Bible Strands
Psalms 48:8
As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the LORD of Hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish her forever. Selah
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the assembly, contrasting ancestral testimony with present reality as the community witnesses God’s judgment and protection over Jerusalem.
The words — שָמַ֨עְנוּ (sha.Ma'.nu) means "we have heard" and רָאִ֗ינוּ (ra.'I.nu) means "we have seen," structuring the verse to equate reported tradition with witnessed fact.
The thread — The motif of God establishing His city runs through Psalms 87:5 and Micah 4:1, where permanence is consistently attributed to divine action rather than human fortification.
Why it lands — It demands that readers verify inherited claims against actual experience and accept that only God permanently secures His dwelling place.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.
Cross-references
- Psalms 87:5 And it will be said of Zion: “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High Himself will establish her.”
- Micah 4:1 In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it.
- Psalms 44:1 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.
- Psalms 46:5 God is within her; she will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns.
- Psalms 48:1 A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, His holy mountain.
- Psalms 78:3 that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
- Isaiah 2:2 In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
- Matthew 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
- Isaiah 38:19 The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.