Psalms 144:13

13 May our barns be filled with crops of every kind. May the sheep in our fields bear young by the tens of thousands.

Psalms 144:13 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 144:13

[That] our garners [may be] full, affording all manner of
store
Or "our corners" ^F19, the corners of their houses, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; the nooks that were in them might be full of provisions for the supply of the family; or that their barns and granaries might be full of all kind of corn, as wheat, rye, barley which might be sufficient from year to year, as the Targum; plenty of all food is intended, in opposition to a scarcity, dearth, and famine, ( Proverbs 3:9 Proverbs 3:10 ) ( Joel 1:17 ) ; that so there might be enough for increasing families. Spiritually it may design that large provision of grace in the churches of Christ, and the fulness of the blessings of the Gospel the ministers of it come forth with, bringing out of their treasure things new and old, in the ministration of the word and administration of ordinances; [that] our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our
streets;
or millions; in which lay the riches of men formerly, and indeed in our nation now, where wool is the staple commodity of it; and these are creatures that breed and increase much; when they stand well, a few soon become a thousand, and these thousands produce ten thousands or millions, more. The Hebrew word (Nau) , "sheep", seems to be derived from the Arabic word "tzana", which signifies to be "fruitful", whether in men or beasts: "tzana": "foecunda fuit, et multos liberos hubuit mulier-----idem significat, et multa habuit pecora", Golius, col. 1428; and though for the most part they bring but one at a time, yet Aristotle

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 says, sometimes two, three, and four; and in India, Aelianus ^F21 says, they bring four, and never less than three. It is a beautiful sight to see them driven in such numbers through the streets of cities to markets, or to pasture. Or rather this may design the country towns and villages, where large flocks of them are kept. The people of God resemble these in their meekness, harmlessness, innocence, and other things; and who not only increase in grace and gifts, and spiritual knowledge, and in all goodness, which is desirable, but also in numbers, as they did in the first times of the Gospel, and will in the last, when they shall be increased as a flock; the fulness of the Gentiles, the other sheep, shall be brought in, and the nation of the Jews called at once.
F19 (wnywzm) "anguli nostri", Pagninus, Vatablus, Cocceius, Michaelis.
F20 Hist. Animal. l. 6. c. 19.
F21 De Animal. l. 4. c. 32.

Psalms 144:13 In-Context

11 Save me from my cruel enemies; rescue me from the power of foreigners, who never tell the truth and lie even under oath.

12 May our sons in their youth be like plants that grow up strong. May our daughters be like stately columns which adorn the corners of a palace.

13 May our barns be filled with crops of every kind. May the sheep in our fields bear young by the tens of thousands.

14 May our cattle reproduce plentifully without miscarriage or loss. May there be no cries of distress in our streets.

15 Happy is the nation of whom this is true; happy are the people whose God is the Lord!