Psalm 137 verse 9: rock or Sela?

Originally posted on October 04, 2007 – by Andre Piet

After writing my last weblog in response to a question about Psalm 137:9, I received an email from a respected brother who argued that this text might need to be read differently. In the Dutch NBG-51 translation it reads:

“… happy shall he be who will seize your little ones and dash them against the rock.”

The email’s author suggested reading it (supported by Old Testament scholar Dr. Klaas Goverts) as:

“… blessed is he who will seize your children and scatter them toward the Rock.”

Note: the Rock, with a capital letter — this is the LORD Himself, who is elsewhere also called “the Rock” (e.g., Psalm 18:2). This translation is entirely justifiable, in part because “crush” also has the fundamental meaning of “scatter” (as it is also translated in Isa. 11:12). The great advantage of this reading is that we are no longer left with an incomprehensible call to horrific violence.

In my search for the meaning of Psalm 137:9, I have now taken another step further. It dawned on me that “ha-Sela” (“the rock”) can also be understood as a place name! Just like, for example, in 2 Kings 14:7, where it refers to Sela — that is, the famous rock city Petra in the region of Edom. Then the reading becomes:

“… blessed is he who will seize your children and scatter them toward the Rock City.”

That also fits very well within the context of Psalm 137, since Edom was mentioned just two verses earlier (in verse 7). The illustrious city Petra (more or less synonymous with Bozrah) will still play a major role in the end times. In my view, there is no doubt that Petra is the place God has prepared in the wilderness as a hiding place for the believing remnant of Israel during the great tribulation (Rev. 12:6; Micah 2:12, KJV). When the Lord appears on the Mount of Olives, He will go straight toward Bozrah (Petra, Sela), which will result in a bloodbath among the enemies of His people. The opening verses of Isaiah 63 speak of this:

1 Who is this coming from Edom, with garments dyed crimson from Bozrah? This one splendid in His clothing, pressing forward in the greatness of His vigor? “I, Who am speaking in righteousness, am masterful to save.”
2 Why is there a redness to Your clothing? And Your garments like one treading in a wine trough?
3 “The wine trough have I trodden alone, and of the peoples there is no man with Me. So I tread them down in My anger, and trample them in My fury. And their spatter is sprayed on My garments, and all My clothing I contaminate.
4 For a day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come.”

Also in many other places in prophecy we read of “the treading of the wine trough,” etc. (see for example Rev. 14:19–20; 19:15).

“The Rock” as a designation for Petra in the region of Edom turns Psalm 137:9 into a beatitude referring to the Messiah Himself. In “the day of vengeance,” He will go toward the rock city and strike the enemy with a ban. But the little children — He will seize them and bring them to safety in the Rock City. Psalm 137:9 is not a call to horrific violence but a concrete prophecy about the rescue of small children in connection with the terrors at Petra in “the day of vengeance.” That deserves to be called a beatitude!

See also Psalm 108, where the same prophetic location is mentioned:

10 Who shall bring me into the fortified city? Who shall guide me unto Edom?
11 Will not You, O Elohim, Who have rejected us? And You, O Elohim, will You not go forth with our hosts?
12 Do give us help from the foe, for salvation by a human is futile.
13 By Elohim we shall make might, and He, He shall trample down our foes.

Last updated: 10 February 2010

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