Psalms 137:1

Babylon. The Psalm is anonymous, and probably by Hezekiah. No need to refer it to post-exilic times. The Psalm reads as though it were a reminiscence of past experience in Babylon, and a contrast with previous joys in Zion; not, as during or after the seventy years, or an experience of a then present exile in Babylon. The writer is in Jerusalem after an absence not of long duration; and is full of joy. The post-exilic captives were full of sorrow on their return (Ezra 3:12 .Haggai 2:3; Haggai 2:3 ). These exiles had obeyed Isaiah ' s call (Isaiah 48:20 . Compare Psa 43:14-21 ).