Rivers of Babylon

Mesopotamia

You may have listened to Psalm 137 in Sunday school, or as lyrics in the song Rivers of Babylon, but I doubt that you have heard the last two stanzas. There is a reason for that.

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Jamaican reggae group The Melodians recorded Rivers of Babylon in 1970. The song was popular among followers of the Rastafarian faith, but it didn’t get much recognition outside of Jamaica.  

In 1978, reggae/funk band Boney-M covered Rivers of Babylon and took it to new heights. Boney-M’s version of Rivers of Babylon reached #1 across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The song was popular worldwide during the disco era.

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Rivers of Babylon song lyrics were adapted from Psalm 137:

By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept
When we remembered Zion.

2 We hung our harps
Upon the willows in the midst of it.

3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
And those who plundered us requested mirth,
Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?

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The biblical passage is a lament.  It illustrates the plight of the Jews after they were driven out of Jerusalem and enslaved by the Babylonians. Exiled in Babylon, the Jews were humiliated by their captors; they were taunted and made to sing joyful songs of their homeland, while in captivity.

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The Rastafarian faith adopted the term “Babylon” and use it as a euphemism for “slavery”.  Babylon is used in reference to any repressed society or enforcement agency that limits the freedom of Black people.

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The song Rivers of Babylon excludes the final stanzas of Psalm 137, because they are horrific.

8 O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed,
Happy the one who repays you as you have served us!
9 Happy the one who takes and dashes
Your little ones against the rock!

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The final verse of Psalm 137 implores God to impose retribution and reciprocal suffering on the Babylonians. The words encourage revenge, they call for the destruction of the city and the people of Babylon, including their babies, who are to be gleefully smashed on rocks.

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Religious apologists will tell you that the biblical stanza is not to be taken literally.  You are encouraged to interpret it as a metaphor for “a call for justice.” You will be directed to Matthew 5:49 and its message “turn the other cheek”, or Romans 12, 17-19 where we are commanded “not to repay evil with evil”.

One version of the Bible (The Living Bible) adds a footnote to Psalm 137’s baby-bashing stanza, asking you to interpret it as:

“Blessed is he who invades and sacks your city.”

Christian leaders would have us believe that God speaks plainly to us when we are commanded to do good things, but He is playing three-dimensional chess where the content of the Bible is clearly evil.

Which do you think is the more likely scenario, 1) God speaks symbolically in uncomfortable passages of the Bible or, 2) the Bible is not the inerrant word of God, but a collection of stories written by Iron-Age, Middle Eastern men, at a time when infanticide was considered an appropriate measure during wartime.   

I am happy to hear your opinions.

In any case, I enjoy the Rastafarian dope-smoking, pacifist lyrics, they suit me better than the baby-killing Old Testament version of …

… Rivers of Babylon.

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