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Salmos 87

VBL · Chapter 87/150

1Una canción. Un salmo de los descendientes de Coré. El Señor fundó la ciudad en su monte santo.

2Jerusalén es la ciudad que ama más que a cualquier ciudad de Israel.

3¡Muchas cosas maravillosas te son dichas, ciudad de Dios! Selah.

4Menciono a Egipto.

5Será dicho de Jerusalén: “Todo el mundo nació allí”, y el Altísimo la hará segura.

6Cuando el Señor cuente las naciones, escribirá: “Ellos nacieron allí”. Selah.

7Los cantores y bailarines dirán: “Viviendo aquí me siento en casa”.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

A short psalm that celebrates Jerusalem (Zion) as a city founded by God, foreseeing that even foreigners from rival nations such as Egypt, Babylon, and Philistia will one day say: 'this man was born there.'

Explanation

Though brief, this psalm holds a surprisingly inclusive vision for its time: nations historically hostile to Israel (Rahab is a poetic name for Egypt, alongside Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia) are described as future spiritual 'citizens' of Zion, recognized by God as though born there. This anticipates later prophetic themes about foreign nations turning to God. The application today is a reminder that the community of faith, even in its oldest texts, always held a vision larger than ethnic or national borders.

Fun facts

  • 'Rahab' here is a poetic nickname for Egypt (not to be confused with Rahab of Jericho in the book of Joshua), also used in Isaiah 51:9 and Psalm 89:10.
  • The idea of foreigners being 'registered' as born in Zion (v.6) is one of the earliest biblical seeds of the hope that salvation would reach every nation.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Salmos 87:1“His foundation” refers to the city of Zion, built upon hills — the city’s physical base becomes a symbol of the solidity and permanence God gives it.
  2. Salmos 87:2“The gates of Zion” represent the whole city through its busiest point — saying God loves them more than other cities of Israel is a declaration of special preference for Jerusalem.
  3. Salmos 87:3“City of God” is a title of honor for Jerusalem, and the Selah marks another musical pause in the middle of the praise, though exactly how it sounded is unknown today.
  4. Salmos 87:4“Rahab” here is a poetic nickname for Egypt, unrelated to Rahab, the woman of Jericho mentioned in the book of Joshua. In the Psalms this name also designates a mythical sea monster symbolizing chaos, applied here to Egypt.
  5. Salmos 87:5Saying a foreigner “was born there” is a poetic form of citizenship record: the psalm imagines people from enemy nations, like Egypt and Babylon, counted as natives of Jerusalem — a surprisingly open vision for its time.
  6. Salmos 87:6Imagines God keeping a kind of official census of the peoples, noting there that foreigners from various nations were also “born” in Zion — a poetic way of including them among God’s people.
  7. Salmos 87:7Closes the psalm with a scene of feasting, music, and dancing, and compares Jerusalem to a spring of water — a source of life and joy for all who belong to it.

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