Psalm 3 → 6

Reasoning: 10624 Output: 3904 Total: 14528

Argument

Here are several independent lines of argument that make it plausible to read Psalm 6 as a logical follow‑on from Psalm 3. I list (1) form/structure, (2) phrase- and root-level links (rarer or more specific first), (3) motif and idea links, and (4) a shared liturgical–historical frame that ties the two in sequence.

1) Form and structural parallels
- Same genre: Both are first-person individual laments that move from complaint/petition to confidence and the defeat/expulsion of opponents.
- Similar macro-flow:
  - Psalm 3: complaint about many enemies (vv. 2–3) → trust (vv. 4–6) → bold petition “Arise… save me” (v. 8) → outcome: enemies struck, salvation Yahweh’s (vv. 8–9).
  - Psalm 6: complaint (divine anger + illness + enemies, vv. 2–8) → bold petition “Return… deliver… save me” (v. 5) → assurance “YHWH has heard…” (vv. 9–10) → outcome: enemies shamed and panic (v. 11).
- Both close by universalizing the outcome: Ps 3 ends with a communal benediction (“Upon your people your blessing”), Ps 6 ends with the universal fate of “all my enemies.”

2) Lexical/phraseology links (identical forms and close matches)
- Identical superscription: מזמור לדוד in both (Ps 3:1; Ps 6:1).
- Identical vocative formula: ואתה יהוה (“But you, YHWH…”) occurs in both (Ps 3:4; Ps 6:4), a marked discourse turn in each poem.
- Same imperative and form to the same addressee: הושיעני (“save me”) with 1cs suffix to YHWH in both (Ps 3:8; Ps 6:5). This is an exact verbal form match and central to the plea in each psalm.
- Identical enemy phrase: כל אויבי “all my enemies” (Ps 3:8; Ps 6:11).
- Same key root יש״ע across noun and verb:
  - Ps 3:3, 9: ישועה (noun) and the theme statement לַיהוה הַיְשׁוּעָה.
  - Ps 3:8; Ps 6:5: הושיעני (verb, identical form).
- “Voice” of prayer heard/answered: קול + divine response motif:
  - Ps 3:5: קולי אל־יהוה אקרא… ויענני.
  - Ps 6:9–10: שמע יהוה קול בכיי; שמע יהוה תחינתי; יהוה תפילתי יקח. (The triple “שמע יהוה…” functions as assurance parallel to Ps 3’s ויענני.)
- The 1cs נֶפֶשׁ cluster: לנפשי / נפשי (Ps 3:3; Ps 6:4–5). The same noun in 1cs with the psalmist’s life at stake in both.
- Bed/night field:
  - Ps 3:6: שכבתי… ואישנה… הקיצותי.
  - Ps 6:7: אשחה בכל־לילה מיטתי… בדמעתי ערשי אמסה. Both revolve around the bed and nighttime experience; Ps 6 elaborates what Ps 3 only states tersely.

3) Motif and idea links
- Enemies encircling versus expulsion:
  - Ps 3:7: אשר סביב שתו עלי “who set themselves against me round about.”
  - Ps 6:9: סורו ממני כל־פעלי און “Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.” In 3 they surround; in 6 they are ordered away—narrative resolution.
- Fear/panic outcome for enemies:
  - Ps 3:8: enemies are physically struck (הכית… שברת), the classic “holy-war” defeat image.
  - Ps 6:11: enemies are shamed and terrified (יבֹשו ויבהלּו מאד), the psychological complement to being crushed.
- Worship axis: holy mountain versus Sheol
  - Ps 3:5: God answers “from his holy mountain” (מהר קדשו).
  - Ps 6:6: “In death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will praise you?” Both psalms argue from worship: 3 anchors help in Zion; 6 argues for deliverance so that praise can continue (not be cut off in Sheol). Read together, they sketch the vertical cosmic frame (Zion above vs. Sheol below) within which salvation is meaningful.
- Petition rhetoric: each psalm uses a marked, single-word imperative to YHWH followed by a rapid volley of petitions:
  - Ps 3:8: קומה יהוה… הושיעני.
  - Ps 6:5: שובה יהוה… חלצה נפשי; הושיעני.
- Body language of distress and reversal:
  - Ps 3:4: YHWH “lifts my head” (מרים ראשי).
  - Ps 6:8: The eyes are “worn out” (עששה) from grief; the body/bones are dismayed (נבהלו עצמותי). The body lexicon in both underscores embodiment of distress and relief.

4) A strong liturgical–historical thread that links them in sequence (Numbers 10:35–36)
This is the tightest argument because it uses a rare, formulaic pair:
- Num 10:35–36 preserves the ark-procession formulas:
  - When the ark set out: קומה יהוה ויפֻצו איביך… (“Arise, YHWH, and let your enemies be scattered…”).
  - When it came to rest: שובה יהוה רבבות אלפי ישראל (“Return, YHWH, to the myriads of Israel”).
- Psalm 3 explicitly uses the first half of the pair: קומה יהוה הושיעני אלהי… כי הכית את כל אויבי (3:8), and even echoes Num 10’s vocabulary cluster with אויבי and the “myriads” vocabulary in 3:7 (מרבבות עם).
- Psalm 6 opens its central plea with the matching second half: שובה יהוה (6:5), the precise counterpart imperative to “Arise, YHWH.”
- Read in order, Ps 3 → Ps 6 replicates the ancient holy-war/ark liturgy movement: call on YHWH to arise and rout the enemies (Ps 3), then call on YHWH to return to the worshiping community/person in mercy and rest (Ps 6). This pairing is rare, purposeful, and historically rooted in Israel’s cultic practice, giving a strong “logical sequence” from 3 to 6.

5) Possible life-setting sequence
- Historical note in Ps 3 (Absalom crisis) already puts us in a flight/war setting (בברחו מפני אבשלום).
- A common real-life arc: flight and military peril (Ps 3), a night’s reprieve (שכבתי… הקיצותי), followed by physical collapse/illness and anguished nights as the stress and sense of divine displeasure set in (Ps 6:2–8). The enemy set who “rose” and “encircled” (Ps 3) are the same circle David can now command to depart (Ps 6:9) once he gains the assurance “YHWH has heard” (Ps 6:9–10)—the narrative answer to Ps 3:5 “He answered me from his holy mountain.”

Summary
- On form grounds, the two psalms are close: individual laments with the same arc and a final enemy-resolution.
- On lexical grounds, they share several exact forms or tight matches with significance: מזמור לדוד; ואתה יהוה; הושיעני; כל אויבי; the יש״ע root; the “voice/hearing” call–answer pattern; נפשי; the bed/night motif.
- On motif grounds, Ps 6 picks up and resolves the enemy encirclement of Ps 3 (from surrounding to “depart”), and deepens the night/bed image introduced in Ps 3.
- Most decisively, the “Arise, YHWH” (Ps 3) → “Return, YHWH” (Ps 6) sequence reproduces the Numbers 10:35–36 ark-liturgy pair (attack → return), providing a concrete, ancient cultic rationale for reading Ps 6 as the follow‑on to Ps 3.

Taken together, these stylistic, lexical, thematic, and liturgical connections make a strong case that Psalm 6 is a logical sequel to Psalm 3.

Evaluation

No evaluation has been recorded for this pair yet.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 3 and Psalm 6 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 6 logically follows on from Psalm 3? 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 3:
Psalm 3
1. מִזְמ֥וֹר
        לְדָוִ֑ד
        בְּ֝בָרְח֗וֹ
        מִפְּנֵ֤י ׀
        אַבְשָׁל֬וֹם
        בְּנֽוֹ׃
2. יְ֭הוָה
        מָֽה־
        רַבּ֣וּ
        צָרָ֑י
        רַ֝בִּ֗ים
        קָמִ֥ים
        עָלָֽי׃
3. רַבִּים֮
        אֹמְרִ֢ים
        לְנַ֫פְשִׁ֥י
        אֵ֤ין
        יְֽשׁוּעָ֓תָה
        לּ֬וֹ
        בֵֽאלֹהִ֬ים
        סֶֽלָה׃
4. וְאַתָּ֣ה
        יְ֭הוָה
        מָגֵ֣ן
        בַּעֲדִ֑י
        כְּ֝בוֹדִ֗י
        וּמֵרִ֥ים
        רֹאשִֽׁtי׃
5. ק֖dוֹלִי
        אֶל־
        יְהוָ֣ה
        אֶקְרָ֑א
        וַיַּֽעֲנֵ֨נִי
        מֵהַ֖ר
        קָדְשׁ֣וֹ
        סֶֽלָה׃
6. אֲנִ֥י
        שָׁכַ֗בְתִּי
        וָֽאִ֫ישָׁ֥נָה
        הֱקִיצ֑וֹתִי
        כִּ֖י
        יְהוָ֣ה
        יִסְמְכֵֽנִי׃
7. לֹֽא־
        אִ֭ירָא
        מֵרִבְב֥וֹת
        עָ֑ם
        אֲשֶׁ֥ר
        סָ֝בִ֗יב
        שָׁ֣תוּ
        עָלָֽtי׃
8. ק֘וּמָ֤ה
        יְהוָ֨ה ׀
        הוֹשִׁ֘יעֵ֤נִי
        אֱלֹהַ֗י
        כִּֽי־
        הִכִּ֣יתָ
        אֶת־
        כָּל־
        אֹיְבַ֣י
        לֶ֑חִי
        שִׁנֵּ֖י
        רְשָׁעִ֣ים
        שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ׃
9. לַיהוָ֥ה
        הַיְשׁוּעָ֑ה
        עַֽל־
        עַמְּךָ֖
        בִרְכָתֶ֣ךָ
        סֶּֽלָה׃

Psalm 6:
Psalm 6
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֣חַ
        בִּ֭נְגִינוֹת
        עַֽל־
        הַשְּׁמִינִ֗ית
        מִזְמ֥וֹר
        לְדָוִֽד׃
2. יְֽהוָ֗ה
        אַל־
        בְּאַפְּךָ֥
        תוֹכִיחֵ֑נִי
        וְֽאַל־
        בַּחֲמָתְךָ֥
        תְיַסְּרֵֽנִי׃
3. חָנֵּ֥נִי
        יְהוָה֮
        כִּ֤י
        אֻמְלַ֫ל
        אָ֥נִי
        רְפָאֵ֥נִי
        יְהוָ֑ה
        כִּ֖י
        נִבְהֲל֣וּ
        עֲצָֽtמָי׃
4. וְ֭נַפְשִׁי
        נִבְהֲלָ֣ה
        מְאֹ֑ד
        ואת
        וְאַתָּ֥ה
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        עַד־
        מָתָֽי׃
5. שׁוּבָ֣ה
        יְ֭הוָה
        חַלְּצָ֣ה
        נַפְשִׁ֑י
        ה֝וֹשִׁיעֵ֗נִי
        לְמַ֣עַן
        חַסְדֶּֽךָ׃
6. כִּ֤י
        אֵ֣ין
        בַּמָּ֣וֶת
        זִכְרֶ֑ךָ
        בִּ֝שְׁא֗וֹל
        מִ֣י
        יֽוֹדֶה־
        לָּֽךְ׃
7. יָגַ֤עְתִּי ׀
        בְּֽאַנְחָתִ֗י
        אַשְׂחֶ֣ה
        בְכָל־
        לַ֭יְלָה
        מִטָּתִ֑י
        בְּ֝דִמְעָתִ֗י
        עַרְשִׂ֥י
        אַמְסֶֽה׃
8. עָֽשְׁשָׁ֣ה
        מִכַּ֣עַס
        עֵינִ֑י
        עָֽ֝תְקָ֗ה
        בְּכָל־
        צוֹרְרָֽי׃
9. ס֣וּרוּ
        מִ֭מֶּנִּי
        כָּל־
        פֹּ֣עֲלֵי
        אָ֑וֶן
        כִּֽי־
        שָׁמַ֥ע
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        ק֣וֹל
        בִּכְיִֽי׃
10. שָׁמַ֣ע
        יְ֭הוָה
        תְּחִנָּתִ֑י
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        תְּֽפִלָּתִ֥י
        יִקָּֽח׃
11. יֵבֹ֤שׁוּ ׀
        וְיִבָּהֲל֣וּ
        מְ֭אֹד
        כָּל־
        אֹיְבָ֑י
        יָ֝שֻׁ֗בוּ
        יֵבֹ֥שׁוּ
        רָֽגַע׃