Psalms 78:51
“and struck all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.”
What does Psalms 78:51 mean?
This verse recalls God's final plague against Egypt, when the firstborn son in every household died. The "firstborn" represent each family's future and hope, so this was the most devastating blow, designed to break Pharaoh's resistance to letting the Israelites go free. "Ham" is the biblical ancestor of Egypt, so "the tents of Ham" is poetic language for the Egyptian people and their homes. The psalmist is reminding the community of how God intervened powerfully in their ancestors' darkest moment, when they were enslaved and had lost hope, showing that he acts decisively on behalf of his people.