02. BEI DI TEICHN (Beside the Babylonian Rivers)

The words are based on Psalm 137:1-4. The original tune was published in Oxford, England on July 1, 1786 by Philip Hayes (composer, organist, singer and conductor). The Jewish man who penned the psalm was struggling to make sense of YHVH’s hand of judgment on His chosen people – the Exile to Babylon circa 587 B.C. That event kicked off the Scattering (Diaspora) of Israel and catalyzed the onset of the prophet Daniel’s Times of the Gentiles – Gentile dominion over the Jewish people. Biblical dreams of a Return to Zion would accompany our nation over the next 2,500 years.