Manuscript Overview
Summary
Psalm 137 — the Babylonian-exile lament 'By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept.' Both 4QPsᵉ and 11QPsᵃ preserve portions; minor orthographic variants only. The poignant final verses about dashing infants against the rock track MT — the DSS does not soften the imprecation.
Notable Variants
DSS preserves the imprecatory final verses without softening. No significant content variants. Minor orthographic variation only (the standard Qumran plene-spelling tendency).
Manuscripts
4QPsᵉ (4Q87), 11QPsᵃ
Scroll Condition
Fragmentary attestation; no continuous DSS coverage.
No substantial variants are documented for this psalm. The Qumran manuscripts that attest it preserve the MT consonantal text with only orthographic variation.