not discussing babies at all. Instead, the “little ones” are the wicked soldiers of Babylon who had inflicted terrible atrocities on the Jews.
“As part of this extravagance, we should notice the use of florid, sometimes graphic, imagery and take care to avoid reading too literally. There is an interesting example of this in Psalm 137, which we have already considered. Biblical scholar Knut Heim urges us to read these difficult imprecations with skill, imagination and responsibility: The entire psalm is constructed on a specific kind of metaphor, called personification. Jerusalem and Babylon are treated as if they are female human beings with emotions and other human characteristics. Arising from this… ‘daughter Babylon’ is not a young, vulnerable female with small children, but the symbol of a destructive and brutal army. Consequently, the ‘little ones’ to be killed are not innocent infants; rather, the ‘children’ of the personified army represent adult soldiers, the very people who taunt, threaten, and humiliate the poet and his or her compatriots in the earlier verses of the psalm. 58 Perhaps the violence of Psalm 137 is not as abhorrent as we might immediately think.” (Helen Paynter, God of Violence Yesterday, God of Love Today?: Wrestling honestly with the Old Testament, 79 (Kindle Edition): Abington, OX; The Bible Reading Fellowship)
Second, it is also likely that this passage in Psalm 137 is simply a prophecy of what the Babylonians would experience when they would face future attacks from the Medes and the Persians. Certainly, this was the view of several respected Bible commentators (such as Albert Barnes and Adam Clarke to name a few).
“We could go through several of those and show one after another. Let me give you one more example of that. In Psalm 137: 9, I believe it was there. If you wanted to, you could turn over there. I think I have this one marked. Psalm 137: 9, “Happy shall he be who takes and dashes your little ones against the stone.” Whoa! That sounds bad, doesn’t it? That sounds like God is saying you need to go out and take the babies of these people and dash them against the stone. That is not what it is saying. In fact, this is a predictive statement. He is talking about Babylon. And He says that the Persians are going to come in and take your children and dash them against the stone. The way He uses that word happy is the same way that Jeremiah uses it in Jeremiah chapter 12 verse one. Jeremiah says: “Lord, why does the way of the wicked prosper and why is he happy who deals treacherously?” Is he really happy who deals treacherously? No. Is God condoning a person who deals treacherously? No. He is using the word “happy” for a transient, fleeting happiness that eventually will end in that person’s destruction if he or she does not repent and turn to God.” (Kyle Butt, A Christians Guide to Modern Atheism, 593-602 (Kindle Edition); Montgomery, Alabama; Apologetics Press)
The passage is a prophecy that the Babylonians will encounter a people who will be as ruthless to them as they themselves had been towards the Jews; and those future combatants will likewise rejoice in their terrible deeds.
Observe how a text of Scripture may be so easily misused.
The passage is about unrepentant soldiers guilty of war crimes facing the death penalty for their actions, not babies. Furthermore, it is prophecy of what would come to pass in the future, when the Medes and Persians overthrow Babylon. It is not Divine praise for the committing of atrocities.
It is such a simple thing to take a passage of Scripture, lift it out of context, and twist it into saying something that the inspired writer had no intention of communicating.
As we grow as Christians, may we strive to handle God’s Word responsibly.
Help us, Lord, to rightly divide Your Word. Amen.