Ps 147 verse 5: We must become whiter than snow

Heinrich Vogtherr the Younger

This is, on the face of it, one of those rather obscure verses of Psalm 147, open to several different interpretations.

It becomes more understandable though, if we interpret it as part of an extended metaphor on the seasons.  The previous verses depicted the full harvest and tranquility of  summer and autumn that are the fruit of our perseverance; now we have a harsh winter, that will eventually be dispelled by God’s Word who brings the spring hope.  

Before we can reach that good though, we must first endure the hardships of winter, and do penance.

Text notes

5	V	Qui dat nivem sicut lanam: * nebulam sicut cinerem spargit.
	JH	Qui dat nivem sicut lanam, pruinam sicut cinerem spargit.
		τοῦ διδόντος χιόνα ὡσεὶ ἔριον ὁμίχλην ὡσεὶ σποδὸν πάσσοντος

Here is a word by word translation:

 Qui (who) dat (gives) nivem (snow) sicut (like) lanam (wool): nébulam (mist) sicut (like) cínerem (ashes) spargit (he scatters)

Key vocabulary: 

nix, nivis, f snow.

lana, ae, f, wool.

 nebula, ae, f a fog, mist.

cinis, eris, m.  ashes. 

spargo sparsi, sparsum, ere 3, to sprinkle, strew, scatter. 

English translations:

DR	Who gives snow like wool: scatters mists like ashes.
Brenton	He gives snow like wool: he scatters the mist like ashes.
MD	He giveth snow like wool, He scattereth hoar-frost like ashes.
RSV	He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.
Cover	He giveth snow like wool, and scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.
Knox	Now he spreads a pall of snow, covers the earth with an ashy veil of mist

The seasons of our heart

St Cassiodorus argued that the allusions to winter in this verse and the next - snow, mist, ice and cold - should be regarded as metaphors for the things that harden us in sin:

All the things mentioned, snow, mist, crystal, cold are ills of this world which grip tight mortal hearts with the frost of sins, and cause them to remain in a rock-like stupor unless they are melted by the Lord's warmth. 

But he also suggests that the transformation from something frozen solid into soft snow signals that healing process:

So He makes snow like wool, so that what previously was frozen with bitter cold is transformed into woolly softness. This happens precisely when He has guided men's hearts when at their coldest through sins to the warmth of satisfaction. Snow describes man when he removes himself from the Lord; wool, when he has deserved to attain His healing. Mist denotes all sin, for it is always performed in cloudy darkness, but through the Lord's agency it is dispersed like ashes when its mass is dissolved by the grace of confession.

 A call to penance

St Jerome unpacks the basis for this metaphor a bit further, providing us with an elaborate chain of meanings interpretation of the verse, hanging off the words snow and wool, that interprets the verse as a call to repent and do penance, but also to the Eucharist:

The word of the Lord that runs swiftly is spread like snow, and the snow itself is like wool. Just think of the merciful kindness of the Lord. The food of the Lord is changed for us into a garment. John had said of the Lord Savior: 'Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world'; and Isaiah: 'He shall be led like a lamb to the slaughter.' Of this lamb, therefore, and of this sheep, is the wool that is like snow. Isaiah says: 'Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow.' 'Cleanse me of sin with hyssop, that I may be purified; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.'...Mark: 'like ashes.' Do you want to be clean? Do penance. 'For I eat ashes like bread, and mingle my drink with tears.'

He therefore entreats: 

Take away, 0 Lord, my uncleanness; take away whatever there is of baseness. Grant Your snow, Your purity, to the minds and hearts of Christians. Unless You cleanse us with the snow of Your purity, we cannot wear Your garment. Christ is our garment. If we want to possess Christ as our garment, let us be pure as snow... 

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.

Psalm 147, verse 4: He sends out his Word

Book of Kells, Folio 292r

Today's verse of Psalm 147 can be seen as a prophesy of God's sending of his son to earth so that the Gospel might be preached everywhere.

Text notes 

4	V	Qui emittit eloquium suum terræ: * velociter currit sermo ejus.
	JH	Qui emittit eloquium suum terrae, velociter currit verbum eius.
		ὁ ἀποστέλλων τὸ λόγιον αὐτοῦ τῇ γῇ ἕως τάχους δραμεῖται ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ

Word by word:

 Qui (who) emíttit (sends) elóquium (word) suum (his) terræ (to the earth): velóciter (quickly) currit (it runs) sermo (command) ejus (his) = his command runs quickly

Key vocabulary

eloquium, ii, n.a word, oracle, speech, utterance, promise. 

sermo, onis, m. words; a command, edict word, speech, saying, discourse scheme, plan, proposal

emitto, misi, missum, ere 3 to send out or forth; to stretch forth, put forth

velociter, adv. (velox),swiftly, quickly, speedily, rapidly

curro, cucurri, cursum, ere 3, to run, hasten.  

DR	Who sends forth his speech to the earth: his word runs swiftly.
Brent.	He sends his oracle to the earth: his word will run swiftly.
MD	He sendeth forth His word to the earth and swiftly runneth His command
RSV	He sends forth his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
Cover	He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth, and his word runneth very swiftly.
Knox	See how he issues his command to the earth, how swift his word runs!

Make disciples of all nations

The first few verses speak of the Church: first his chosen people, the Jews, and then, when they rejected him, those brought into his church under the new covenant.  

This verse, however, points out that God's plan does not stop there: the aim is the conversion of the whole world. 

 

 God as the creator and sustainer of all

The swiftness with which God's word in this verse is often interpreted as referring to the rapid spread of the Gospel to all the corners of the earth, as Cassiodorus pointed out:

The speech of this almighty Word has run so swiftly that the speediest acknowledg­ment of the holy Trinity has filled the world with wondrous haste, transforming cults of idols through the manifestation of Truth itself.

But can also be taken as referring to God's creation and ongoing governance of the world, as St Robert Bellarmine explains:

He, there­fore, exhorts them to praise that God, "who sendeth forth his speech to the earth," who issues the precepts and decrees of his providence to the whole world; and "his word runneth quick­ly;" such precepts and decrees are borne with the greatest expe­dition to all created beings, penetrate all things, and are put into immediate execution. These words explain the order of divine providence that extends itself to everything, and that with the greatest velocity because God is everywhere, "upholding all things by the word of his power," (Heb. 1); and "reaches from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly," (Wisd. 8). Hence, David says, in Psalm 118, "All things serve thee."

Pope John Paul II put it this way:

The Lord, therefore, acts with his Word not only in creation but also in history. He reveals himself with the silent language of nature (cf. Ps 19[18]: 2-7), but expresses himself in an explicit way through the Bible and his personal communication through the prophets and fully through the Son (cf. Heb 1: 1, 2). They are two different but converging gifts of His love. For this reason, our praise must rise to heaven each day...to bless the Lord of life and freedom, of existence and faith, of creation and redemption. 

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.

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.

Psalm 147: Verse 2 - Rebuilding the walls and strengthening the gate

Speculum humanae salvationis c1450

The second verse of Psalm 147 is the first of a list of reasons why we should praise God.

  Notes on the text of the psalm

2	V	Quóniam confortávit seras portárum tuárum: * benedíxit fíliis tuis in te.
		ὅτι ἐνίσχυσεν τοὺς μοχλοὺς τῶν πυλῶν σου εὐλόγησεν τοὺς υἱούς σου ἐν σοί

The two key words here are conforto (avi, atum), to strengthen, make strong; to prevail; and sera (ae) a bar or bolt for fastening doors. 

Here is a word by word translation of it, following the Douay-Rheims text:

Quóniam (for) confortávit  (he has strengthened) seras (the bolts) portárum (of the gates) tuárum (your) gates benedíxit (he has blessed) fíliis (the children/sons) tuis(your) in te (within you).

Filiis could also reasonably be translated as inhabitants, I think; the sense is surely of the members of the Church as the children of God.

Selected English translations:

DR	Because he has strengthened the bolts of your gates, he has blessed your children within you
Brenton	For he has strengthened the bars of thy gates; he has blessed thy children within thee.
MD	For he hath fastened the bars of thy gates, He hath blessed thy children within thee
RSV	For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your sons within you.
Cover	For he hath made fast the bars of thy gates, and hath blessed thy children within thee.

Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem 

The references to strengthening the bolts or bars on the gates here is generally thought to refer, in the literal, historical sense, to the process of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem after the return of the Exiles, who lived in fear that their neighbours would once more tear down the city, as described in the book of Ezra (Ezra2:3).

But of course this verse also has several layers of allegorical meanings as well.  

Doctrine and the prophets

The first of these meanings sees the bars of the gates as standing for the prophets that prevent heresy from overcoming the Church:

We have spoken of the prophets as the gates of Sion, so since we know they are called that, let us see what the bars of the gates are. The prophets in truth are the gates of the Church; we cannot enter the Church except through them. Manichaeus tried to enter without the gates and could not. Marcion rejects the Old Testament, but without it, he has not been able to enter the New. We, on the other hand, accept the prophet-gates, and through them make our entrance. (St Jerome)

Similarly, the commentary of Pseudo-Athanasius written in the fifth or sixth centuries suggests that the gates stand for the Churches role as the guardian of orthodoxy:

....he strengthened the bars of the gates of Sion, which are the guardians of its doctrines that give entrance, so that there be no entrance through them for enemies. 

St John Chrysostom provides a more extended explanation of this meaning, explicitly talking about Our Lord's guarantee that the Church will not fall, even if it at times it seems that all is lost:

What is the meaning of he strengthened the bars! He established you in security, he is saying, he made you invincible...So what he means is this: he caused the growth, not of scattered or dispersed people but of those gathered together, even within you…. He fortified it more safely than Jerusalem, you see, se­curing it not with bars and gates but with the Cross and the proc­lamation of its peculiar power, by which he raised its rampart on all sides, saying, "The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." 

In the beginning, at any rate, all the kings and peoples and cities, hordes of demons and the devil's despotic rule itself, and many other things pitted themselves against the Church. Yet they were all brought to nothing and perished, whereas she grew and was raised to such heights that she surpassed the heavens themselves.

The growth of the Church and the closed gates and fortified walls

A second layer of meaning takes its cue from the idea that the barred and locked gates are clearly intended to defend those enclosed within its bounds, something that will not be fully realised until after the final judgment.  

St John Chrysostom, for example, explained that the blessing of the children referred to in the second part of the verse is the growth of the Church, effected through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and the grace he pours out on the world:  

As he said in the beginning, "In­crease, multiply and fill the earth," and the word traveled through all the earth, so later "Go, make disciples of all the nations," and "the Gospel will be preached in the whole world," and the com­mand took possession of the very ends of the world in a brief mo­ment of time. Hence he also said, "Unless the grain of wheat that falls onto the ground dies, it remains a single grain, whereas if it dies, it bears much fruit;" and again, "When I am lifted up, I shall draw all people to myself." In the beginning, then, from one they became many as the numbers increased by the law of nature, and so development occurred at a leisurely pace, whereas in the case of the apostles the numbers increased not by the law of nature but by grace. 

At times, the Church rightly closes its gates, and takes action against the enemy forces.

But at this stage of the Churches development, the gates will normally still be left open to many who will not pass the final test, as St Augustine explained: 

Observe, beloved. He bids Jerusalem when closed in to praise the Lord. We praise in unison now, we praise now; but it is amid offenses. Many where we wish not, enter in: many though we wish it not, go out: therefore offenses are frequent. And because iniquity has abounded, says the Truth, the love of many waxes cold because men come in whom we cannot discern, because men go out whom we cannot retain. 

Wherefore is this? Because not yet is there perfection, not yet is there the bliss that shall be. Wherefore is this? Because as yet it is the threshing-floor, not yet the garner.

Our challenge then, is to ensure we are amongst those permitted to dwell within forever, like the wise virgins (Mt 25:1-13), equipped with enough oil to last until the Lord comes again. 

The bolts of the gates are faith, hope and charity...

How then do we achieve this?  Arnobius Junior's commentary suggests that each individual can also be viewed as the city of Jerusalem, guarded by grace, provided we cultivate the virtues of faith, hope and charity:

He says: Praise him, because he strengthened the locks of your gates. You see then that, as we said above, it is our duty to lock the gates of the enemy those who make the attack, but it is for the Lord to strengthen the locks of the gates of Jerusalem. It is therefore a city Jerusalem, in which the prophets dwell, in which Christ preaches and exercises various virtues, in by which he suffers the cross; in which all kinds of accomplished virtue are. Who, therefore, has all these things within his soul day and night he meditates, having within him the prophets, Christ, and the apostles, he becomes a city of Jerusalem and closes it the gates of the enemy and his angels, and it is necessary to send the locks of faith closed at the entrances. For faith, hope, charity are three evenings sent against the devil, but faith fails and hope softens and charity grows cold, unless the holy spirits have been strengthened by the gift. 

 

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.