I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon among them that know me; behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia this [man] was born there.
The verse names the great powers of the ancient world — Egypt (called Rahab), Babylon, Philistia, Tyre and Cush. It sets each one's boast beside a single city, Zion. The question the psalm forces is whose birth register finally counts.
The first name in the list is not a person but a nation under a poetic title.
A poetic name, meaning "insolence," given to Egypt. Ps. 87:4; Ps. 89:10; Isa. 51:9.
These nations are not a random list. Two were the great rival powers; the others were known for their energy, their sea power and their distance.
Rahab and Babylon were the two rival powers for the mastery of the old world. Rahab, or Egypt, was first in early strength; but Egypt decayed and fell before the growing ambition and resources of Babylon. Babylon became, under God, the ruler of the ancient world, the head of gold that we read of in Daniel. The Spirit selects these two. Both link themselves with the Jews — the one with the beginning, the other with the end of Israel's history. We may say He challenges them. Choose, O world, your very best: Rahab and Babylon. Not these only, but Philistia, that most active territory which sent its energy to every part of the world. And Tyre too, its rival at sea. Add Ethiopia also, that distant land of wonders! In all these boasted quarters of the old world, single out the greatest and best. Name the men you have most gloried in, the geniuses who led others and won such fame as man can earn and give and boast of. But what is it? Deathless fame — alas, just broken pottery from the earth!
Look at the men these empires carved into stone.
Man seems to write in a great many scripts. But his record still speaks the same language and has the same thing to say. We see the men he admires, and the men God is speaking of here; but what are those men? They are kings. They are warriors. They are men who have built their thrones on the backs of conquered peoples. Their fame is swollen, so to speak, with the blood they have drunk.
Commentators differ over what "this one was born there" means. One reading takes it as a promise: God will count these hostile nations as Zion's own children.
Jehovah completes what He Himself has brought about. He publicly and solemnly declares them to be those who know Him — those who know Him by experience as their God... "This one" does not mean the single people, nor the sum of these nations. It means nation after nation, fixing the eye on each one by itself. And "there" refers to Zion... The nations will gain the right of citizenship in Zion as their second mother-city.
But prophecy promises blessing to Egypt and ruin to others on the list.
Philistia too is threatened with destruction, left without an inhabitant (Zeph. 2:5; Amos 1:8), her land to be taken over by Judah. This is a further witness. The psalmist is not prophesying that these nations will turn to God.
So the second reading takes the verse as a contrast, not a promise. The world's list of famous sons stands against Zion's.
The list also asks what makes a name worth keeping.
Psalm 87:4 teaches us what God understands by "mighty men"... The glory of these heroes of the nations is past. It did not outlast their short lives, though they had filled the earth with the fame of their names... Despite every "this one" of the past, the Lord will open the register of the nations. He will find only one, the Man of His right hand, who deserves to have His origin in Zion.
One voice in the psalm has still not spoken.
Jehovah has not yet spoken directly. We shall never get a perfect knowledge of things unless He guides us. He is also the One who "writes down the peoples." He takes account of all with no local or national favouritism, but in absolute righteousness and truth. Strange then it may seem that now, when we have His reckoning of things, even Zion's count of her great men is gone. In all history there seems now to be only One Name. One Person takes the place of every other.
Justice and grace do not write the same entry.
Mere justice might and must have cut all down: grace counts that this man was born (not crucified!) there.
- Named. Rahab is a poetic name for Egypt, meaning insolence. The verse lines up Egypt, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre and Cush as the world's showcase powers.
- Challenged. God invites the world to put forward its very best men, and the answer comes back: fame that is only broken pottery.
- Weighed. Man's greatness belongs to kings and warriors whose fame is swollen with blood. It does not outlive them.
- Disputed. Commentators differ on "this one was born there." Some read a promise: these nations gain citizenship in Zion. Others read a contrast, since Scripture promises Babylon and Philistia ruin.
- Registered. When God writes down the peoples, one Name displaces every other. Grace records Him as born in Zion, not crucified there.
And of Zion it shall be said, This one and that one was born in her; and the Most High himself shall establish her.
Psalm 87 sets Zion beside the famous cities of the ancient world: Egypt, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia. It asks which one has the better boast. Verse 5 answers in two parts. It says who is born in Zion, and it says who keeps her standing: the Most High Himself.
The psalm's confidence rests on who founded the city. One writer sets the cities men built and boasted of against the one God founded:
Psalm 87 sees Zion as founded by God, a city that has foundations. Men had cities, and boasted of them; but God had a city He founded in the holy mountains. Even here it was not Joseph or the richness of nature; God was her riches, her place the holy mountains, the place set apart for Himself... She was counted the birthplace of the man of God, the birthplace of the loved ones of Jehovah. The Most High established her.
Another writer says the same: "Human planning laid the foundations of other cities. Tyre and Babylon rose by the wisdom and strength of man. But God had chosen for Himself a place on earth for His own name" (A. Pridham).
Verse 4 names the famous cities and nations of the world, and verse 5 answers them. Commentators read those names as the great powers around Israel, each proud of its own great men.
Jehovah appears to be the speaker in verses 4 and 5. Among those who know Him, He points to the great cities of the earth and to the nations around Israel. Rahab (or "Egypt"), Babylon, Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia, had their great men in whom they boasted. But the fame of Jehovah's people would be that they belong to Zion, the city established by the Most High.
One writer contrasts the two kinds of fame that reach us:
The world boasts of its heroes, and always has... On one side, the dead past speaks to us from its opened tomb. It is a memorial of doom that its own words prove just, and that we cannot regret: it has no claim to resurrection. On the other side, there are voices that never die — living and life-giving. They do not proclaim their own praise; they declare the greatness of God.
Several writers read the "man" of verse 5 as pointing beyond ordinary citizens. One writer notes that "the word translated 'man' (v. 5), refers to great men, not the poor and miserable." He adds, "I have little doubt that 'this man' refers to Christ" (J. N. Darby). Read that way, the count of the nations narrows to one name.
Despite every "this one" of the past, the Lord will open the register of the nations and find only one: the Man of His right hand, who deserves to have His origin in Zion. The leaders of the nations have had their day, and their glory has vanished in smoke; this Man will rule over all peoples.
That reckoning is grace, because the history of Jerusalem was far darker:
If you look at Zion or Jerusalem, this was not literally true, for Christ was born at Bethlehem. About Jerusalem, the terrible truth is that Christ was crucified there. But how blessed the reckoning of grace is!... The Lord connects His beloved One with Zion.
Not everyone reads "this one and that one" the same way. Some take the verse to mean whole nations, not single people, receiving citizenship in Zion. One writer sets out that view:
"This one" does not mean single people, nor the whole mass of these nations, but one nation after another... he means that the nations will gain the right of citizenship in Zion, as in a second mother-city, and that they will therefore at the very least go through a spiritual change.
Another writer calls these verses "of difficult interpretation" and says of the next verse, "I know of none that satisfies my own mind" (A. Pridham).
God's register does not follow the world's measure of greatness. One writer applies the verse to the humblest of servants:
No one is to be despised, and the most humble will perhaps have the best place when it is said: "This one and that one were born in her" (Ps. 87:5).
- Founded — human planning and natural wealth did not make Zion. God founded her in the holy mountains, and He Himself keeps her standing.
- Contrasted — Egypt, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia boasted of their great men. Zion's fame is that she belongs to the Most High.
- Counted — many writers take "this man" as Christ. When the Lord opens the register of the nations, He finds one Man who belongs to Zion, and that Man will rule over all peoples.
- Grace — Christ was born at Bethlehem, and He was crucified at Jerusalem. Yet God links His beloved One with Zion. The reckoning is grace, not geography.
- Disputed — commentators differ. Does verse 5 speak of single people or of whole nations gaining citizenship in Zion? Some admit the verse is hard to settle.
Jehovah will count, when he inscribeth the peoples, This [man] was born there. Selah.
God keeps a book, and Psalm 87 pictures the moment He opens it to enrol the peoples of the earth. What people record and what the LORD records are two different lists. In His, one birth stands out above every other.
Verse 5 tells what people will say of Zion. Verse 6 turns to what the LORD Himself writes down.
Verse 5 speaks of two different people being born in Zion. This surely shows Zion's special importance, and even more so when it adds, "and the Most High Himself will establish her." For Zion is God's center. Therefore in verse 6 we have, not the records of man, but the record of the Lord when He registers the people.
One writer shows how He keeps this record, and what becomes of famous names once He writes.
So far Jehovah Himself has not spoken directly, and we shall never know things perfectly unless He guides us. He too is the One who "writes down the peoples." He takes account of everyone, with no local or national favouritism, but in absolute righteousness and truth. It may seem strange that now, when we have His reckoning of things, even Zion's count of her great men is gone. In all history there seems now but One Name. One Person takes the place of every other.
The writers quoted here use older translations, which read "this man" where the ESV has "This one." Some read that single name in God's book as Christ's. The word behind "man" in verse 5 carries weight too.
Zion was counted the birthplace of the man of God, the birthplace of the beloved ones of Jehovah. The Highest established her. When Jehovah made the registry of the people, He reckoned this man as born there… I have little doubt that "this man" refers to Christ. Zion boasts of her heroes. The word translated "man" in verse 5 refers to great men, not the poor and miserable.
Commentators differ, though, and the reason is a matter of translation.
Psalm 87 is short, and its very shortness leaves it open to different readings. It is a "deep saying" — a problem only the spiritual mind can settle. Almost any translation of it is already part interpretation. Take verses 4 and 6: if we translate "that [man]," the word "man" is not in the original, and most readers would probably supply "nation" instead. That would make the psalm a celebration of the world turning to God, with each nation named given Zion as its spiritual birthplace.
One writer raises the obvious objection himself, and answers that God's reckoning lifts Christ to the highest place.
Someone may object that Christ was born in Bethlehem, not Zion. But in the end God counts Him as born in Zion. Though He was born first in lowly obscurity, He is given the first place of highest dignity, as His rightful citizenship. Because of who He is, He is called God's firstborn. He has displaced Adam from that position.
There is a sharper edge to it still. Zion's actual record concerning Christ was not birth at all.
Look at Zion or Jerusalem, and of course this was not literally true, since Christ was born at Bethlehem. Of Jerusalem, the terrible truth is, that Christ was crucified there. But how blessed is the reckoning of grace! "The Lord shall count, when He writes up the people, that THIS MAN was born there." The Lord connects His beloved One with Zion.
God's registers are not all of one kind. One writer marks off two lists, one earthly and one heavenly.
God's pleasure is to register His people, whether for earth or heaven. The latter are referred to in Hebrews 12:23, as "the Church of the first-born which are written in heaven," while Psalm 87:6 speaks of the former, "the people," written by Jehovah as born of Zion… Every one is numbered, for the Lord has a personal interest in each.
Being on a list is not a filing detail. It settles where you belong, and that changes how you live.
It is not merely that the church has a place of administration in respect of the world to come, but she belongs to heaven. Does not that touch our hearts? How it would free us from the world-system if we had the sense of our names being registered in heaven.
- Register. The verse moves from what people say about Zion to what God writes down — His book, not ours, decides the count.
- Righteousness. He keeps this record with no local or national favouritism, but in absolute righteousness and truth.
- One Name. Where we expect crowds of Zion's heroes, "one Person takes the place of every other." Commentators differ: some read "this man" as Christ, others read "nation" and see the world turning to God.
- Grace. He was born in Bethlehem and crucified in Jerusalem. Yet grace counts Him as Zion's own, and the Lord ties His beloved One to that city.
- Belonging. God registers His people, whether for earth or heaven. Knowing where your name is written loosens the world's grip on you.