Psalm 87:4

Psalm 87:4, in plain English

God says He'll count people from Israel's enemies—Egypt, Babylon, the Philistines, Tyre, and Ethiopia—as if they were born in Zion, once they know Him.

Why it's here

This would have sounded almost offensive to Israelite ears. Rahab is Egypt, which enslaved them. Babylon would later conquer them. The Philistines were ancient enemies. Tyre was a rival trading power. Cush was a foreign nation. Yet the psalm is saying these outsiders can become insiders, can be claimed by God as children of Zion through faith. It's radical inclusion.

Who's speaking

The psalmist quoting God's own declaration—God is the one making this stunning promise.

Where it sits in the story

This prefigures the gospel itself. Jesus breaks down the walls between insider and outsider, and the early church realizes God is calling people from every nation into His family. You don't have to be ethnically Israel to belong to God's people—you belong through knowing Him.

The scholarly reading

God will acknowledge that inhabitants of pagan nations—Egypt, Babylon, the Philistines, Tyre, and Cush—were spiritually born or regenerated in Zion, belonging to God's covenant people.

Language and setting

This verse presents perhaps the psalm's most theologically radical claim. Rahab represents Egypt (Isaiah 51:9); Babylon was Judah's great oppressor; Philistia and Tyre were commercial and military rivals; Cush was distant Ethiopia. The formula 'this one was born in Zion' (zeh yullad-sham) inverts ethnic categories—suggesting that spiritual nationality supersedes biological descent. The verb 'know' (yada') implies covenantal relationship, not mere acquaintance. Scholars from John Calvin to Peter Stuhlmacher recognize this as extending Israelite identity beyond ethnic boundaries through reference to spiritual rebirth.

Voice

God Himself speaks through the psalmist's proclamation, using the first-person 'I will mention,' establishing divine authorization for this astounding declaration.

Significance

This anticipates the New Testament's radical extension of Abrahamic sonship to Gentile believers (Romans 4:11-17, Galatians 3:28-29), where Paul argues that the circumcision of the heart matters more than physical descent. The psalm foreshadows a universalism of grace that becomes explicit in Christian theology.

2The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

3Glorious things are ascribed to you, O city of God.

4“I will mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me— along with Philistia, Tyre, and Cush — when I say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’”

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

6The LORD will record in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.”

Read all of Psalm 87 — God counts the peoples and records: this one was born in Zion. A stunning vision of every nation finding its home in God's city.