Psalms 147:12-20

12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For He has strengthened the 1bars of your gates; He has 2blessed your sons within you.
14 He 3makes peace in your borders; He 4satisfies you with 5the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends forth His 6command to the earth; His 7word runs very swiftly.
16 He gives 8snow like wool; He scatters the 9frost like ashes.
17 He casts forth His 10ice as fragments; Who can stand before His 11cold?
18 He 12sends forth His word and melts them; He 13causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.
19 He 14declares His words to Jacob, His 15statutes and His ordinances to Israel.
20 He 16has not dealt thus with any nation; And as for His ordinances, they have 17not known them. Praise the LORD!

Psalms 147:12-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 147

This psalm is thought to be written by David, and according to Theodoret predicts the return of the Jews from Babylon, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Zerubbabel, which seems to be grounded on Ps 147:2; though the words there agree well enough with the times of David; hence the title in the Septuagint, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Syriac versions, and Apollinarius, is as the preceding; the Syriac adds,

``concerning Zerubbabel and Joshua the priest, and Ezra, who were solicitous and diligent in building Jerusalem.''

Aben Ezra and other Jewish writers think it foretells the future rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the restoration of the Jews from their present captivity, and refer it to the times of the Messiah; and so far it may be right, that it respects Christ and the praise of him, on account of his nature and works; and may take in the conversion of the Jews. It seems to be written by the same person, and on the same account, as the preceding psalm.

Cross References 17

  • 1. Nehemiah 3:3; Nehemiah 7:3
  • 2. Psalms 37:26
  • 3. Psalms 29:11; Isaiah 54:13; Isaiah 60:17, 18
  • 4. Psalms 132:15
  • 5. Deuteronomy 32:14; Psalms 81:16
  • 6. Job 37:12; Psalms 148:5
  • 7. Psalms 104:4
  • 8. Job 37:6; Psalms 148:8
  • 9. Job 38:29
  • 10. Job 37:10
  • 11. Job 37:9
  • 12. Psalms 33:9; Psalms 107:20; Psalms 147:15
  • 13. Psalms 107:25
  • 14. Deuteronomy 33:3, 4
  • 15. Malachi 4:4
  • 16. Deut 4:7, 8, 32-34; Romans 3:1, 2
  • 17. Psalms 79:6; Jeremiah 10:25

Footnotes 4

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.