Psalm 3 → 56
Reasoning: 7424 Output: 4606 Total: 12030
Argument
Here is a compact case for reading Psalm 56 as a logical follow-on to Psalm 3. I group the links by form/structure, time-setting, lexicon (with identical forms or roots prioritized), and shared life-situations.
1) Form-critical fit: same genre, same internal moves
- Both are Davidic individual laments with the classic sequence: complaint about many enemies → affirmation of trust → petition for divine intervention against enemies → confident conclusion.
- Ps 3:2–3 complaint; 3:4–6 trust; 3:7–8 petition; 3:9 conclusion.
- Ps 56:2–3,6–7 complaint; 56:4–5,11–12 trust; 56:8 petition; 56:10 outcome; 56:13–14 vow/thanks.
- The fact that Ps 56 ends with vows/thanksgiving (56:13–14) makes good “next step” sense after the petition and confidence of Ps 3:8–9.
2) Night → Day progression (a natural daily sequence)
- Psalm 3 is explicitly a “night-psalm”: “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for YHWH sustains me” (3:6).
- Psalm 56 is explicitly diurnal: “day I fear” (56:4), “all the day” repeats three times (56:2,3,6). It reads like the daytime continuation of the trust achieved the night before.
- Logical sequence: Ps 3 = night rescue and new courage; Ps 56 = living that courage through the next day of harassment.
3) High-significance lexical interlocks (identical forms/phrases)
- לא אירא “I will not fear”:
- Ps 3:7 לֹא אִירָא
- Ps 56:5,12 לֹא אִירָא
Identical form; in both psalms the line clinches the trust section.
- אקרא “I call” (1cs yiqtol):
- Ps 3:5 קוֹלִי אֶל־יְהוָה אֶקְרָא
- Ps 56:10 בְּיוֹם אֶקְרָא
Same form; in both, calling on God is the hinge between threat and reversal.
- אויבי “my enemies” (with 1cs suffix):
- Ps 3:8 אֹיְבַי
- Ps 56:10 אוֹיְבַי
Identical lexeme and form, tied to God’s action against them.
- רבים “many”:
- Ps 3:2–3 רַבּוּ… רַבִּים
- Ps 56:3 כִּי־רַבִּים
Same adjective, same enemy-mass motif.
- באלוהים “in God” (the exact prepositional phrase):
- Ps 3:3 records the taunt: “אֵין יְשׁוּעָתָה לוֹ בֵאלֹהִים”
- Ps 56 flips it into the refrain of trust:
- 56:5 בֵּאלֹהִים אֲהַלֵּל דְּבָרוֹ… בֵּאלֹהִים בָּטַחְתִּי לֹא אִירָא
- 56:11–12 repeats “בֵּאלֹהִים… בַּיהוָה”
This is especially strong: Ps 56 sounds like an intentional answer to Ps 3’s taunt “no salvation for him in God,” by doubling down on “in God I trust/praise.”
4) Closely related ideas/roots (a notch lower than identical forms, but still strong)
- Salvation/deliverance vocabulary: Ps 3 uses the ישע root (3:8 הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי; 3:9 לַי־הוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה), while Ps 56 climaxes with נצל (56:14 כִּי הִצַּלְתָּ נַפְשִׁי מִמָּוֶת). Different roots, same semantic field, with 56 reporting the deliverance Ps 3 asks for.
- נפש “life/soul”:
- Ps 3:3 רַבִּים אֹמְרִים לְנַפְשִׁי “Many say of my life…”
- Ps 56:14 הִצַּלְתָּ נַפְשִׁי מִמָּוֶת “You delivered my life from death.”
Within the salvation theme, 56 explicitly overturns the verdict spoken “to my life” in 3.
- Enemy speech motif:
- Ps 3:3 “Many are saying…” (אֹמְרִים) to/against me.
- Ps 56:6 “All the day they twist my words” (דְּבָרַי יְעַצֵּבוּ).
Both center the verbal assault as part of the threat.
- Movement of foes: “rise” vs “turn back”
- Ps 3:2 רַבִּים קָמִים עָלַי (enemies rise up) → Ps 3:8 “Arise, YHWH!” (קֻמָה) counters this.
- Ps 56:10 “Then my enemies will turn back” (יָשׁוּבוּ… אָחוֹר).
Narrative logic: in 3, enemies rise; in 56, after prayer, they retreat.
5) Structural/poetic features
- Second-person direct address with imperatives against enemies:
- Ps 3:8 קוּמָה יְהוָה הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי… “Arise… save me… you struck… you broke…”
- Ps 56:8 הוֹרֵד אֱלֹהִים “Bring down, O God…”
Same rhetorical posture: urgent imperative against the hostile crowd.
- Divine-name dynamics:
- Ps 3 is YHWH-heavy but contains the provocative “בֵאלֹהִים” in the enemies’ taunt (3:3).
- Ps 56 answers with “בֵּאלֹהִים” as its refrain of trust (56:5,11–12) and balances it with “בַּי־הוָה” (56:11). This looks like a deliberate theological riposte to Ps 3:3.
- Inclusio-style confidence:
- Ps 3 ends, “לַי־הוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה…”
- Ps 56 ends with fulfilled-vow thanksgiving because “you have delivered my life” and now I “walk before God in the light of life” (56:14). That is precisely how a prayer for salvation (Ps 3) would mature if granted.
6) Shared life-situations, plausibly sequenced
- Both superscriptions place David under duress as a fugitive:
- Ps 3: “when he fled (בברחו) from Absalom his son” (internal, Israelite/familial threat).
- Ps 56: “when the Philistines seized him in Gath” (external, foreign threat).
- Ps 56:9 uses the rare noun נֹדִי “my wandering” (“you have counted my wanderings”), conceptually matching the “flight” (ברח) of Ps 3’s heading. Even if the historical episodes are not strictly consecutive, the pair evokes a fugitive’s arc: internal uprising drives the king into prolonged wandering, which in turn exposes him to foreign peril and capture. That is a perfectly logical narrative intensification.
- Ps 3:5 “He answered me from his holy mountain” marks God’s attention in exile; Ps 56:9 “Put my tears in your bottle; are they not in your book?” deepens that attention motif. Same theology of divine notice, developed further.
7) Crowd/peoples motif
- Ps 3:7 “ten thousands of people” (רִבְבוֹת עָם); Ps 3:9 “upon your people (עַמְּךָ) your blessing.”
- Ps 56:8 “Bring down peoples (עַמִּים), O God.” The national/cosmic scope remains in view across both: not just one man’s plight but the fate of peoples under God’s rule.
Putting it together as a plausible sequence
- Night of crisis (Ps 3): surrounded by many, taunted that “there is no salvation for him in God”; he cries out, sleeps in trust, and declares “I will not fear,” asking God to rise and shatter the power of the wicked. He concludes with a general confession: “To YHWH belongs salvation.”
- Next day and its aftermath (Ps 56): the pressure continues “all day,” but now the taunt has been decisively answered by the refrain “In God I trust; I will not fear; what can flesh do to me?” The enemies who rose now “turn back.” The psalmist’s wandering is noted by God; his tears are kept; and the deliverance sought in Ps 3 is stated as accomplished (“You have delivered my life from death”), leading to vows and thanksgiving and a resolved path “to walk before God in the light of life.”
On the criteria of significance:
- Highest-weight links: exact forms shared (לא אירא; אקרא; אויבי; רבים; באלוהים), and the deliberate reversal of Ps 3:3’s “באלוהים” taunt by Ps 56’s “באלוהים… לא אירא” refrain.
- Next: same lexeme נֶפֶשׁ tied to salvation; the day/night pairing; the enemies’ speech motif; and the fugitive vocabulary (ברח vs נֹדִי).
- Result: Psalm 56 reads like a stylistic, lexical, and theological answer to Psalm 3, the daytime continuation and fulfillment of the trust won at night, with the taunt overturned and the deliverance consummated.
Evaluation
No evaluation has been recorded for this pair yet.
Prompt
Consider Psalm 3 and Psalm 56 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 56 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 56:
Psalm 56
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֤חַ ׀
עַל־
י֬וֹנַת
אֵ֣לֶם
רְ֭חֹקִים
לְדָוִ֣ד
מִכְתָּ֑ם
בֶּֽאֱחֹ֨ז
אֹת֖וֹ
פְלִשְׁתִּ֣ים
בְּגַֽת׃
2. חָנֵּ֣נִי
אֱ֭לֹהִים
כִּֽי־
שְׁאָפַ֣נִי
אֱנ֑וֹשׁ
כָּל־
הַ֝יּ֗וֹם
לֹחֵ֥ם
יִלְחָצֵֽנִי׃
3. שָׁאֲפ֣וּ
שׁ֭וֹרְרַי
כָּל־
הַיּ֑וֹם
כִּֽי־
רַבִּ֨ים
לֹחֲמִ֖ים
לִ֣י
מָרֽוֹם׃
4. י֥וֹם
אִירָ֑א
אֲ֝נִ֗י
אֵלֶ֥יךָ
אֶבְטָֽח׃
5. בֵּאלֹהִים֮
אֲהַלֵּ֢ל
דְּבָ֫ר֥וֹ
בֵּאלֹהִ֣ים
בָּ֭טַחְתִּי
לֹ֣א
אִירָ֑א
מַה־
יַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה
בָשָׂ֣ר
לִֽי׃
6. כָּל־
הַ֭יּוֹם
דְּבָרַ֣י
יְעַצֵּ֑בוּ
עָלַ֖י
כָּל־
מַחְשְׁבֹתָ֣ם
לָרָֽע׃
7. יָג֤וּרוּ ׀
יצפינו
יִצְפּ֗וֹנוּ
הֵ֭מָּה
עֲקֵבַ֣י
יִשְׁמֹ֑רוּ
כַּ֝אֲשֶׁ֗ר
קִוּ֥וּ
נַפְשִֽׁי׃
8. עַל־
אָ֥וֶן
פַּלֶּט־
לָ֑מוֹ
בְּ֝אַ֗ף
עַמִּ֤ים ׀
הוֹרֵ֬ד
אֱלֹהִֽים׃
9. נֹדִי֮
סָפַ֢רְתָּ֫ה
אָ֥תָּה
שִׂ֣ימָה
דִמְעָתִ֣י
בְנֹאדֶ֑ךָ
הֲ֝לֹ֗א
בְּסִפְרָתֶֽךָ׃
10. אָ֥֨ז
יָ֘שׁ֤וּבוּ
אוֹיְבַ֣י
אָ֭חוֹר
בְּי֣וֹם
אֶקְרָ֑א
זֶה־
יָ֝דַ֗עְתִּי
כִּֽי־
אֱלֹהִ֥ים
לִֽי׃
11. בֵּֽ֭אלֹהִים
אֲהַלֵּ֣ל
דָּבָ֑ר
בַּ֝יהוָ֗ה
אֲהַלֵּ֥ל
דָּבָֽר׃
12. בֵּֽאלֹהִ֣ים
בָּ֭טַחְתִּי
לֹ֣א
אִירָ֑א
מַה־
יַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה
אָדָ֣םt
לִֽי׃
13. עָלַ֣י
אֱלֹהִ֣ים
נְדָרֶ֑יךָ
אֲשַׁלֵּ֖ם
תּוֹדֹ֣ת
לָֽךְ׃
14. כִּ֤י
הִצַּ֪לְתָּ
נַפְשִׁ֡י
מִמָּוֶת֮
הֲלֹ֥א
רַגְלַ֗י
מִ֫דֶּ֥חִי
לְ֭הִֽתְהַלֵּךְ
לִפְנֵ֣י
אֱלֹהִ֑ים
בְּ֝א֗וֹר
הַֽחַיִּֽים׃