Section 268 of 271147:12–20Psalms
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Psalms 147:12–20, King James Version

Psalms 147:12–20

Jerusalem restored and creation commanded: Jerusalem, weather, and Torah given to Israel

Jerusalem is told to praise for bars, children, peace, and fat wheat

Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.

The second half of the psalm addresses the city. Strengthened bars, blessed children, peace in the borders, finest wheat: civic security and food. Praise is still hallelujah, now with locks and grain in it.

The same word that runs the weather is shown to Israel as Torah

He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.

He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD. Commandment, snow, frost, ice, melt, wind, flowing water: then word unto Jacob as statutes. Unique gift to Israel is confessed without canceling the first half's outcasts and ravens. The nations not knowing these judgments is this psalm's claim of a particular teaching, not a sneer at every foreign wisdom, and not a permit to hoard bread behind the bars.

How this should shape us

Praise God for gates that hold, children blessed, peace at the edge, and wheat. Honor Israel's gift of statutes as a shown word, the same kind of word that melts ice. Do not freeze anyone out while you thank for bars, and do not treat unique Torah as a reason to ignore the outcasts of the first half.

Teach it back

Explain Psalms 147:12–20 in your own words. Name the poetic voice and movement, trace its place in Psalm 147 and Book V, identify one exact source control or uncertainty, and reject one use the passage does not authorize.

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Go deeper

The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

Where do responsible readings differ?

Best judgment: The Greek tradition divides this Hebrew psalm; restoration praise cannot become nationalist triumph or indifference to present suffering.

How certain? probable
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.

Psalms 147:12–20, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.

Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 147:12–20

NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150

Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 147:12–20.

Official NET Bible Psalm 147 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 147:12–20

Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world

Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.

Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: genres and psalm pairs; Theological Themes: kingship, Zion, and covenant; applied to Psalms 147:12–20

A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms

Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.

NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 147 for Psalms 147:12–20

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.

Exact location: Psalms 147:12–20, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

Open source ↗

hebrew text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 147:12–20

Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗

translation and translator notes

NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition

Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 147:12–20.

Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 147 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 147:12–20

Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗

modern scholarly book course

Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world

Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser

Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024

Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.

Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: genres and psalm pairs; Theological Themes: kingship, Zion, and covenant; applied to Psalms 147:12–20

Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗

ancient greek text translation and introduction

A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms

Albert Pietersma

International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009

Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.

Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 147 for Psalms 147:12–20

Open NETS Psalms ↗