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Selected Verse: Psalms 87:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ps 87:1	Strong Concordance	A Psalm [04210] or Song [07892] for the sons [01121] of Korah [07141]. His foundation [03248] is in the holy [06944] mountains [02042].
	King James	A Psalm or Song for the sons of Korah. His foundation is in the holy mountains.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
This triumphal song was probably occasioned by the same event as the forty-sixth [see on Psa 46:1, title]. The writer celebrates the glory of the Church, as the means of spiritual blessing to the nation. (Psa 87:1-7) His--that is, God's foundation--or, what He has founded, that is, Zion (Isa 14:32). is in the holy mountains--the location of Zion, in the wide sense, for the capital, or Jerusalem, being on several hills.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

This triumphal song was probably occasioned by the same event as the forty-sixth [see on Psa 46:1, title]. The writer celebrates the glory of the Church, as the means of spiritual blessing to the nation. (Psa 87:1-7)

His--that is, God's

foundation--or, what He has founded, that is, Zion (Isa 14:32).

is in the holy mountains--the location of Zion, in the wide sense, for the capital, or Jerusalem, being on several hills.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
His foundation - This is an abrupt commencement of the psalm. The adjective "his" has been supposed by some to refer to the psalm itself, and this expression has been considered to be a part of the title to the psalm, meaning that the foundation of the psalm is the holy mountain where the praises of God were celebrated; that is Zion. This, however, is a forced and unnatural interpretation. The most obvious explanation is to refer it to God, and the meaning is, that his "foundation," or that which he had founded and established, to wit, the place for his worship, or for the institutions of religion, was in the holy mountains of Jerusalem. It would seem that the psalmist was contemplating the city - looking on its walls, and its palaces, and especially on the place which had been reared for the worship of God, and that he breaks out in this abrupt manner, by saying that this was what God had founded; that here he had established his home; that here was the place where he was worshipped, and where he dwelt; that this was the place which he loved more than all the other places where the descendants of Jacob dwelt. Is in the holy mountains - The mountains of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is surrounded by hills, and within the city itself there were the hills of Zion, Moriah, Acra, and Bezethah; See the notes at Mat 2:1. These sacred hills God had selected as the place of his solemn worship - of his own abode. Compare the notes at Psa 48:1-2.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The poet is absorbed in the contemplation of the glory of a matter which he begins to celebrate, without naming it. Whether we render it: His founded, or (since מיסּד and מוּסּד are both used elsewhere as part. pass.): His foundation (after the form מלוּכה, poetically for יסוד, a founding, then that which is set fast = a foundation), the meaning remains the same; but the more definite statement of the object with שׁערי ציּון is more easily connected with what precedes by regarding it as a participle. The suffix refers to Jahve, and it is Zion, whose praise is a favourite theme of the Korahitic songs, that is intended. We cannot tell by looking to the accents whether the clause is to be taken as a substantival clause (His founded city is upon the holy mountains) or not. Since, however, the expression is not יסוּדתו היא בהררי־קדשׁ, יסודתו בהררי קדשׁ is an object placed first in advance (which the antithesis to the other dwellings of Jacob would admit of), and in Psa 87:2 a new synonymous object is subordinated to אהב by a similar turn of the discourse to Jer 13:27; Jer 6:2 (Hitzig). By altering the division of the verses as Hupfeld and Hofmann do (His foundation or founded city upon the holy mountains doth Jahve love), Psa 87:2 is decapitated. Even now the God-founded city (surrounded on three sides by deep valleys), whose firm and visible foundation is the outward manifestation of its imperishable inner nature, rises aloft above all the other dwelling-places of Israel. Jahve stands in a lasting, faithful, loving relationship (אהב, not 3 praet. אהב) to the gates of Zion. These gates are named as a periphrasis for Zion, because they bound the circuit of the city, and any one who loves a city delights to go frequently through its gates; and they are perhaps mentioned in prospect of the fulness of the heathen that shall enter into them. In Psa 87:3 the lxx correctly, and at the same time in harmony with the syntax, renders: Δεδοξασμένα ἐλαλήθη περὶ σοῦ. The construction of a plural subject with a singular predicate is a syntax common in other instances also, whether the subject is conceived of as a unity in the form of the plural (e.g., Psa 66:3; Psa 119:137; Isa 16:8), or is individualized in the pursuance of the thought (as is the case most likely in Gen 27:29, cf. Psa 12:3); here the glorious things are conceived of as the sum-total of such. The operation of the construction of the active (Ew. 295, b) is not probable here in connection with the participle. בּ beside דּבּר may signify the place or the instrument, substance and object of the speech (e.g., Psa 119:46), but also the person against whom the words are spoken (e.g., Psa 50:20), or concerning whom they are uttered (as the words of the suitor to the father or the relatives of the maiden, Sa1 25:39; Sol 8:8; cf. on the construction, Sa1 19:3). The poet, without doubt, here refers to the words of promise concerning the eternal continuance and future glory of Jerusalem: Glorious things are spoken, i.e., exist as spoken, in reference to thee, O thou city of God, city of His choice and of His love. The glorious contents of the promise are now unfolded, and that with the most vivid directness: Jahve Himself takes up the discourse, and declares the gracious, glorious, world-wide mission of His chosen and beloved city: it shall become the birth-place of all nations. Rahab is Egypt, as in Psa 89:11; Isa 30:7; Isa 51:9, the southern worldly power, and Babylon the northern. הזכּיר, as frequently, of loud (Jer 4:16) and honourable public mention or commemoration, Ps 45:18. It does not signify "to record or register in writing;" for the official name מזכּיר, which is cited in support of this meaning, designates the historian of the empire as one who keeps in remembrance the memorable events of the history of his time. It is therefore impossible, with Hofmann, to render: I will add Rahab and Babylon to those who know me. In general ל is not used to point out to whom the addition is made as belonging to them, but for what purpose, or as what (cf. Sa2 5:3; Isa 4:3), these kingdoms, hitherto hostile towards God and His people, shall be declared: Jahve completes what He Himself has brought about, inasmuch as He publicly and solemnly declares them to be those who know Him, i.e., those who experimentally (vid., Psa 36:11) know Him as their God. Accordingly, it is clear that זה ילּד־שׁם is also meant to refer to the conversion of the other three nations to whom the finger of God points with הנּה, viz., the war-loving Philistia, the rich and proud Tyre, and the adventurous and powerful Ethiopia (Isa 18:1-7). זה does not refer to the individuals, nor to the sum-total of these nations, but to nation after nation (cf. זה העם, Isa 23:13), by fixing the eye upon each one separately. And שׁם refers to Zion. The words of Jahve, which come in without any intermediary preparation, stand in the closest connection with the language of the poet and seer. Zion appears elsewhere as the mother who brings forth Israel again as a numerous people (Isa 66:7; Psa 54:1-3): it is the children of the dispersion (diaspora) which Zion regains in Isa 60:4.; here, however, it is the nations which are born in Zion. The poet does not combine with it the idea of being born again in the depth of its New Testament meaning; he means, however, that the nations will attain a right of citizenship in Zion (πολιτεία τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, Eph 2:12) as in their second mother-city, that they will therefore at any rate experience a spiritual change which, regarded from the New Testament point of view, is the new birth out of water and the Spirit.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The poet is absorbed in the contemplation of the glory of a matter which he begins to celebrate, without naming it. Whether we render it: His founded, or (since מיסּד and מוּסּד are both used elsewhere as part. pass.): His foundation (after the form מלוּכה, poetically for יסוד, a founding, then that which is set fast = a foundation), the meaning remains the same; but the more definite statement of the object with שׁערי ציּון is more easily connected with what precedes by regarding it as a participle. The suffix refers to Jahve, and it is Zion, whose praise is a favourite theme of the Korahitic songs, that is intended. We cannot tell by looking to the accents whether the clause is to be taken as a substantival clause (His founded city is upon the holy mountains) or not. Since, however, the expression is not יסוּדתו היא בהררי־קדשׁ, יסודתו בהררי קדשׁ is an object placed first in advance (which the antithesis to the other dwellings of Jacob would admit of), and in Psa 87:2 a new synonymous object is subordinated to אהב by a similar turn of the discourse to Jer 13:27; Jer 6:2 (Hitzig). By altering the division of the verses as Hupfeld and Hofmann do (His foundation or founded city upon the holy mountains doth Jahve love), Psa 87:2 is decapitated. Even now the God-founded city (surrounded on three sides by deep valleys), whose firm and visible foundation is the outward manifestation of its imperishable inner nature, rises aloft above all the other dwelling-places of Israel. Jahve stands in a lasting, faithful, loving relationship (אהב, not 3 praet. אהב) to the gates of Zion. These gates are named as a periphrasis for Zion, because they bound the circuit of the city, and any one who loves a city delights to go frequently through its gates; and they are perhaps mentioned in prospect of the fulness of the heathen that shall enter into them. In Psa 87:3 the lxx correctly, and at the same time in harmony with the syntax, renders: Δεδοξασμένα ἐλαλήθη περὶ σοῦ. The construction of a plural subject with a singular predicate is a syntax common in other instances also, whether the subject is conceived of as a unity in the form of the plural (e.g., Psa 66:3; Psa 119:137; Isa 16:8), or is individualized in the pursuance of the thought (as is the case most likely in Gen 27:29, cf. Psa 12:3); here the glorious things are conceived of as the sum-total of such. The operation of the construction of the active (Ew. 295, b) is not probable here in connection with the participle. בּ beside דּבּר may signify the place or the instrument, substance and object of the speech (e.g., Psa 119:46), but also the person against whom the words are spoken (e.g., Psa 50:20), or concerning whom they are uttered (as the words of the suitor to the father or the relatives of the maiden, Sa1 25:39; Sol 8:8; cf. on the construction, Sa1 19:3). The poet, without doubt, here refers to the words of promise concerning the eternal continuance and future glory of Jerusalem: Glorious things are spoken, i.e., exist as spoken, in reference to thee, O thou city of God, city of His choice and of His love.

The glorious contents of the promise are now unfolded, and that with the most vivid directness: Jahve Himself takes up the discourse, and declares the gracious, glorious, world-wide mission of His chosen and beloved city: it shall become the birth-place of all nations. Rahab is Egypt, as in Psa 89:11; Isa 30:7; Isa 51:9, the southern worldly power, and Babylon the northern. הזכּיר, as frequently, of loud (Jer 4:16) and honourable public mention or commemoration, Ps 45:18. It does not signify "to record or register in writing;" for the official name מזכּיר, which is cited in support of this meaning, designates the historian of the empire as one who keeps in remembrance the memorable events of the history of his time. It is therefore impossible, with Hofmann, to render: I will add Rahab and Babylon to those who know me. In general ל is not used to point out to whom the addition is made as belonging to them, but for what purpose, or as what (cf. Sa2 5:3; Isa 4:3), these kingdoms, hitherto hostile towards God and His people, shall be declared: Jahve completes what He Himself has brought about, inasmuch as He publicly and solemnly declares them to be those who know Him, i.e., those who experimentally (vid., Psa 36:11) know Him as their God. Accordingly, it is clear that זה ילּד־שׁם is also meant to refer to the conversion of the other three nations to whom the finger of God points with הנּה, viz., the war-loving Philistia, the rich and proud Tyre, and the adventurous and powerful Ethiopia (Isa 18:1-7). זה does not refer to the individuals, nor to the sum-total of these nations, but to nation after nation (cf. זה העם, Isa 23:13), by fixing the eye upon each one separately. And שׁם refers to Zion. The words of Jahve, which come in without any intermediary preparation, stand in the closest connection with the language of the poet and seer. Zion appears elsewhere as the mother who brings forth Israel again as a numerous people (Isa 66:7; Psa 54:1-3): it is the children of the dispersion (diaspora) which Zion regains in Isa 60:4.; here, however, it is the nations which are born in Zion. The poet does not combine with it the idea of being born again in the depth of its New Testament meaning; he means, however, that the nations will attain a right of citizenship in Zion (πολιτεία τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, Eph 2:12) as in their second mother-city, that they will therefore at any rate experience a spiritual change which, regarded from the New Testament point of view, is the new birth out of water and the Spirit.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Its foundation - The foundation of the temple of God.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
His foundation is in the holy mountains - Jerusalem was founded on the mountains or hills of Zion and Moriah. The after increase of the population obliged the inhabitants to inclose all the contiguous hills; but Zion and Moriah were the principal. We know that ancient Rome was built on seven hills.

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³² What shall one then answer [06030] the messengers [04397] of the nation [01471]? That the LORD [03068] hath founded [03245] Zion [06726], and the poor [06041] of his people [05971] shall trust [02620] in it.

¹ A Psalm [04210] or Song [07892] for the sons [01121] of Korah [07141]. His foundation [03248] is in the holy [06944] mountains [02042].
² The LORD [03068] loveth [0157] the gates [08179] of Zion [06726] more than all the dwellings [04908] of Jacob [03290].
³ Glorious things [03513] are spoken [01696] of thee, O city [05892] of God [0430]. Selah [05542].
⁴ I will make mention [02142] of Rahab [07294] and Babylon [0894] to them that know [03045] me: behold Philistia [06429], and Tyre [06865], with Ethiopia [03568]; this man was born [03205] there.
⁵ And of Zion [06726] it shall be said [0559], This and that man [0376] was born [03205] in her: and the highest [05945] himself shall establish [03559] her.
⁶ The LORD [03068] shall count [05608], when he writeth up [03789] the people [05971], that this man was born [03205] there. Selah [05542].
⁷ As well the singers [07891] as the players [02490] on instruments shall be there: all my springs [04599] are in thee.

¹ To the chief Musician [05329] for the sons [01121] of Korah [07141], A Song [07892] upon Alamoth [05961]. God [0430] is our refuge [04268] and strength [05797], a very [03966] present [04672] help [05833] in trouble [06869].

¹ A Song [07892] and Psalm [04210] for the sons [01121] of Korah [07141]. Great [01419] is the LORD [03068], and greatly [03966] to be praised [01984] in the city [05892] of our God [0430], in the mountain [02022] of his holiness [06944].
² Beautiful [03303] for situation [05131], the joy [04885] of the whole earth [0776], is mount [02022] Zion [06726], on the sides [03411] of the north [06828], the city [07151] of the great [07227] King [04428].

¹ Now [1161] when Jesus [2424] was born [1080] in [1722] Bethlehem [965] of Judaea [2449] in [1722] the days [2250] of Herod [2264] the king [935], behold [2400], there came [3854] wise men [3097] from [575] the east [395] to [1519] Jerusalem [2414],

¹² That [3754] at [1722] that [1565] time [2540] ye were [2258] without [5565] Christ [5547], being aliens [526] from the commonwealth [4174] of Israel [2474], and [2532] strangers [3581] from the covenants [1242] of promise [1860], having [2192] no [3361] hope [1680], and [2532] without God [112] in [1722] the world [2889]:

⁴ Lift up [05375] thine eyes [05869] round about [05439], and see [07200]: all they gather themselves together [06908], they come [0935] to thee: thy sons [01121] shall come [0935] from far [07350], and thy daughters [01323] shall be nursed [0539] at thy side [06654].

¹ To the chief Musician [05329] on Neginoth [05058], Maschil [04905], A Psalm of David [01732], when the Ziphims [02130] came [0935] and said [0559] to Saul [07586], Doth not David [01732] hide [05641] himself with us? Save [03467] me, O God [0430], by thy name [08034], and judge [01777] me by thy strength [01369].
² Hear [08085] my prayer [08605], O God [0430]; give ear [0238] to the words [0561] of my mouth [06310].
³ For strangers [02114] are risen up [06965] against me, and oppressors [06184] seek [01245] after my soul [05315]: they have not set [07760] God [0430] before them. Selah [05542].

⁷ Before she travailed [02342], she brought forth [03205]; before her pain [02256] came [0935], she was delivered [04422] of a man child [02145].

¹³ Behold the land [0776] of the Chaldeans [03778]; this people [05971] was not, till the Assyrian [0804] founded [03245] it for them that dwell in the wilderness [06728]: they set up [06965] the towers [0971] thereof, they raised up [06209] the palaces [0759] thereof; and he brought [07760] it to ruin [04654].

¹ Woe [01945] to the land [0776] shadowing [06767] with wings [03671], which is beyond [05676] the rivers [05104] of Ethiopia [03568]:
² That sendeth [07971] ambassadors [06735] by the sea [03220], even in vessels [03627] of bulrushes [01573] upon [06440] the waters [04325], saying, Go [03212], ye swift [07031] messengers [04397], to a nation [01471] scattered [04900] and peeled [04178], to a people [05971] terrible [03372] from their beginning hitherto [01973]; a nation [01471] meted out [06978] and trodden down [04001], whose land [0776] the rivers [05104] have spoiled [0958] !
³ All ye inhabitants [03427] of the world [08398], and dwellers [07931] on the earth [0776], see [07200] ye, when he lifteth up [05375] an ensign [05251] on the mountains [02022]; and when he bloweth [08628] a trumpet [07782], hear [08085] ye.
⁴ For so [03541] the LORD [03068] said [0559] unto me, I will take my rest [08252], and I will consider [05027] in my dwelling place [04349] like a clear [06703] heat [02527] upon herbs [0216], and like a cloud [05645] of dew [02919] in the heat [02527] of harvest [07105].
⁵ For afore [06440] the harvest [07105], when the bud [06525] is perfect [08552], and the sour grape [01155] is ripening [01580] in the flower [05328], he shall both cut off [03772] the sprigs [02150] with pruning hooks [04211], and take away [05493] and cut down [08456] the branches [05189].
⁶ They shall be left [05800] together [03162] unto the fowls [05861] of the mountains [02022], and to the beasts [0929] of the earth [0776]: and the fowls [05861] shall summer [06972] upon them, and all the beasts [0929] of the earth [0776] shall winter [02778] upon them.
⁷ In that time [06256] shall the present [07862] be brought [02986] unto the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635] of a people [05971] scattered [04900] and peeled [04178], and from a people [05971] terrible [03372] from their beginning hitherto [01973]; a nation [01471] meted out [06978] and trodden under foot [04001], whose land [0776] the rivers [05104] have spoiled [0958], to the place [04725] of the name [08034] of the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635], the mount [02022] Zion [06726].

¹¹ Let not the foot [07272] of pride [01346] come [0935] against me, and let not the hand [03027] of the wicked [07563] remove [05110] me.

³ And it shall come to pass, that he that is left [07604] in Zion [06726], and he that remaineth [03498] in Jerusalem [03389], shall be called [0559] holy [06918], even every one that is written [03789] among the living [02416] in Jerusalem [03389]:

³ So all the elders [02205] of Israel [03478] came [0935] to the king [04428] to Hebron [02275]; and king [04428] David [01732] made [03772] a league [01285] with them in Hebron [02275] before [06440] the LORD [03068]: and they anointed [04886] David [01732] king [04428] over Israel [03478].

¹⁶ Make ye mention [02142] to the nations [01471]; behold, publish [08085] against Jerusalem [03389], that watchers [05341] come [0935] from a far [04801] country [0776], and give out [05414] their voice [06963] against the cities [05892] of Judah [03063].

⁹ Awake [05782], awake [05782], put on [03847] strength [05797], O arm [02220] of the LORD [03068]; awake [05782], as in the ancient [06924] days [03117], in the generations [01755] of old [05769]. Art thou not it that hath cut [02672] Rahab [07294], and wounded [02490] the dragon [08577]?

⁷ For the Egyptians [04714] shall help [05826] in vain [01892], and to no purpose [07385]: therefore have I cried [07121] concerning this [02063], Their [01992] strength [07293] is to sit still [07674].

¹¹ The heavens [08064] are thine, the earth [0776] also is thine: as for the world [08398] and the fulness [04393] thereof, thou hast founded [03245] them.

³ And I will go out [03318] and stand [05975] beside [03027] my father [01] in the field [07704] where thou art, and I will commune [01696] with my father [01] of thee; and what [04100] I see [07200], that I will tell [05046] thee.

⁸ We have a little [06996] sister [0269], and she hath no breasts [07699]: what shall we do [06213] for our sister [0269] in the day [03117] when she shall be spoken for [01696]?

³⁹ And when David [01732] heard [08085] that Nabal [05037] was dead [04191], he said [0559], Blessed [01288] be the LORD [03068], that hath pleaded [07378] the cause [07379] of my reproach [02781] from the hand [03027] of Nabal [05037], and hath kept [02820] his servant [05650] from evil [07451]: for the LORD [03068] hath returned [07725] the wickedness [07451] of Nabal [05037] upon his own head [07218]. And David [01732] sent [07971] and communed [01696] with Abigail [026], to take [03947] her to him to wife [0802].

²⁰ Thou sittest [03427] and speakest [01696] against thy brother [0251]; thou [05414] slanderest [01848] thine own mother's [0517] son [01121].

⁴⁶ I will speak [01696] of thy testimonies [05713] also before kings [04428], and will not be ashamed [0954].

³ The LORD [03068] shall cut off [03772] all flattering [02513] lips [08193], and the tongue [03956] that speaketh [01696] proud [01419] things:

²⁹ Let people [05971] serve [05647] thee, and nations [03816] bow down [07812] to thee: be [01933] lord [01376] over thy brethren [0251], and let thy mother's [0517] sons [01121] bow down [07812] to thee: cursed [0779] be every one that curseth [0779] thee, and blessed [01288] be he that blesseth [01288] thee.

⁸ For the fields [07709] of Heshbon [02809] languish [0535], and the vine [01612] of Sibmah [07643]: the lords [01167] of the heathen [01471] have broken down [01986] the principal plants [08291] thereof, they are come [05060] even unto Jazer [03270], they wandered [08582] through the wilderness [04057]: her branches [07976] are stretched out [05203], they are gone over [05674] the sea [03220].

¹³⁷ TZADDI. Righteous [06662] art thou, O LORD [03068], and upright [03477] are thy judgments [04941].

³ Say [0559] unto God [0430], How terrible [03372] art thou in thy works [04639]! through the greatness [07230] of thy power [05797] shall thine enemies [0341] submit [03584] themselves unto thee.

³ Glorious things [03513] are spoken [01696] of thee, O city [05892] of God [0430]. Selah [05542].

² The LORD [03068] loveth [0157] the gates [08179] of Zion [06726] more than all the dwellings [04908] of Jacob [03290].

² I have likened [01820] the daughter [01323] of Zion [06726] to a comely [05116] and delicate [06026] woman.

²⁷ I have seen [07200] thine adulteries [05004], and thy neighings [04684], the lewdness [02154] of thy whoredom [02184], and thine abominations [08251] on the hills [01389] in the fields [07704]. Woe [0188] unto thee, O Jerusalem [03389]! wilt thou not be made clean [02891]? when shall it once [05750] [0310] be?

² The LORD [03068] loveth [0157] the gates [08179] of Zion [06726] more than all the dwellings [04908] of Jacob [03290].