Psalm 3 → 43

Reasoning: 9920 Output: 3336 Total: 13256

Argument

Here are lines of argument that make Psalm 43 a plausible “next movement” after Psalm 3.

Shared and rare lexical links (Hebrew):
- The holy mountain collocation: Ps 3:5 “מֵהַר קָדְשׁוֹ” // Ps 43:3 “אֶל־הַר־קָדְשְׁךָ.” The two-word phrase הר קדש with a pronominal suffix is rare in Psalms and appears in both (with 3ms vs 2ms). In Ps 3 God answers “from his holy mountain”; in Ps 43 the psalmist asks to be led “to your holy mountain.” That is not only lexical overlap but a clear narrative progression from distance to arrival.
- The salvation root יש״ע used paradigmatically:
  - Ps 3:3 “אֵין יְשׁוּעָתָה לוֹ בֵאלֹהִים” (taunt), 3:8 “הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי אֱלֹהַי” (petition), 3:9 “לַיהוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה” (confession).
  - Ps 43:5 “יְשׁוּעֹת פָּנַי וֵאלֹהָי” (confident refrain).
  The taunt of Ps 3:3 (“no salvation for him in God”) is explicitly answered by Ps 43:5 (“salvations of my face and my God”), repeating both the root יש״ע and the noun “God” (אֱלֹהִים) in tight proximity.
- Common enemy lexeme: Ps 3:8 “אֹיְבַי” // Ps 43:2 “אוֹיֵב.” Exact lemma match adds weight to continuity of conflict.
- Divine protection metaphors (same semantic field): Ps 3:4 “מָגֵן בַּעֲדִי” (shield) // Ps 43:2 “אֱלֹהֵי מָעוּזִּי” (my stronghold). Different words, same role.
- Head/face motif: Ps 3:4 “וּמֵרִים רֹאשִׁי” (you lift my head) // Ps 43:5 “יְשׁוּעֹת פָּנַי” (salvations of my face). Not identical lexically, but focused on the countenance/head as the locus of vindication.

Form and structure:
- Both are individual laments that move from complaint to confidence to a praise-oriented resolution.
  - Ps 3: complaint (vv. 2–3), confidence (vv. 4–7), petition/confession and communal blessing (vv. 8–9).
  - Ps 43: legal complaint (v. 1), “why” lament (v. 2), petition (v. 3), vow of worship (v. 4), self-exhortation/confidence (v. 5).
- Imperative petitions aimed at decisive divine action:
  - Ps 3:8 “קוּמָה … הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי”
  - Ps 43:1 “שָׁפְטֵנִי … וְרִיבָה רִיבִי … תְפַלְּטֵנִי,” v. 3 “שְׁלַח …”
  The rhetoric moves from battlefield crisis (arise, save) to courtroom and pilgrimage (judge, plead, deliver, send/lead), a natural next step in a lament-into-vindication arc.

Sanctuary trajectory (a very strong narrative link):
- Ps 3:5 “וַיַּעֲנֵנִי מֵהַר קָדְשׁוֹ” — God answers from Zion, while the speaker is away from it.
- Ps 43:3–4 “שְׁלַח־אוֹרְךָ וַאֲמִתְּךָ … יְבִיאוּנִי אֶל־הַר־קָדְשְׁךָ וְאֶל־מִשְׁכְּנוֹתֶיךָ. וְאָבוֹאָה אֶל־מִזְבַּח אֱלֹהִים … וְאוֹדְךָ בְכִנּוֹר.”
  This takes the sanctuary theme from “remote assurance” (Ps 3) to “actual approach and thanksgiving” (Ps 43). Within Israelite ritual life, that is the standard sequence: crisis cry → divine assurance → return to the sanctuary with a thank-offering and music.

Historical/life-setting coherence (David and Absalom):
- Ps 3 is explicitly set “when he fled from Absalom” (2 Sam 15–18), when David was forced away from the ark and Zion (2 Sam 15:25–26). There David says, “If I find favor… he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling.” Ps 43:3 echoes that hope almost verbatim in cultic language: “They will bring me … to your dwellings.” This is an unusually tight conceptual fit.
- Thus, Ps 43 can be read as the next day (so to speak): after the night of fear and divine assurance in Ps 3 (“I lay down and slept; I awoke…,” 3:6), the psalmist now asks to be vindicated and brought back to Zion to fulfill praise at the altar (43:4).

Elohistic shift that still preserves a link:
- Ps 3 is mostly Yahwistic but uses “אֱלֹהַי” once (3:8), right where the salvation petition is. Ps 43 (in Book II’s Elohistic style) repeatedly says “אֱלֹהִים/אֱלֹהַי.” The salvation vocabulary ties to the same divine title: 3:3’s taunt “אין ישועתה לו באֱלֹהִים” is answered by 43:5 “יְשׁוּעֹת פָּנַי וֵאלֹהָי.” That is a pointed echo.

Progression of themes:
- From fear to boldness: Ps 3 counters the many enemies and their taunt; Ps 43 seeks formal vindication against a deceitful adversary and an “ungodly nation,” moving the conflict from raw threat to juridical resolution.
- From divine answer at a distance to embodied worship: Ps 3 hears from the holy mountain; Ps 43 asks to be guided to it, to the altar, with lyre-led thanks.
- From the enemies’ claim “no salvation in God” (Ps 3:3) to the believer’s self-exhortation “Hope in God … I shall yet praise him” (Ps 43:5), matching the same key lexemes.

In sum:
- The rare and specific overlap “הר קדש[־]” plus the repeated salvation root with “אלֹהִים,” the shared enemy lexeme, and the sanctuary/vindication trajectory create a strong lexical and thematic chain.
- Read against the Absalom narrative, Ps 43 sounds like the logical next petition and hoped-for outcome of Ps 3: having been answered from Zion while away, the psalmist now seeks to be brought back to Zion to be publicly vindicated and offer musical thanksgiving at the altar.

Evaluation

No evaluation has been recorded for this pair yet.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 3 and Psalm 43 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 43 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 43:
Psalm 43
1. שָׁפְטֵ֤נִי
        אֱלֹהִ֨ים ׀
        וְרִ֘יבָ֤ה
        רִיבִ֗י
        מִגּ֥וֹי
        לֹא־
        חָסִ֑יד
        מֵ֤אִישׁ־
        מִרְמָ֖ה
        וְעַוְלָ֣ה
        תְפַלְּטֵֽנִי׃
2. כִּֽי־
        אַתָּ֤ה ׀
        אֱלֹהֵ֣י
        מָֽעוּזִּי֮
        לָמָ֢ה
        זְנַ֫חְתָּ֥נִי
        לָֽמָּה־
        קֹדֵ֥ר
        אֶתְהַלֵּ֗ךְ
        בְּלַ֣חַץ
        אוֹיֵֽב׃
3. שְׁלַח־
        אוֹרְךָ֣
        וַ֭אֲמִתְּךָ
        הֵ֣מָּה
        יַנְח֑וּנִי
        יְבִיא֥וּנִי
        אֶל־
        הַֽר־
        קָ֝דְשְׁךָ֗
        וְאֶל־
        מִשְׁכְּנוֹתֶֽיךָ׃
4. וְאָב֤וֹאָה ׀
        אֶל־
        מִזְבַּ֬ח
        אֱלֹהִ֗ים
        אֶל־
        אֵל֮
        שִׂמְחַ֢ת
        גִּ֫ילִ֥י
        וְאוֹדְךָ֥
        בְכִנּ֗וֹר
        אֱלֹהִ֥ים
        אֱלֹהָֽי׃
5. מַה־
        תִּשְׁתּ֬וֹחֲחִ֨י ׀
        נַפְשִׁי֮
        וּֽמַה־
        תֶּהֱמִ֢י
        עָ֫לָ֥י
        הוֹחִ֣ילִי
        לֵֽ֭אלֹהִים
        כִּי־
        ע֣וֹד
        אוֹדֶ֑נּוּ
        יְשׁוּעֹ֥ת
        פָּ֝נַ֗י
        וֵֽאלֹהָֽי׃