Psalm 3 → 13

Argument generated 2025-10-04T06:06:19
Argument model gpt-5
Pair ID 310

Reasoning: 9024 Output: 3923 Total: 12947

Argument

Here are ways to argue that Psalm 13 “follows on” from Psalm 3, in the sense of deliberate literary sequencing or narrative-continuity.

1) Shared form and movement (individual lament with the same arc)
- Both are classic individual laments that move through the same stations:
  - Address to YHWH: Ps 3:2; Ps 13:2.
  - Complaint about enemies and peril: Ps 3:2–3,7; Ps 13:2–5.
  - Petition for divine action: Ps 3:8; Ps 13:4–5.
  - Confidence/assurance: Ps 3:4–6,9; Ps 13:6.
  - Vow/act of praise: Ps 13:6 explicitly (“אשירה ליהוה”); Ps 3 ends with a doxological universal statement (“ליהוה הישועה; על עמך ברכתך סלה”).
- Both deploy anaphora as a structuring device:
  - Ps 3:2–3 repeats “רבים”; Ps 13:2–3 repeats “עד־אנה”. One psalm questions the magnitude (“How many?”), the other the duration (“How long?”) of the same kind of crisis—an elegant editorial progression.

2) Strongest lexical links (shared roots and repeated collocations)
Items are ordered from stronger to weaker (rarer/identical forms first, then shared roots).

- Exact superscriptional frame: מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד in both (Ps 3:1; Ps 13:1).
- Shared direct vocative collocation: יהוה אֱלֹהַי (Ps 3:8; Ps 13:4).
- Identical forms recurring:
  - עָלַי (Ps 3:2,7; Ps 13:3,6).
  - צָרַי (Ps 3:2; Ps 13:5).
  - לַיהוָה (Ps 3:9; Ps 13:6).
- Root ישׁע “save/salvation” as a framing keyword:
  - Denial of salvation by enemies: “אֵין יְשׁוּעָתָה לוֹ בֵאלֹהִים” (Ps 3:3).
  - Petition: “הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי” (Ps 3:8).
  - Confession: “לַיהוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה” (Ps 3:9).
  - Appropriation: “בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ” (Ps 13:6).
  The same relatively marked noun ישועה anchors both psalms, with Ps 13 explicitly personalizing the generic claim of Ps 3:9.
- Root ענה “answer” ties the two speeches:
  - Ps 3:5 “וַיַּעֲנֵנִי” (He answered me).
  - Ps 13:4 “עֲנֵנִי” (Answer me!).
  In 3 the psalmist testifies that God answered; in 13 he picks up that verb to insist on another answer, begging God to maintain the pattern.
- Root ישׁן “sleep” as a deliberate echo:
  - Ps 3:6 “וָאִישָׁנָה; הֱקִיצוֹתִי” (I lay down and slept; I woke).
  - Ps 13:4 “פֶּן־אִישַׁן הַמָּוֶת” (lest I sleep the death).
  The very 1cs form אישן reappears (Ps 3:6 וָאִישָׁנָה; Ps 13:4 אִישַׁן), turning the safe sleep of Ps 3 into a threatened sleep-of-death in Ps 13—a tight narrative and lexical hinge.
- Root רום “raise/exalt” used antithetically:
  - Ps 3:4 “וּמֵרִים רֹאשִׁי” (you are the lifter of my head).
  - Ps 13:3 “יָרוּם אֹיְבִי עָלָי” (my enemy is exalted over me).
  The same root moves from God’s raising of the psalmist (3) to the feared raising of the enemy (13), suggesting the crisis persists and threatens to invert the hoped-for outcome.
- Root שׁית “set/place” used in complementary lines:
  - Ps 3:7 “שָׁתוּ עָלַי” (they have set themselves against me).
  - Ps 13:3 “אָשִׁית עֵצוֹת בְּנַפְשִׁי” (I set counsels in my soul).
  External pressure (“they set [against me]”) in 3 gives way to internal strategizing (“I set counsels”) in 13: same root, different locus—another editorially neat echo.
- Enemies’ speech in both:
  - Ps 3:3 “רבים אומרים לנפשי: אין ישועתה לו באלהים.”
  - Ps 13:5 “פֶּן־יֹאמַר אֹיְבִי: יְכָלְתִּיו.”
  Both quote hostile words; Ps 13 directly counters Ps 3’s taunt about “no salvation” by begging God to prevent the enemy’s triumphal “I’ve prevailed.”

3) Imagery that progresses the story
- Night–day/vitality motif:
  - Ps 3: protected night and renewed morning (“I slept; I awoke; YHWH sustains me”).
  - Ps 13: threat of fatal night and the need for revived vitality (“הָאִירָה עֵינַי פֶן־אִישַׁן הַמָּוֶת”). “Lighten my eyes” is an idiom for restoring life/energy; it plays against the preceding “safe sleep” by raising the specter of not waking.
- Vertical movement and agency:
  - Ps 3 petitions God to rise and strike (קֻמָה יְהוָה … הִכִּיתָ … שִׁבַּרְתָּ).
  - Ps 13 fears that the wrong party is “rising” (יָרוּם אֹיְבִי) and that the enemy will own the public narrative.
- Stability vs. collapse:
  - Ps 3:6 “יְהוָה יִסְמְכֵנִי” (YHWH sustains me) → “לֹא אִירָא” (I will not fear).
  - Ps 13:5 “כִּי אֶמּוֹט” (lest I be shaken) unless God intervenes.
  The confidence of 3 is tested in 13; the vocabulary of stability (“סמך”) is matched by the fear of losing it (“מוט”).

4) Macro-logic: From public claim to personal appropriation
- Ps 3 concludes with a broad theological axiom and communal benediction: “לַיהוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה; עַל־עַמְּךָ בִרְכָתֶךָ” (To YHWH belongs salvation; your blessing on your people).
- Ps 13 internalizes that axiom: “וַאֲנִי בְּחַסְדְּךָ בָטַחְתִּי … יָגֵל לִבִּי בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ … אָשִׁירָה לַיהוָה כִּי גָמַל עָלָי.”
  The communal claim of Ps 3:9 (“salvation is YHWH’s”) is taken up as personal experience and vow in Ps 13:6 (“my heart rejoices in your salvation … I will sing … for he has dealt bountifully with me”).

5) Possible historical/life-setting continuity (plausible, not required)
- Psalm 3’s superscription sets the Absalom crisis. Psalm 13’s “How long?” and “lest my enemy say, ‘I prevailed’” fit the prolonged uncertainty of a royal fugitive awaiting vindication. Even without pinning Ps 13 to Absalom, both psalms inhabit the same social world: a righteous king beset by enemies, appealing to the divine warrior/Judge to act publicly and reverse the enemies’ taunts.

6) Liturgical/day-in-life logic
- Many read Psalm 3 as a “morning psalm” (lying down, sleeping, awaking). Psalm 13’s “lighten my eyes lest I sleep the death” keeps the same diurnal frame but raises the stakes: if God does not renew life/light again, the next sleep could be the last. That creates a plausible next-step prayer in a daily cycle under siege: first stabilized (Ps 3), but as delays mount the supplicant must plead afresh (Ps 13).

7) Stylistic fingerprints that can signal editorial pairing
- Concentrated repetition: Ps 3’s triple “רַבִּים” vs Ps 13’s quadruple “עַד־אָנָה.”
- Enemies’ quoted speech in both.
- Imperatives to YHWH for decisive action: Ps 3:8 “קֻמָה … הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי”; Ps 13:4 “הַבִּיטָה … עֲנֵנִי … הָאִירָה.”
- Musical framing in both (מִזְמוֹר; Ps 13 adds לַמְנַצֵּחַ), and both end with a line functioning as liturgical closure (Ps 3:9; Ps 13:6).

In sum, several relatively marked lexical roots (ישע, ענה, ישן, רום, שׁית), the same lament form and rhetorical techniques, and closely interlocking images (sleep/wake vs sleep-of-death; raising/exalting; enemies’ taunts vs divine answer) create a strong case that Psalm 13 is a deliberate “follow-on” to Psalm 3: it reprises Ps 3’s themes and vocabulary, intensifies the crisis (from safe sleep to threatened death), and converts the communal maxim “to YHWH belongs salvation” into a personal vow of praise “my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.”

Evaluation

No evaluation has been recorded for this pair yet.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 3 and Psalm 13 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 13 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 13:
Psalm 13
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ
        מִזְמ֥וֹר
        לְדָוִֽד׃
2. עַד־
        אָ֣נָה
        יְ֭הוָה
        תִּשְׁכָּחֵ֣נִי
        נֶ֑צַח
        עַד־
        אָ֓נָה ׀
        תַּסְתִּ֖יר
        אֶת־
        פָּנֶ֣יךָ
        מִמֶּֽנִיt
3. עַד־
        אָ֨נָה
        אָשִׁ֪ית
        עֵצ֡וֹת
        בְּנַפְשִׁ֗י
        יָג֣וֹן
        בִּלְבָבִ֣י
        יוֹמָ֑ם
        עַד־
        אָ֓נָה ׀
        יָר֖וּם
        אֹיְבִ֣י
        עָלָֽי׃
4. הַבִּ֣יטָֽה
        עֲ֭נֵנִי
        יְהוָ֣ה
        אֱלֹהָ֑י
        הָאִ֥ירָה
        עֵ֝ינַ֗י
        פֶּן־
        אִישַׁ֥ן
        הַמָּֽוֶת׃
5. פֶּן־
        יֹאמַ֣ר
        אֹיְבִ֣י
        יְכָלְתִּ֑יו
        צָרַ֥י
        יָ֝גִ֗ילוּ
        כִּ֣י
        אֶמּֽוֹט׃
6. וַאֲנִ֤י ׀
        בְּחַסְדְּךָ֣
        בָטַחְתִּי֮
        יָ֤גֵ֥ל
        לִבִּ֗י
        בִּֽישׁוּעָ֫תֶ֥ךָ
        אָשִׁ֥ירָה
        לַיהוָ֑ה
        כִּ֖י
        גָמַ֣ל
        עָלָֽי׃