Chapter Eighty-Six

According to the inscription in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Bibles, the psalm belongs to the sons of Korah. In the psalm are described the great glory that will fall to the lot of Jerusalem: it will become an object of praise among all nations to such a degree that for a man it will be honorable to be listed among those born in it, and the Lord will especially strengthen it and be its protector (Ps 86:3). This faith in the future greatness of Jerusalem rests on facts of the contemporary reality for the writer: he can now point to Egypt, Babylon, Tyre, and Ethiopia among those already paying homage to it (Ps 86:4). Such glory of Jerusalem, resting on the protection the Lord gave it and which made it known, relates to the times of Hezekiah, when after the miraculous destruction of Sennacherib’s army near Jerusalem, glory concerning it spread among the pagan nations and provoked signs of great attention to it. Then there were embassies from Babylon, from Tyre, and Egypt was in friendly relations with Judah (2 Chr 32:23).

The Lord loves Zion and announces its glorious future to it (2–3). Now it is possible to name several nations that know the Lord, and a time will come when it will be especially honorable to be listed among those born in Jerusalem, from which the sources of all joys will proceed (4–7).

Psalm 86:2. Its foundation is on the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. “Its foundation on the holy mountains.” Jerusalem is situated on the summits of the mountains of Zion and Moriah. The latter are called holy because the Ark of the Covenant was on them, under David in his palace on Zion, and under Solomon transferred to the temple on Mount Moriah. – “The gates of Zion” – the whole of Jerusalem, a part for the whole (synecdoche). – “More than all the dwellings of Jacob.” The dwellings of Jacob – the other cities of Judah, devastated by the Assyrians under Hezekiah, when Jerusalem alone remained undestroyed.

Psalm 86:4. I will mention Egypt and Babylon to those who know me; see, the Philistines and Tyre, with Ethiopia, – they will say: “This one was born there. The speech is conducted from the perspective of Jerusalem. A brilliant future awaits it. Even now it can point to several nations that bow before it. For example, Egypt. This word means pride, stubbornness, and it was the usual name for Egypt, as a country where creatures like the hippopotamus and crocodile dwell, unconquerable and proud, and thus they served as symbols of this country. The king of this country, Tirhakah, was then in alliance with Hezekiah and could not but sympathize with and express his attention to such a fact. An embassy came from Babylon from the king. It is true that it relates to the time of Hezekiah’s miraculous recovery, but since the latter occurred in the same year as the destruction of Sennacherib, this latter fact could not have been unknown to the Babylonians and perhaps even served as the initial reason for sending the embassy. Among the peoples who will revere Jerusalem, the writer points to Tyre, a trading city on an island in the Mediterranean Sea, the neighboring Philistine people, and Ethiopia, the country of central Egypt. It may be that these peoples too, threatened by the Assyrians in the case of Jerusalem’s destruction, were among those who greeted Hezekiah. All these peoples will praise the one about whom they will say that he “was born there,” i.e., in Jerusalem. Genealogical tables for the Hebrews had great significance and value as documentary evidence of the nobility and antiquity of a family. But these tables will lose their significance: the worth of a person will be determined not by the nobility and antiquity of the family, but by a new measure – the place of birth. Only those born in Jerusalem are great and noble.

Psalm 86:5. And of Zion it will be said: “This one and that one were born in it, and the Most High Himself has established it. Psalm 86:6. The Lord in the registration of nations will write: “This one was born there. Since “the Most High Himself established it,” i.e., Jerusalem, this shows that the Lord protects it, and one born in Jerusalem thereby becomes protected by God. But for the latter, as King of the whole world, it is of course important not the very place of a person’s birth, not the physical connection with Jerusalem solely as a place of origin, but the moral and spiritual closeness to God, and therefore this expression is a foreshadowing of such a future state of Jerusalem, when it becomes a place of religious and moral renewal and the birth of men, the source of new life in God and union with Him. And since God Jehovah is the one and true God, to be recorded in the book of His subjects means to receive the right to blessings in His kingdom. From the fact of the exaltation of Jerusalem in the times of Hezekiah, the writer arrives at the prophecy of the future conversion of all pagans to the true God.

Psalm 86:7. Both singers and players – all my sources are in you. Singing and playing, as an expression of joyful disposition of spirit and contentment, will proceed from Jerusalem, since it alone will be the center of new life. What for the writer of this psalm was the object of a distant dream has now found historical realization since the time of the Messiah – Christ, when from Jerusalem the teaching of the new life resounded, spreading rapidly throughout the world and continuing to spread. In this teaching and in subjection to King Christ lies the assurance of eternal good, the highest and most worthy object of man’s search for true happiness. To be counted as born in Jerusalem is the same as to be renewed for another higher life, and to be recorded in the book means to become an heir of the heavenly kingdom and eternal blessedness. * * * Jerusalem. Concerning Egypt.