Psalms Chapter 137 verse 5 Holy Bible
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget `her skill'.
read chapter 137 in ASV
If I keep not your memory, O Jerusalem, let not my right hand keep the memory of its art.
read chapter 137 in BBE
If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget [its skill];
read chapter 137 in DARBY
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
read chapter 137 in KJV
read chapter 137 in WBT
If I forget you, Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill.
read chapter 137 in WEB
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, my right hand forgetteth!
read chapter 137 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 5. - If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning; literally, let my right hand forget; but the words supplied in the Authorized Version are necessary to bring out the sense, which is, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, so far as to desecrate thy sacred songs by making them an entertainment for the heathen, may I never have power to strike a note again!"
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(5) Her cunning--i.e., the skill of playing on the harp. If at such a moment the poet can so far forget the miserable bondage of Jerusalem as to strike the strings in joy, may his hand for ever lose the skill to touch them.
