That’s why the story of Moses and the Babylon exile were a powerful token for black slaves, a ray of hope in their darkness, the promise for future freedom.
#Rivers of babylon free
So black slaves in America retained part of their dignity in the conviction that they were also a people dear to God and one day He would liberate them just as He had done twice with the Jews, and they would be free again (as it finally happened). Later, they were enslaved again by Babylon, but God liberated them again. Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for many generations, but God liberated them through Moses.
#Rivers of babylon how to
They suffered terribly and missed their homeland, but they new how to turn a horrible crises into a new strength, and after many years of purification and evolution, they could be free again and return home.Īfrican slaves taken to America soon became Christians, and understandably they quickly indentified with the suffering people of Israel. Those psalms talk about the time when the Jews were enslaved and taken to Babylon. This song is based on the Biblical psalm 137 and also psalm 19:14. THEY NEED THEIR GOD= They feel desperate, they feel God has abandoned them and they are all alone, so they need God to be with them and help them. YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE CRY= Here CRY means "weep". The Jews are asking God for help, so they hope He will accept their words and help them. If I ask God to help me and He accepts my words, that means that He is going to help me. If my words are acceptable in God’s sight, God accepts them, He likes them. Prayers are like offerings, so the analogy stays the same, my prayer is like an object I place in front of God’s eyes.
In the old times, when people wanted to worship God they would make him offerings, objects or animals God could see. But words and meditation is not something you can see, so why sight? The words and the meditation are prayers to God (pronounced or just thought).
The possessive form of YOU was YOUR and the form of THOU was THY (pronounced /ðaɪ/ ).īE ACCEPTABLE IN THY SIGHT= The word "sight" is the capacity to see or the field of vision, so if something is in your sight, you can see it. In old English we used YOU for the plural and THOU (pronounced /θu:/ and later /ðaʊ/ ) for the singular.
LET THE WORDS.= We use LET here to express a wish: I wish the words of our mouth be acceptable. THE LORD’S SONG= In ancient times (and even today) it was common to pray God by singing, so the Lord’s song was a song of praise.Ī STRANGE LAND= A country that is not theirs, a foreign territory. Until recent times, we used SHALL for the future with the first person (I & we) and WILL for the rest. HOW SHALL WE SING?= How are we going to sing? (meaning: it’s impossible to sing). the poor and the rich = the poor people and the rich peopleĬAPTIVITY= A period when you are imprisoned or enslaved. In English, some adjectives can be used with the definite article (THE) as a noun, to refer to a group of people having that quality. THE WICKED= The word WICKED (pronounced /w ɪkɪd/ ) is an adjective meaning "evil by nature, very bad". ZION= or Sion is the name of the mount on which Jerusalem was built, so in the Bible sometimes they use the word Sion to refer to the city of Jerusalem, it's Temple or even the whole land of Israel. WE WEPT= Past of the irregular verb Weep-Wept-Wept= to cry when you’re very sad, to shed tears (watery drops from your eyes). In this psalm, Babylon is not the city, but the country (modern Iraq, etc.), so the rivers of Babylon are the Tigris and the Euphrates.
(Ooh, got the power) By the rivers of Babylon, (oh yeah yeah) where we sat down (yeah yeah) Ye-eah we wept.Now how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange landīY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON= The preposition BY means "next to, near" by the river means on the riverbanks or near the river. (Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah) By the rivers of Babylon (by the rivers of Babylon) there we sat down (You hear the people cry) ye-eah we wept, (They need their God) when we remember Zion. By the rivers of Babylon (the waters of Babylon) there we sat down (You got to sing a song) ye-eah we wept, (Sing a song of love) when we remember Zion. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion. When the wicked Carried us away in captivity Require from us a song - Now how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? When the wicked Carried us away in captivity Requiring of us a song - Now how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Thy sight here tonight Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Thy sight here tonight By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion.
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