1For the Korahites, a psalm, a song.
His foundation on the holy mountains—
2The LORD loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3Splendid things are spoken of you,
O town of God.
selah
4Let me recall Rahab and Babel to my familiars.
Look, Philistia and Tyre together with Cush,
5And of Zion it shall be said:
every man is born in it,
and He, the Most High, makes it firm-founded.
6The LORD inscribes in the record of peoples:
this one was born there.
selah
7And singers and dancers alike:
“All my wellsprings are in you.”
PSALM 87 NOTES
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1. His foundation on the holy mountains. Despite the inclusion of this verset by the medieval editors in the superscription in verse 1, it clearly is the initial element of a triadic line of poetry continuing through verse 2, in semantic parallelism with “the gates of Zion.” The third verset, as often happens in triadic lines, is not a semantic parallel but, in this case, a modifier of the predicate “loves.” This poem is explicitly a psalm of Zion. Its general sense of exalted celebration of Zion is clear, though some of the particular formulations, as will be noted, are obscure.
4. Let me recall Rahab and Babel to my familiars. Rahab, a sea monster, is sometimes used as a poetic epithet for Egypt, and the appearance of that name in a list of surrounding nations makes it likely that this is its meaning here. If, as some claim, the speaker is God, then “my familiars” (yodʿai) would have to be rendered as “those who know Me.” It seems more plausible that the speaker is a Judahite celebrating Zion’s greatness.
Cush. Traditionally identified with Nubia.
4–5. this one was born there / . . . every man is born in it. The wording is certainly cryptic, but it might convey a universalist message about Jerusalem. Although as a biographical fact every person is born in his or her native place in the surrounding region, all who come up to Zion to acclaim God’s kingship there are considered to be reborn in Zion.
5. the Most High. This word, ʿelyon, occurs at the end of the sentence in the Hebrew, but it is difficult to construe it as an adjectival object of the verb because it would then have to refer to Zion, which is feminine, whereas ʿelyon is masculine.
7. And singers and dancers alike. The simplest way to understand this phrase, without tampering with the text, is that there is an elided “say.”
All my wellsprings are in you. The “you” refers to Zion. Beginning with some of the ancient translations, sundry readers have variously emended this clause, but it makes a certain degree of sense as it stands. In a semiarid climate, “wellsprings” (maʿayanim) is an understandable idiom for sources of life.