10

Who is the accepted author of Psalm 137, and if it was David Hamelech, then is it accepted as a prophecy?

3

3 Answers 3

10
2
  • The JPS Study Bible says that it was written by somebody who returned in the post-exilic period? That's interesting: scholarship that I have seen on the psalm has suggested an exilic origin, given that it ends without any indication of restoration.
    – Shimon bM
    May 20, 2013 at 8:07
  • @ShimonbM - Yes. If you click the link it should take you to that page.
    – Shmuel
    May 20, 2013 at 20:10
5

The Gemora (Gitin 57b) states that Hashem showed Dovid Hamelech a prophecy of the destruction of the two temples and he composed Tehillim Chapter 137.

However the Ibn Ezra (in his introduction to his commentary on Tehillim) writes that some say it was composed at the time of the Babylonian Exile.

1
  • 1
    Just to add some information to the previous answers, Professor Ta-Shma writes that it is now known that the אחרים אומרים in ibn Ezra refers to Moshe haKohen ibn Jikatilla. (Here, p. 458)
    – BYG
    Mar 11, 2013 at 4:39
2

In the introduction to his Moreh Nevukhei ha-Zman, Nachman Krochmal argues at length for the (Ibn Ezra's) view that this mizmor was composed at the time of the Babylonian exile.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .