Ps 87:1b-3, 4-5, 6-7
Chapter 87
1
Zion, Home of All Peoples
He himself has built it in his holy mountain;2
the Lord prefers the gates of Zion to all of Jacob’s towns.
3
Great things have been foretold of you, O City of God:
4
Between friends, we speak of Egypt and Babylon; and also Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia: “Here so-and-so was born.”
5
But of Zion, it shall be said, “More and more are being born in her.”
6
For the Most High himself has founded her.
7
And the Lord notes in the people’s register: “All these were also born in Zion.”
Commentaries
87
The universalist’s outlook here is truly remarkable. It is not that Zion ceases to be the center of the world. From the psalmist’s perspective, it will always remain so. Extending a hand in friendship to Babylon and Egypt, the ancient oppressors, is genuinely generous. This may reflect the Jews exiled in those nations. Such a view would turn the expansive and gracious gesture of verses 4 and 5 into something awkward and ungenerous. This psalm can be compared to a passage from the prophet Zechariah (8:20-23; cf. also 14:16), where people from foreign nations take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying: Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ The Jew known throughout the world is Emmanuel, meaning ‘God with us.’ The Church is described as our “city,” the mother of all (cf. Eph 2:12-19; Gal 4:26). This psalm is a good celebration of universal brotherhood and an opportunity to practice ecumenism.