Footnotes

1. Psalm 87:2 Loves . . . more than: Zion is more cherished by the Lord than any other Israelite city or town (see Pss 9:12; 78:68; 132:12-14). The gates of Zion: a common Hebrew idiom for the city. Jacob: i.e., Israel (see Gen 32:28-29).
2. Psalm 87:4 These verses foresee a wholesale conversion to the Lord on the part of peoples who were longtime enemies of God and his kingdom (see Isa 19:21).
3. Psalm 87:4 The Gentiles will be incorporated into the People of God and adopted by Zion, their religious homeland. As the representatives of all the Gentile nations, the psalmist mentions the arrogant Egypt (Rahab—the name of an ocean monster used poetically for Egypt) and Babylon, the two world kingdoms on the Nile and Euphrates, both of which had fought for centuries for the possession of Palestine. We also hear of the Philistines, archenemy of Israel, wealthy Tyre proud of its independence, and the ambitious Ethiopians.