Psalm 3 → 55

Reasoning: 7616 Output: 5694 Total: 13310

Argument

Here are multiple, cumulative arguments for reading Psalm 55 as a logical follow‑on to Psalm 3. I order them from strongest (historical/contextual, rare/marked language) to weaker (common formulas), and I note when the connection rests on identical forms, shared roots, or only semantic parallels.

1) Shared historical setting: Absalom’s revolt; David’s flight and the betrayal by a close counselor
- Psalm 3’s superscription fixes the setting: “when he fled from Absalom his son” (בברחו מפני אבשׁלום בנו).
- Psalm 55 describes:
  - A desire to get out of the city and “lodge in the wilderness” (אלין במדבר, 55:8), with explicit flight language (ארחיק נְדֹד, 55:8; אחישה מִפְלָט לי, 55:9). This matches the same episode (2 Sam 15–17) in which David leaves Jerusalem and heads east, effectively into the wilderness.
  - A treacherous “close friend” with whom the psalmist once “walked in the house of God” (אֲלּוּפִי ומְיֻדָּעִי… בְּבֵית אֱלֹהִים נְהַלֵּךְ בְּרָגֶשׁ, 55:14–15). This matches Ahithophel’s betrayal during Absalom’s rebellion.
  - “Violence and strife in the city” (חָמָס וְרִיב בָּעִיר, 55:10–11), an apt portrait of Jerusalem during the coup (2 Sam 15:10–13).
- Logical sequence: Psalm 3 = David’s first prayerful composure in flight; Psalm 55 = the same crisis viewed in fuller scope, zooming in on the betrayal (Ahithophel) and the city’s turmoil as David seeks refuge in the wilderness. In other words, 55 thematizes the next, more developed facet of the same historical moment that 3 introduced.

2) Identical and near-identical prayer formulas (form-critical continuity)
- “I call” → “He answers/hear my voice” cluster:
  - Ps 3:5: קוֹלִי אֶל־יְהוָה אֶקְרָא וַיַּעֲנֵנִי (“My voice to YHWH I call, and he answers me”).
  - Ps 55:3: הַקְשִׁיבָה… וַעֲנֵנִי (“Give heed… and answer me,” same root ענה, here as imperative).
  - Ps 55:18: וַיִּשְׁמַע קוֹלִי (“He heard my voice”) explicitly reprises the קוֹלִי theme from Ps 3:5.
- Identical root ישׁע “to save” in both psalms:
  - Ps 3:8: קוּמָה יְהוָה הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי; 3:9: לַיהוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה.
  - Ps 55:17: וַיהוָה יוֹשִׁיעֵנִי. Same root; in 3 it is petition and confession, in 55 confident future.
- These are not only thematic but verbal recurrences (קרא/ענה/קול; ישׁע), the kind of repeated diction that marks deliberate continuity.

3) Sustaining/support theme carried forward with marked lexical linkage
- Ps 3:6: יְהוָה יִסְמְכֵנִי (“YHWH sustains me”). Root סמך.
- Ps 55:23: הַשְׁלֵךְ עַל־יְהוָה יְהָבְךָ וְהוּא יְכַלְכְּלֶךָ (“Cast your burden on YHWH and he will sustain you”). Verb כלכל (rarer than סמך) + promise “he will not allow the righteous to totter” (לֹא־יִתֵּן לְעוֹלָם מוֹט).
- Even though the verbs differ (סמך vs כלכל), the semantic field is tightly the same: divine sustaining under pressure, now developed into an explicit wisdom-like exhortation (55:23). That exhortation reads like an answer to the confidence of Ps 3:6, moving from “he sustains me” (testimony) to “cast it on him; he will sustain you” (instruction) as a next step.

4) “Many” against me → “Many with me”: a narrative-logic shift
- Ps 3:2–3, 7: רַבּוּ צרי… רַבִּים קָמִים עָלַי… מֵרִבְבוֹת עָם אֲשֶׁר סָבִיב שָׁתוּ עָלָי. The threat is multiplicity against David.
- Ps 55:19: פָּדָה בְשָׁלוֹם נַפְשִׁי מִקְּרָב־לִי כִּי־בְרַבִּים הָיוּ עִמָּדִי. The phrase “for in many they were with me” (ברבים היו עמדי) plausibly marks a turn: where Ps 3 registers “many against me,” Ps 55 registers “many with me,” fitting a forward movement from initial peril (Ps 3) toward God‑brought stabilization (Ps 55). Even if one construes עמדי adversatively, the shift to “redeemed in peace” still reads as progression.

5) Sleep/Day–Night motif expanded
- Ps 3:6: “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for YHWH sustains me.” This is the crisis’ first night of trust.
- Ps 55:11, 18: “Day and night they go around her walls… Evening, morning, and noon I complain and moan, and he hears my voice.” Psalm 55 expands the temporal frame from one protected night to a whole daily cycle of persevering prayer amid ongoing urban unrest—again an organic development from Ps 3’s initial rest to 55’s sustained vigilance.

6) Shared enemies’ vocabulary and the escalation from external foes to treacherous insiders
- Shared lexemes/roots:
  - אוֹיֵב/אֹיְבַי (“enemy”): Ps 3:8; Ps 55:3–4 (מִקּוֹל אוֹיֵב).
  - רְשָׁע/רְשָׁעִים (“wicked”): Ps 3:8; Ps 55:4, 24 (here broadened to “men of blood and deceit”).
  - סָבִיב imagery: Ps 3:7 “encamped around me”; Ps 55:11 “they surround her on her walls.”
- Development: Ps 3 stresses the mass of opponents; Ps 55 exposes the sharper trauma of betrayal by “my close friend” (55:14–15), perfectly matching the Absalom–Ahithophel layer and thus reading like the next chapter of the same crisis.

7) The “holy place” axis sustained
- Ps 3:5: God answers “from his holy mountain” (מֵהַר קָדְשׁוֹ).
- Ps 55:15: “We used to walk in the house of God” (בְּבֵית אֱלֹהִים). Both psalms anchor the drama in Zion’s sacred space—first God’s vantage (Ps 3), then the memory of worship with the now‑traitorous friend (Ps 55). The second text thus deepens the first’s Zion-axis by adding the pain of liturgical companionship turned treachery.

8) Imprecation carried forward, sharpened, and specific
- Ps 3:8: “Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.”
- Ps 55:10: “Swallow up, Lord; divide their tongues” (בַּלַּע… פַּלַּג לְשׁוֹנָם), a rare and pointed request that echoes Babel and, contextually, the “counsel” split between Ahithophel and Hushai (2 Sam 15:31; 17). This is a tighter, historically keyed imprecation—a plausible “next move” after Ps 3’s general blow-against-the-wicked.

9) Closing confidence formulas that rhyme across the two
- Ps 3 ends: “YHWH’s is salvation; upon your people be your blessing” (לַיהוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה…).
- Ps 55 ends: “But I—I will trust in you” (וַאֲנִי אֶבְטַח־בָּךְ), after predicting the downfall of deceitful men. Both conclude with a tight juxtaposition of (a) divine salvation/blessing for the faithful and (b) judgment for the wicked, with Ps 55 adding a personal resolve that sounds like the matured echo of Ps 3’s trust.

10) Stylistic and formal markers that signal “same voice, next scene”
- Both are Davidic (לדוד) and suited for performance (Ps 3 “מִזְמוֹר”; Ps 55 “לַמְנַצֵּחַ בִּנְגִינוֹת… מַשְׂכִּיל”).
- Both employ Selah in strategically similar positions (after a first movement of complaint/invocation and at a major structural hinge), marking comparable liturgical pacing.

Summary of the strongest links
- Historical fit: Psalm 55’s city-violence + treacherous friend + wilderness-flight language is the most natural elaboration of Psalm 3’s Absalom setting.
- Identical roots and formulas: קרא/ענה/קול and ישׁע appear in both, with Psalm 55 explicitly taking up Psalm 3’s petition as ongoing practice (“evening, morning, noon”) and outcome (“he hears my voice”).
- The “sustain” motif advances from testimony (יסמכני, Ps 3) to exhortation and promise (יכלכלך… לא יתן… מוט, Ps 55).
- The “many” motif turns from multitude against (Ps 3) toward God’s peace and the presence of many with (Ps 55), indicating narrative progress rather than a reset.

Taken together, these features make a coherent case that Psalm 55 is not merely similar to Psalm 3 but can be read as its logical sequel: from first-night trust in flight (Ps 3) to a fuller, more textured portrayal of the same crisis—its betrayal, urban turmoil, daily prayer, and renewed resolve (Ps 55).

Evaluation

No evaluation has been recorded for this pair yet.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 3 and Psalm 55 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 55 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 55:
Psalm 55
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ
        בִּנְגִינֹ֗ת
        מַשְׂכִּ֥יל
        לְדָוִֽד׃
2. הַאֲזִ֣ינָה
        אֱ֭לֹהִים
        תְּפִלָּתִ֑י
        וְאַל־
        תִּ֝תְעַלַּ֗ם
        מִתְּחִנָּתִֽי׃
3. הַקְשִׁ֣יבָה
        לִּ֣י
        וַעֲנֵ֑נִי
        אָרִ֖יד
        בְּשִׂיחִ֣י
        וְאָהִֽימָה׃
4. מִקּ֤וֹל
        אוֹיֵ֗ב
        מִפְּנֵ֣י
        עָקַ֣ת
        רָשָׁ֑ע
        כִּי־
        יָמִ֥יטוּ
        עָלַ֥י
        אָ֝֗וֶן
        וּבְאַ֥ף
        יִשְׂטְמֽוּנִי׃
5. לִ֭בִּי
        יָחִ֣יל
        בְּקִרְבִּ֑י
        וְאֵימ֥וֹת
        מָ֝֗וֶת
        נָפְל֥וּ
        עָלָֽי׃
6. יִרְאָ֣ה
        וָ֭רַעַד
        יָ֣בֹא
        בִ֑י
        וַ֝תְּכַסֵּ֗נִי
        פַּלָּצֽוּת׃
7. וָאֹמַ֗ר
        מִֽי־
        יִתֶּן־
        לִּ֣י
        אֵ֭בֶר
        כַּיּוֹנָ֗ה
        אָע֥וּפָה
        וְאֶשְׁכֹּֽנָה׃
8. הִ֭נֵּה
        אַרְחִ֣יק
        נְדֹ֑ד
        אָלִ֖ין
        בַּמִּדְבָּ֣ר
        סֶֽלָה׃
9. אָחִ֣ישָׁה
        מִפְלָ֣ט
        לִ֑י
        מֵר֖וּחַ
        סֹעָ֣ה
        מִסָּֽעַר׃
10. בַּלַּ֣ע
        אֲ֭דֹנָי
        פַּלַּ֣ג
        לְשׁוֹנָ֑ם
        כִּֽי־
        רָאִ֨יתִי
        חָמָ֖ס
        וְרִ֣יב
        בָּעִֽיר׃
11. יוֹמָ֤ם
        וָלַ֗יְלָה
        יְסוֹבְבֻ֥הָ
        עַל־
        חוֹמֹתֶ֑יהָ
        וְאָ֖וֶן
        וְעָמָ֣ל
        בְּקִרְבָּֽהּ׃
12. הַוּ֥וֹת
        בְּקִרְבָּ֑הּ
        וְֽלֹא־
        יָמִ֥ישׁ
        מֵ֝רְחֹבָ֗הּ
        תֹּ֣ךְ
        וּמִרְמָֽה׃
13. כִּ֤י
        לֹֽא־
        אוֹיֵ֥ב
        יְחָֽרְפֵ֗נִי
        וְאֶ֫שָּׂ֥א
        לֹֽא־
        מְ֭שַׂנְאִי
        עָלַ֣י
        הִגְדִּ֑יל
        וְאֶסָּתֵ֥ר
        מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃
14. וְאַתָּ֣ה
        אֱנ֣וֹשׁ
        כְּעֶרְכִּ֑י
        אַ֝לּוּפִ֗י
        וּמְיֻדָּֽעִי׃
15. אֲשֶׁ֣ר
        יַ֭חְדָּו
        נַמְתִּ֣יק
        ס֑וֹד
        בְּבֵ֥ית
        אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים
        נְהַלֵּ֥ךְ
        בְּרָֽגֶשׁ׃
16. ישימות
        יַשִּׁ֤י
        מָ֨וֶת ׀
        עָלֵ֗ימוֹ
        יֵרְד֣וּ
        שְׁא֣וֹל
        חַיִּ֑ים
        כִּֽי־
        רָע֖וֹת
        בִּמְגוּרָ֣ם
        בְּקִרְבָּֽם׃
17. אֲ֭נִי
        אֶל־
        אֱלֹהִ֣ים
        אֶקְרָ֑א
        וַ֝יהוָ֗ה
        יוֹשִׁיעֵֽנִי׃
18. עֶ֤רֶב
        וָבֹ֣קֶר
        וְ֭צָהֳרַיִם
        אָשִׂ֣יחָה
        וְאֶהֱמֶ֑ה
        וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע
        קוֹלִֽי׃
19. פָּ֘דָ֤ה
        בְשָׁל֣וֹם
        נַ֭פְשִׁי
        מִקֲּרָב־
        לִ֑י
        כִּֽי־
        בְ֝רַבִּ֗ים
        הָי֥וּ
        עִמָּדִֽי׃
20. יִשְׁמַ֤ע ׀
        אֵ֨ל ׀
        וְֽיַעֲנֵם֮
        וְיֹ֤שֵׁ֥ב
        קֶ֗דֶם
        סֶ֥לָה
        אֲשֶׁ֤ר
        אֵ֣ין
        חֲלִיפ֣וֹת
        לָ֑מוֹ
        וְלֹ֖א
        יָרְא֣וּ
        אֱלֹהִֽים׃
21. שָׁלַ֣ח
        יָ֭דָיו
        בִּשְׁלֹמָ֗יו
        חִלֵּ֥ל
        בְּרִיתֽוֹ׃
22. חָלְק֤וּ ׀
        מַחְמָאֹ֣ת
        פִּיו֮
        וּֽקֲרָב־
        לִ֫בּ֥וֹ
        רַכּ֖וּ
        דְבָרָ֥יו
        מִשֶּׁ֗מֶן
        וְהֵ֣מָּה
        פְתִחֽוֹת׃
23. הַשְׁלֵ֤ךְ
        עַל־
        יְהוָ֨ה ׀
        יְהָבְךָ֮
        וְה֢וּא
        יְכַ֫לְכְּלֶ֥ךָ
        לֹא־
        יִתֵּ֖ן
        לְעוֹלָ֥ם
        מ֗וֹט
        לַצַּדִּֽיק׃
24. וְאַתָּ֤ה
        אֱלֹהִ֨ים ׀
        תּוֹרִדֵ֬ם ׀
        לִבְאֵ֬ר
        שַׁ֗חַת
        אַנְשֵׁ֤י
        דָמִ֣ים
        וּ֖dמִרְמָה
        לֹא־
        יֶחֱצ֣וּ
        יְמֵיהֶ֑ם
        וַ֝אֲנִ֗י
        אֶבְטַח־
        בָּֽךְ׃