Psalm 87:2

Modern

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

Traditional

The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

Literal

YHWH loves the gates of Zion above all the dwellings of Jacob.

Latin

…diligit Dominus portas Sion super omnia tabernacula Jacob.

Hebrew

English

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

This psalm presents Jerusalem as the city of God, where people from all nations are counted as citizens.

Theme notes and profiles

Deuteronomy 12:5
Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
Psalm 132:13–14
For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home:
Psalm 78:67–69
He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim.
2 Chronicles 6:6
But now I have chosen Jerusalem for My Name to be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
Joel 2:32
And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has promised, among the remnant called by the LORD.
Isaiah 14:32
What answer will be given to the envoys of that nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, where His afflicted people will find refuge.”

Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes

Jerusalem: The capital of Israel, a holy city for three religions