Psalm 2 → 15

Reasoning: 6272 Output: 3711 Total: 9983

Argument

Here are lines of argument—ranked from strongest (rarest/shared forms) to broader thematic and form-critical links—for reading Psalm 15 as a logical follow-on to Psalm 2.

1) Shared rare collocation and setting (Zion/the holy mountain)
- Identical collocation הר + קדש with pronominal suffix:
  - Ps 2:6: על־ציון הר־קדשי “upon Zion, my holy hill”
  - Ps 15:1: בהר קדשך “on your holy hill”
- The exact phrase הר קדש with a suffix is rare in the Psalter and clustered at the beginning (Ps 2:6; Ps 3:5 מהר קדשו; Ps 15:1 בהר קדשך), suggesting editorial linkage. This is the single strongest lexical bridge between the two psalms.
- Narrative logic: Ps 2 enthrones the king “on Zion, my holy hill.” Ps 15 then asks who may “sojourn/dwell” on that very holy hill. Place continuity yields story continuity.

2) Fear-of-YHWH as the immediate ethical bridge (shared root ירא)
- Ps 2:11: עִבְדוּ את־יְהוָה ביראה “Serve YHWH with fear”
- Ps 15:4: ואת־יראי יְהוָה יכבד “He honors those who fear YHWH”
- Same root ירא, close in proximity, and in both cases it defines the proper response to YHWH’s rule. Psalm 2 commands it; Psalm 15 identifies the people marked by it and the one who honors them. This is a crisp, root-level, concept-to-conduct bridge.

3) From royal enthronement to entrance liturgy (form-critical sequencing)
- Ps 2 is a classic royal/enthronement psalm: nations rebel; YHWH installs his מָשִׁיחַ on Zion; the king proclaims the divine decree.
- Ps 15 is widely recognized as an “entrance liturgy” or “who may dwell/ascend” torah-psalm, listing qualifications for access to the sanctuary.
- In Israelite cultic life, enthronement on Zion naturally leads to worship at Zion; liturgically, a procession or approach to the sanctuary follows the proclamation of kingship. Ps 15 reads like the next step after Ps 2’s enthronement scene: now that the king is on the holy hill, who can approach/dwell there?

4) “Refuge” in YHWH (Ps 2) answered by “dwelling/sojourning” with YHWH (Ps 15)
- Ps 2 ends: אַשְׁרֵי כָּל־חוֹסֵי בוֹ “Blessed are all who take refuge in him”
- Ps 15 opens by asking: מִי־יָגוּר באהלך? מִי־יִשְׁכֹּן בהר קדשׁך? “Who may sojourn in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?”
- Conceptual progression: the beatitude on all who “take refuge” (חסה) in YHWH leads directly to the question “who counts” as those who can truly dwell/sojourn with Him? Psalm 15 supplies the ethical profile of the genuinely “refuged” ones.

5) The mountain-throne/dwelling motif (sitting vs dwelling)
- Ps 2:4: יוֹשֵׁב בשׁמים “He who sits/enthrones in the heavens”
- Ps 15:1: יגור/ישׁכון “sojourn/dwell” on the holy hill
- Two “dwelling” verbs frame sovereignty and access: YHWH sits enthroned; humans may only sojourn/dwell under strict conditions. Thematically tight, even if the roots differ (ישׁב vs שכן/גור).

6) Kings/judges warned; judicial integrity defined
- Ps 2:10 addresses מְלָכִים … שֹׁפְטֵי ארץ “kings … judges of the earth,” commanding wisdom, correction, and service to YHWH.
- Ps 15 concludes with concrete judicial ethics: “no slander,” “no evil to a neighbor,” “does not take a bribe against the innocent” (שֹׁחַד … עַל־נָקִי לֹא לָקָח). This gives teeth to Ps 2’s call that rulers/judges be wise and submit: Psalm 15 spells out what submission looks like in court and community.
- While the lexemes שׁפט/שֹׁחַד don’t match, the legal domain and its practical outworking form a strong thematic bridge.

7) From imperative obedience to enacted righteousness
- Ps 2:11–12 stacks imperatives: עִבְדוּ … גִילוּ … נַשְּׁקוּ־בַר … הִוָּסְרוּ “serve … rejoice (with trembling) … kiss … be instructed”
- Ps 15 responds with enacted ethics: הוֹלֵךְ תָמִים, פֹּעֵל צֶדֶק, דֹבֵר אֱמֶת בִּלְבָבוֹ … לֹא עָשָׂה … לֹא נָשָׂא … לֹא נָתַן … לֹא לָקָח “walks blamelessly, does righteousness, speaks truth … does not do … does not lift up [reproach] … does not give [money at interest] … does not take [a bribe]”
- The verbal texture shifts from commands (Ps 2) to sustained “doing/not doing” (Ps 15), i.e., from exhortation to the ethic that meets the exhortation.

8) Covenant/decree to oath-keeping (normative order sustained)
- Ps 2:7: אֲסַפְּרָה אֶל־חֹק “I will recount the decree/statute”
- Ps 15:4: נִשְׁבַּע לְהָרַע וְלֹא יָמִיר “He swears to his own hurt and does not change”
- Both invoke a normative, binding order: divine decree in Ps 2, human oath-keeping in Ps 15. The king and the community both live under binding word; Ps 15 shows the faithful human analogue to Ps 2’s royal “decree.”

9) Shared Davidic frame
- Ps 2 is traditionally read as Davidic/royal (explicitly so in later attribution; Acts 4:25), with the “anointed” on Zion.
- Ps 15 bears the heading מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד. Even if Ps 2 lacks a MT superscription, the Davidic/royal perspective binds the two: enthronement of the Davidic king (2) and the Davidic instruction on who may approach the sanctuary (15).

10) Closure-to-closure cadence
- Ps 2 ends with a blessing formula: אַשְׁרֵי כָּל־חֹוסֵי בוֹ “Blessed are all who take refuge in him”
- Ps 15 ends with an assurance formula: עֹשֵׂה־אֵלֶּה לֹא יִמּוֹט לְעוֹלָם “He who does these things shall never be moved”
- Both close with a succinct promise to the faithful, reinforcing editorial cohesion.

How this reads as a life-cycle sequence
- Historical/cultic storyline: The king is installed on Zion (Ps 2:6). The nations and rulers are summoned to serve YHWH with fear (2:10–12). Israel then comes to worship on that same holy hill; the gatekeepers ask who may enter (Ps 15:1), and the ethical catechism answers (15:2–5). In ancient Zion liturgy—especially at royal or festival moments—such a move from enthronement proclamation to entrance examination is natural and well-attested.

Summary of the strongest textual links
- Highest-significance lexical hook: the rare collocation הר קדש with suffix (Ps 2:6 ~ Ps 15:1).
- Root-level conceptual hook: ירא (fear of YHWH) (Ps 2:11 ~ Ps 15:4).
- Thematic-formal hook: royal enthronement on Zion (Ps 2) followed by entrance ethics for Zion (Ps 15).

Together these create a coherent case that Psalm 15 is an editorially and theologically logical follow-up to Psalm 2.

Evaluation

Score: 9.0

Evaluated at: 2025-10-02T06:11:23 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5

Evaluator version: v1

Reasoning: 1280 Output: 2223 Total: 3503

Exceptionally well-structured and persuasive. It leads with a genuinely rare and salient lexical hook (הר קדש + suffix: Ps 2:6 ~ Ps 15:1) that anchors both psalms to Zion, then reinforces with the shared ירא motif, the refuge→dwelling progression, and a strong form-critical sequence (enthronement → entrance liturgy). The ranking of arguments is judicious, and the narrative/cultic storyline is coherent. Minor caveats: several links are thematic rather than lexical (ישב vs שכן/גור; judicial ethics without שפט overlap); Ps 2 lacks a Davidic superscription in MT; and הר קדש with suffix, while rare, also appears elsewhere (e.g., Ps 43:3). Editorial linkage remains plausible rather than demonstrable. Overall, a strong, nuanced case.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 2 and Psalm 15 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 15 logically follows on from Psalm 2? Consider stylistic similarities, similarities of form, similarities of vocab or ideas, shared roots (if you're doing the search in Hebrew), connections to sequences of events common in ancient Israelite life, mythology or history shared by the two psalms.

Rarer words are more significant than commoner words. Identical forms are more significant than similar forms. The same word class is more significant than different word classes formed from the same root. Identical roots are more significant than suppletive roots.

Psalm 2:
Psalm 2
1. לָ֭מָּה
        רָגְשׁ֣וּ
        גוֹיִ֑ם
        וּ֝לְאֻמִּ֗ים
        יֶהְגּוּ־
        רִֽtיק׃
2. יִ֥תְיַצְּב֨וּ ׀
        מַלְכֵי־
        אֶ֗רֶץ
        וְרוֹזְנִ֥ים
        נֽוֹסְדוּ־
        יָ֑חַד
        עַל־
        יְ֝הוָה
        וְעַל־
        מְשִׁיחֽtוֹ׃
3. נְֽ֭נַתְּקָה
        אֶת־
        מֽוֹסְרוֹתֵ֑ימוֹ
        וְנַשְׁלִ֖יכָה
        מִמֶּ֣נּוּ
        עֲבֹתֵֽימוֹ׃
4. יוֹשֵׁ֣ב
        בַּשָּׁמַ֣יִם
        יִשְׂחָ֑ק
        אֲ֝דֹנָ֗י
        יִלְעַג־
        לָֽמוֹ׃
5. אָ֤ז
        יְדַבֵּ֣ר
        אֵלֵ֣ימוֹ
        בְאַפּ֑וֹ
        וּֽבַחֲרוֹנ֥וֹ
        יְבַהֲלֵֽמוֹ׃
6. וַ֭אֲנִי
        נָסַ֣כְתִּי
        מַלְכִּ֑י
        עַל־
        צִ֝יּ֗וֹן
        הַר־
        קָדְשִֽׁי׃
7. אֲסַפְּרָ֗ה
        אֶֽ֫ל
        חֹ֥ק
        יְֽהוָ֗ה
        אָמַ֘ר
        אֵלַ֥י
        בְּנִ֥י
        אַ֑תָּה
        אֲ֝נִ֗י
        הַיּ֥וֹם
        יְלִדְתִּֽיךָ׃
8. שְׁאַ֤ל
        מִמֶּ֗נִּי
        וְאֶתְּנָ֣ה
        ג֭וֹיִם
        נַחֲלָתֶ֑ךָ
        וַ֝אֲחֻזָּתְךָ֗
        אַפְסֵי־
        אָֽרֶץ׃
9. תְּ֭רֹעֵם
        בְּשֵׁ֣בֶט
        בַּרְזֶ֑ל
        כִּכְלִ֖י
        יוֹצֵ֣ר
        תְּנַפְּצֵֽם׃
10. וְ֭עַתָּה
        מְלָכִ֣ים
        הַשְׂכִּ֑ילוּ
        הִ֝וָּסְר֗וּ
        שֹׁ֣פְטֵי
        אָֽרֶץ׃
11. עִבְד֣וּ
        אֶת־
        יְהוָ֣ה
        בְּיִרְאָ֑ה
        וְ֝גִ֗ילוּ
        בִּרְעָדָֽה׃
12. נַשְּׁקוּ־
        בַ֡ר
        פֶּן־
        יֶאֱנַ֤ף ׀
        וְתֹ֬אבְדוּ
        דֶ֗רֶךְ
        כִּֽי־
        יִבְעַ֣ר
        כִּמְעַ֣ט
        אַפּ֑וֹ
        אַ֝שְׁרֵ֗י
        כָּל־
        ח֥וֹסֵי
        בֽוֹ׃

Psalm 15:
Psalm 15
1. מִזְמ֗וֹר
        לְדָ֫וִ֥ד
        י֭הֹוָה
        מִי־
        יָג֣וּר
        בְּאָהֳלֶ֑ךָ
        מִֽי־
        יִ֝שְׁכֹּ֗ן
        בְּהַ֣ר
        קָדְשֶֽׁךָ׃
2. הוֹלֵ֣ךְ
        תָּ֭מִים
        וּפֹעֵ֥ל
        צֶ֑דֶק
        וְדֹבֵ֥ר
        אֱ֝מֶ֗ת
        בִּלְבָֽבוֹ׃
3. לֹֽא־
        רָגַ֨ל ׀
        עַל־
        לְשֹׁנ֗וֹ
        לֹא־
        עָשָׂ֣ה
        לְרֵעֵ֣הוּ
        רָעָ֑ה
        וְ֝חֶרְפָּ֗ה
        לֹא־
        נָשָׂ֥א
        עַל־
        קְרֹֽבוֹ׃
4. נִבְזֶ֤ה ׀
        בְּֽעֵ֘ינָ֤יו
        נִמְאָ֗ס
        וְאֶת־
        יִרְאֵ֣י
        יְהוָ֣ה
        יְכַבֵּ֑ד
        נִשְׁבַּ֥ע
        לְ֝הָרַ֗ע
        וְלֹ֣א
        יָמִֽר׃
5. כַּסְפּ֤וֹ ׀
        לֹא־
        נָתַ֣ן
        בְּנֶשֶׁךְ֮
        וְשֹׁ֥חַד
        עַל־
        נָקִ֗י
        לֹ֥א
        לָ֫קָ֥ח
        עֹֽשֵׂה־
        אֵ֑לֶּה
        לֹ֖א
        יִמּ֣וֹט
        לְעוֹלָֽם׃