Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageIf I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand lose its skill!
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GIf I forget you, O Yerushalayim, let my right hand forget its skill!
KJV
King James VersionIf I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleIf I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.
Footnotes
*Tishkach yemini* (תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִי) — literally 'let my right hand forget.' The right hand is the instrument of skilled action: playing the lyre, writing, blessing. Some scholars read *tishkach* as 'be forgotten' or even 'fall limp' (a curse of paralysis or withering). The context of the hung-up lyres in v.2 strongly favours the lyre-playing sense: to forget Yerushalayim is to lose the very capacity for music. FOG renders 'forget its skill' to preserve the connection to the abandoned instruments; FOG Message uses 'lose its skill' for a slightly more visceral English register.
