Psalm 3 → 15

Reasoning: 7488 Output: 3486 Total: 10974

Argument

Short claim: Read together, Psalm 3 (an individual lament of David in flight) naturally leads into Psalm 15 (a Zion “entrance liturgy”): after a night of danger and a cry to God who “answers from his holy mountain,” the next logical move is to approach that holy mountain and ask who may dwell there. The two psalms are tied by rare collocations, shared roots and motifs (especially the “holy mountain”), complementary speech ethics, and the wilderness/Ark-to-Tent movement.

Most probative links (weighted by rarity, identicality, and form):

1) The “holy mountain” hook (rare collocation; identical nouns, differing pronominal suffix)
- Ps 3:5: מֵהַר קָדְשׁוֹ “from his holy mountain”
- Ps 15:1: בְּהַר קָדְשֶׁךָ “on your holy mountain”
Why it matters:
- The construct “הַר + קֹדֶשׁ” is relatively rare in the Psalter; its appearance in both psalms is a strong redactional bridge.
- Point-of-view shift: in Ps 3 David is away and hears an answer “from his holy mountain” (3rd person distance); in Ps 15 the speaker stands before God and says “your holy mountain” (2nd person proximity). That maps a narrative movement from exile to re-approach.

2) Ark-war formula to Tent-dwelling formula (form-critical and myth-ritual sequence)
- Ps 3:8: קוּמָה יְהוָה “Arise, YHWH” echoes the Ark-camp battle cry (Num 10:35).
- Ps 15:1: “Who may sojourn in your tent? who may dwell on your holy mountain?” evokes the Ark/Tent at Zion.
Why it matters:
- In Israel’s war-camp liturgy, “Arise, YHWH” signals combat; “Return” signals repose with the camp/Tent. Ps 3 deploys the war cry; Ps 15 asks about dwelling in the Tent. Together they enact the classic sequence: crisis → divine rise to save → return to the sanctuary and inquire about dwelling with God.

3) Zion-approach genre sequence (form-critical fit)
- Ps 3: individual lament/trust psalm ending with a general blessing: לַיהוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה … (3:9).
- Ps 15: entrance liturgy/catechism (Q: “Who may dwell?” A: ethical qualifications), typical of temple approach rites (cf. Ps 24:3–6).
Why it matters:
- After deliverance at night (Ps 3:5–6), the expected next act in Israelite piety is morning approach to the shrine for thanksgiving/entry—precisely what Ps 15 formalizes.

Lexical and root connections (beyond the mountain hook):

4) k-b-d “glory/honor” (same root; different forms and word classes)
- Ps 3:4: כְּבוֹדִי “my glory” (noun), God as David’s honor who “lifts my head.”
- Ps 15:4: יְכַבֵּד “he honors” (Piel verb) those who fear YHWH.
Why it matters:
- The theological claim of Ps 3 (God is the psalmist’s kavod) is embodied ethically in Ps 15 (the righteous distributes kavod to those who fear YHWH). Same root, different but complementary functions.

5) Speech-ethics answering speech-slander (same semantic field; multiple shared lexemes)
- Ps 3 centers on hostile speech: רַבִּים אֹמְרִים “many are saying” (3:3); the righteous response: קוֹלִי … אֶקְרָא “with my voice I call” (3:5).
- Ps 15 defines the sanctum-worthy by speech: דֹבֵר אֱמֶת “speaks truth” (15:2), לֹא־רָגַל עַל־לְשֹׁנוֹ “does not slander with his tongue” (15:3), וְחֶרְפָּה לֹא־נָשָׂא “does not carry reproach” (15:3).
Why it matters:
- Ps 15’s prohibitions directly counter the social violence of Ps 3 (the many saying “no salvation for him”). The “mouth” that God judges in Ps 3 becomes the ethical test for sanctuary access in Ps 15.

6) “Teeth” vs “bite”: shen ↔ neshekh (rare lexeme and pointed wordplay across psalms)
- Ps 3:8: שִׁנֵּי רְשָׁעִים שִׁבַּרְתָּ “you broke the teeth of the wicked.”
- Ps 15:5: כַּסְפּוֹ לֹא־נָתַן בְּנֶשֶׁךְ “he doesn’t give his money in usury,” where נֶשֶׁךְ literally means “bite.”
Why it matters:
- Both exploit the “bite/teeth” metaphor for predation. In Ps 3 God removes the wicked’s bite; in Ps 15 the righteous refuses to bite economically. נֶשֶׁךְ is rare in Psalms, so its semantic tie to “teeth” is a notable editorial stitch.

7) Stability and support (same semantic field; different roots)
- Ps 3:6: יְהוָה יִסְמְכֵנִי “YHWH sustains me.”
- Ps 15:5: לֹא יִמּוֹט לְעוֹלָם “he shall never be moved.”
Why it matters:
- Ps 3 narrates the experience of divine support through the night; Ps 15 promises the ethical worshiper permanent stability on God’s hill. Both close on security after threat.

Macro-thematic and historical coherence:

8) Davidic frame and Absalom crisis → return to Zion
- Both are “מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד.” Ps 3’s superscription situates the lament in David’s flight from Absalom (away from Zion). Ps 3:5’s “from his holy mountain” implies David is at a remove from the sanctuary.
- A plausible historical-liturgical arc: after God’s deliverance (Ps 3:8–9), David returns to Jerusalem and faces the gate-question of access to the Tent on Mount Zion—exactly the question Ps 15 poses.
Why it matters:
- The Absalom narrative (2 Sam 15–19) features departure from and return to the city/sanctuary. Ps 15 fits the “return/entrance” moment as a liturgical checkpoint after Ps 3’s flight/deliverance.

9) Zion theology from trust to norm
- Ps 3 treats Zion (“his holy mountain”) as the source of divine answer in war.
- Ps 15 treats Zion/Tent as the place of morally qualified residence, turning Zion theology from a promise in crisis (Ps 3) into an ethic of access (Ps 15).

Stylistic and formal affinities:

10) Both are compact, highly parallel poetic units beginning with direct address to YHWH
- Ps 3 opens: יְהוָה … “YHWH, how many are my foes!”
- Ps 15 opens: יְהוָה מִי־יָגוּר … “YHWH, who may sojourn…?”
- Each closes with a gnomic/generalizing claim (3:9; 15:5), giving them a didactic tail.

Putting it together as a sequence:

- Night of peril and slander: the psalmist sleeps safely and awakes (Ps 3:5–6) because God, arising like the Ark in battle, shatters the predators’ bite (3:8) and saves (3:9).
- Morning approach to Zion: the psalmist now faces the sanctuary and asks the gate-litany (Ps 15:1). The ethical catechism answers the social sins just suffered (speech, predation, dishonor) and promises unshakeable standing on that same holy hill (Ps 15:5).
- The lexical bridge “har qodsh-” plus the Ark-to-Tent movement ties the two poems at both word level and ritual logic.

If you need, I can tabulate all shared roots/lemmas with frequency notes across Psalms to quantify the strongest links (e.g., הַר קֹדֶשׁ, כבד, לשון/דבר, שן~נשך).

Evaluation

No evaluation has been recorded for this pair yet.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 3 and Psalm 15 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 15 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 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׃