Psalms 87:4

I will make mention of Rahab,.... Not of Rahab the harlot, as Jerom and others of the ancients (y) interpret it; for the letters of both words are not the same in Hebrew; though mention is made of

I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.

I will make mention, i.e. I will reckon or account them in the number of my children and subjects. Rahab, i.e. Egypt, so called, , but whether from its pride, or natural strength, or figure, or shape, is not material. And Babylon: under these two and Philistia, the old and constant enemies of Israel, he seems to understand all the keenest enemies of the Israel or church of God, who shall now be not only reconciled, but united to them; which also was foretold under the similitude of the wolf’ s dwelling with the lamb, &c., . To them; or, with or among them, as the prefix lamed is frequently used. That know me, to wit, truly, clearly, affectionately, and practically, so as to love, serve, and obey me, as this phrase is very frequently used in Scripture. And upon this account, not only heathens, but wicked Israelites, are said not to know God, as , and oft elsewhere. Behold; take notice of it as a thing new, and strange, and comfortable. Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; the nations on every side of them; for Tyrus was on the north, Ethiopia or Arabia (for that seems rather to be meant by Cush, as hath been before observed) on the south, those nearest to them, and those more remote from them, that lived in the uttermost parts of the earth, as this very land is called, . This man was born there; or, saying, This man, &c., for this cohereth with the first words thus, I will make mention of Rahab, &c., saying, This man (i.e. these men or people now mentioned, the singular number put collectively for the plural; and the Scripture oft speaks of a nation as of one man, as 130:8) was born there, or in her, as it is expressed, , to wit, in Zion; born by adoption and regeneration. See 3:3,7 Galatians 3:26 4:26 . The Gentiles shall be ingrafted into the Jewish church, and into all their privileges.

Psalms 87:4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this [man] was born there.Ver. 4. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon] Rahab is Egypt, and so called for its strength and pride. Babel, the chief city of the Babylonians. These were deadly enemies to Jerusalem, which was ground between them as between a pair of millstones, but they shall be reckoned hereafter, saith God, among his domestics, among those that know me, or rather are known of me. See Isaiah 19:19; Isaiah 19:21; Isaiah 19:25 1 Peter 5:13. Behold Philistia] The Philistines were ever bitter enemies to the Israelites, but shall be converted and become children of the Church. See Isaiah 56:1; Isaiah 44:5. And Tyre] Which shall leave heaping and hoarding, and employ her merchandise to feed and clothe God’ s saints, Isaiah 23:18 Acts 21:8; Acts 21:4. With Ethiopia] Heb. Cush, of Cush, the son of Ham, their father and founder, Genesis 10:6. Ethiopians they were called from their burnt faces. The eunuch received the gospel, and published it, Acts viii.; the Christian faith was professed among them, as it is thought, from the apostle’ s time; though now, for over a hundred years, they have again forsaken it. This man was born there] Natus, id est, renatus in illa. The men of these several and other countries were born, that is, born anew, and so made free denizens of the new Jerusalem, fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God, Ephesians 2:19.

(4) This verse may be paraphrased— I will mention to my intimates Rahab and Babylon; (I will say) look at Philistia and Tyre—yes, and even Ethiopia. So-and-so was born there. The last clause is literally this was born there, and on its reference the whole meaning of the verse and the whole intention of the psalm turn. Now immediately after the mention of a place, there must surely refer to that place, and not to a place mentioned in the previous verse and there too addressed as in the second person. The demonstrative this, is evidently used in a general way. (Comp. the fuller form, Judges 18:4, &c.) The poet begins his special addition to the praises of Zion, by enumerating various renowned nations much in the same way as Horace’s “Laudabunt alii claram Rhodon, aut Mitylenen.” only instead of leaving them as a theme to others he tells us what he himself in ordinary conversation might say of these places, and of the estimation in which their natives were held. It is hardly possible to escape from the conclusion that the Palestinian Jew is here implying his superiority to those of his race who were born abroad, a spirit shown so strongly in the relations of the Hebrews to the Hellenistic Jews in the New Testament. Rahab undoubtedly stands for Egypt, but the exact origin of the term and of its connection with Egypt is much disputed. Most probably it is a term (possibly Coptic) for some large sea or river monster symbolic of Egypt. (Comp. the word “dragons,” Psalms 74:13, and see Job 9:13; Job 26:12.) Ethiopia—Heb., Khûsh (in Authorised Version Cush). (See Genesis 10:6 : 2 Kings 19:9.) There is no need with our explanation to look for emblematic reasons for the choice of names in this verse—as Egypt for antiquity; Babylon, strength; Tyre, wealth, &c. There is no one of the districts where Jews of the Dispersion might not have been found, but no doubt in his enumeration the poet takes care to mention countries near and far, as Philistia and Ethiopia. There appears, however, to have been a district in Babylonia known to the Hebrews as Khûsh (Lenormant, Origines de l’Histoire; and see a paper on the site of Eden, in the Nineteenth Century for October, 1882). The parallelism would be improved by this reference here.

Verse 4. I will make mention of Rahab] The meaning seems to be, Rahab, i.e., Egypt, Babylon, Tyre, Philistia, and Ethiopia are not so honourable 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: [---Persic---] Tche Mesr, o tche Sham, o tche Birr o Buhr. Heme rustaee and, we Sheerazee Shuhr. What celebrity can Egypt or Syria, or any thing on 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.

4–6. The nations of the world shall be enrolled as Zion’s children; and Zion shall be glorified by this accession of unnumbered fresh citizens.

I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon ... - The word Rahab here refers to Egypt. See Isaiah 51:9. It is also applied to Egypt in Psalms 89:10. The reason why the name was given to Egypt is not certainly known.

4. I will make mention—As examples. Rahab—Or, the sea monster, the people of tumultuous violence; a title poetically given to Egypt in the later books, (Psalms 89:10; Isaiah 51:9; Isaiah 30:7,) where