Psalm 147 v3: The bread of heaven

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Verse 3 of Psalm 147 continues the list of reasons why we should praise God, adding the gift of peace and prosperity to verse 2's thanks for strengthening the gates and blessing those protected within them.

There is, in this verse, a lot of imagery redolent of the late days of summer, when the harvest is in, and all is calm and well, and that is important, for later verses in the psalm tell us that to get there, we have to endure the hardships of winter first.

Looking at the Latin

3	V	Qui posuit fines tuos pacem: * et adipe frumenti satiat te.
	JH	Qui ponit fines tuos pacem et adipe frumenti satiat te.
		ὁ τιθεὶς τὰ ὅριά σου εἰρήνην καὶ στέαρ πυροῦ ἐμπιπλῶν σε

Word by word

 Qui (who) pósuit (sets/places) fines (the borders/boundaries/limits) tuos (your) pacem (peace): et (and) ádipe (with the fat) fruménti (of wheat/grains) sátiat (he satisfies/fills) te (you).

Notes

Frumentum is a generic word for corn or grains of any kind, hence the variety of English translations for it.

The word adipe comes from adeps, and normally means fat or marrow, but in this context seems best translated as 'full ears of wheat' (as Knox does), or the best, finest, or choicest of grains.

Key vocab

pono, posui, itum, ere 3,  to put, place, lay, set.

finis, is, m., a boundary, limit, border; territory.  usque in finem =  utterly, altogether; or, always, forever

adeps, ipis, c. fat, marrow;

satio, avi, atum, are, to fill, sate, satisfy

frumentum, i, n.  corn, i.e., wheat, rye, barley, etc.

DR	Who has placed peace in your borders: and fills you with the fat of corn.
Brenton	He makes thy borders peaceful, and fills thee with the flour of wheat.
MD	He hath made peace in thy borders, He hath filled thee with the fat of wheat
RSV	He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
Cover	He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the flour of wheat.
Knox	That makes thy land a land of peace, and gives thee full ears of wheat to sustain thee.

The promises of heaven

This verse can be interpreted on two levels: first, as describing the nature of the heavenly Jerusalem that is promised to those who persevere to the end; and secondly in terms of the here and now.

St Robert Bellarmine argues that the promise of peace and prosperity set out in this verse ultimately only applies in full to heaven:

All this applies to our heavenly country in the strict sense of the words, for there alone will our inferior be in strict peace with our superior parts, and our superior parts with God; and there, too, will be strict peace between the citizens of all grades, high and low; for there will be one heart, one soul, and as the Lord expresses it, "Made perfect in one." 

In heaven, he suggests, we will be filled with the best of corn, that is, truth and wisdom as the food of the soul: 

There, too, "will all be filled with the fat of com," for truth and wisdom being the food of the soul, they will have actual truth as it is in itself, and not in fig­ures or enigmas, and they will taste of the sweetness of the Word Eternal without being enveloped by the sacraments or the Scriptures; they will drink of the fountain of wisdom, instead of applying to the streams that flow from it, or to the "showers falling gently upon the earth." They will be so filled that they will never again hunger nor thirst for all eternity. 

Prosperity and the bread of life

But these promises are also fulfilled in shadow form in the Church militant, he argues.

He points out that virtually all of the Fathers argue that the best of wheat should be interpreted spiritually as meaning both Christ and the Eucharist.

St Jerome explained the symbolism of wheat as meaning Christ by reference to John 12:24:

'Unless the grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it remains alone, but if it die it brings about the salvation of many.'  Our Lord, the grain of wheat, has fallen into the ground and has multiplied us. This grain of wheat is very fertile, full of marrow, rich, fruitful. 'With the best of wheat he fills you.' Happy the man who perceives the richness of this grain. 

But it also, he argues, refers to both the Eucharist and the Gospel:

We have read the Sacred Scriptures. I think the Gospel is the body of Christ; Holy Writ, His teaching. When He says: 'He who does not eat my flesh and drink my blood,' although the words may be understood in their mystical sense, nevertheless, I say the word of Scripture is truly the body of Christ and His blood; it is divine doctrine. 

It follows that we must treat both with reverence: 

If at any time we approach the Sacrament - the faithful understand what I mean - and a tiny crumb should fall, we are appalled. Even so, if at any time we hear the word of God, through which the body and blood of Christ is being poured into our ears, and we yield carelessly to distraction, how responsible are we not for our failing? 

Seek after peace and pursue it

Indeed, it is these two gifts, the Eucharist and the Gospel, gifts that enable us to contemplate the Godhead, that are the path to achieving that most Benedictine of virtues, peace, as St Cassiodorus explained:

Next comes the explanation of how this peace emerges, when the faithful are filled with contemplation of the Lord Christ, for the fat of corn denotes the vision of the Godhead, by which the thoughts of the just are refreshed in such a way as clearly to transcend all possible satiety, since He is the true Bread which came down from heaven. 

There is a paradox involved here though, for achieving peace in this life involves a struggle: we must wage war with the world in order to achieve peace.

This is challenging: in the face of anger, in the face of those who hate peace, we have to strive to make the conflict theirs, not ours.

Vivladi

Psalm 147 – Lauda Jerusalem 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Lauda, Jerúsalem, Dóminum: * lauda Deum tuum, Sion.	Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise your God, O Sion.
2  Quóniam confortávit seras portárum tuárum: * benedíxit fíliis tuis in te.	Because he has strengthened the bolts of your gates, he has blessed your children within you
3  Qui pósuit fines tuos pacem: * et ádipe fruménti sátiat te.	Who has placed peace in your borders: and fills you with the fat of corn.
4  Qui emíttit elóquium suum terræ: * velóciter currit sermo ejus.	Who sends forth his speech to the earth: his word runs swiftly.
5  Qui dat nivem sicut lanam: * nébulam sicut cínerem spargit.	Who gives snow like wool: scatters mists like ashes.
6  Mittit crystállum suam sicut buccéllas: * ante fáciem frígoris ejus quis sustinébit?	He sends his crystal like morsels: who shall stand before the face of his cold?
7  Emíttet verbum suum, et liquefáciet ea: * flabit spíritus ejus, et fluent aquæ.	He shall send out his word, and shall melt them: his wind shall blow, and the waters shall run.
8  Qui annúntiat verbum suum Jacob: * justítias, et judícia sua Israël.	Who declares his word to Jacob: his justices and his judgments to Israel
9  Non fecit táliter omni natióni: * et judícia sua non manifestávit eis.	He has not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he has not made manifest to them. Alleluia.