Psalms 87:4

2 ^aThe Lord loves the gates of Zion
More than all the dwellings of Jacob.

3 ^aGlorious things are spoken of you,
O city of God! Selah

4 “I will make mention of¹ Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me;
Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia:
‘This one was born there.’ ”

5 And of Zion it will be said,
“This one and that one were born in her;
And the Most High Himself shall establish her.”

6 The Lord will record,
When He ^aregisters the peoples:
“This one was born there.” Selah

7 Both the singers and the players on instruments say,
“All my springs are in you.”

Commentaries:

Adam Clarke

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Psalms 87:4

I will make mention of Rahab - The meaning seems to be, Rahab, i.e., Egypt, Babylon, Tyre, Philistia, and Ethiopia are not so honorable as Jerusalem. To be born in any of them is no privilege when compared with being a native of Jerusalem: their cities are but heads of villages; Jerusalem alone is a City. I have met with a very similar sentiment in a Persian work, of which I know not the author:

Tche Mesr , o tche Sham , o tche Birr o Buhr .

Heme rustaee and , we Sheerazee Shuhr .

What celebrity can Egypt or Syria, or any thingon earth or on the sea, pretend to?

"When compared to Sheeraz, those are but villages, but this alone is a City."

The meaning seems to be the same in both the Hebrew and Persian poet.

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