How Wide Are ‘‘The Gates Of Zion’’ A Textual, Translational, And Performative Study Of Psalm 87

Abstract

Psalm 87, a joyous “Song of Zion,” presents us with a rather controversial religious poem that scholars and commentators roundly debate, with respect to the Hebrew text itself, its interpretation, and its overall strophic organisation. This study explores some of the salient hermeneutical issues, which revolve around an identification of the presumed divinely begotten inhabitants of “the City of Zion,” and comes to a new conclusion with regard to the structure of this psalm that relates in turn to its apparent intended meaning. These observations form the basis for evaluating several recent translations—first, a traditional “formal correspondence” liturgical version, and secondly, more “functionally equivalent” renditions, one in English, another one in Chichewa, a Bantu language of south-central Africa. The primary aim of these latter versions is to express the translated text in a more dynamic manner that highlights the psalm’s oral-aural features, as well as its potential for contemporary performance.