Psalm 3 → 143
Reasoning: 8832 Output: 4767 Total: 13599
Argument
Here are mutually reinforcing arguments (textual, stylistic, lexical, and situational) that make it plausible to read Psalm 143 as logically following Psalm 3. Form and genre (macro-level fit) - Same heading and voice: both are “מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד,” first-person singular laments that move from complaint to confidence, ending with God’s victory over enemies. - Same rhetorical shape: cry to YHWH → description of threat → expression of trust → petition for action → confidence/closure. Psalm 3 does this compactly (vv. 2–9); Psalm 143 stretches it and adds a penitential layer (vv. 1–12). A deliberate “seam” around ענה + מהר (answer/quickly) - Psalm 3:5 “קֹולִי אֶל־יְהוָה אֶקְרָא; וַיַּעֲנֵנִי מֵהַר קָדְשׁוֹ סֶלָה.” - Psalm 143:7 “מַהֵר עֲנֵנִי יְהוָה…” - In the consonantal text, both verses juxtapose the same three letters מהר with the same verb ענה, but inverted: 3:5 has …ויענני מֶהָר…, while 143:7 has מַהֵר עֲנֵנִי…. This creates a catchword chain and an elegant hinge. Psalm 3:5 asserts “He answered me from (מֵהַר) his holy mountain”; Psalm 143:7 pleads “Quickly (מַהֵר) answer me, YHWH,” as if picking up the keyword and flipping it from indicative (“he answered”) to renewed imperative (“answer!”), i.e., a fresh morning need for the same answering God. Night-to-morning sequence (life-setting logic) - Psalm 3:6 “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for YHWH sustains me.” This is the night of danger yielding safe sleep and awakening. - Psalm 143:8 “Cause me to hear in the morning your steadfast love (הַשְׁמִיעֵנִי בַבֹּקֶר חַסְדֶּךָ).” The explicitly “morning” line naturally follows the sleep/awakening of Psalm 3. Many ancient readers used Psalm 3 as a morning psalm; Psalm 143’s “morning” petition fits as the next prayer upon waking: after God sustained the night (Ps 3), the psalmist now seeks morning guidance and deliverance for the day ahead (Ps 143:8–10). Shared enemy vocabulary and outcome (with rarer forms in Ps 143 intensifying Ps 3) - Identical roots for adversaries: - Psalm 3:2 צָרָי “my adversaries”; 3:8 אֹיְבַי “my enemies”; 3:8 רְשָׁעִים “the wicked.” - Psalm 143:3 אוֹיֵב נַפְשִׁי; 143:9 מֵאֹיְבַי; 143:12 אֹיְבָי; 143:12 צֹרֲרֵי נַפְשִׁי (same root צרר as Ps 3:2). The shared root צרר (adversary/harass) is a strong lexical link. - Parallel closing outcomes: - Psalm 3:8 “You struck all my enemies on the jaw; you broke the teeth of the wicked.” - Psalm 143:12 “In your steadfast love you will annihilate (תַּצְמִית) my enemies; you will destroy (וְהַאֲבַדְתָּ) all who afflict my life.” The verbs צמת (rare) and אבד intensify the same idea of total disabling/destruction seen in Ps 3 (shattering teeth). The rarer verb תַּצְמִית heightens the connection by outcome (complete elimination). Prayer-answer language carried across (same root, same addressee, same targets) - The root ענה “answer” ties the two psalms: - Psalm 3:5 וַיַּעֲנֵנִי “he answered me.” - Psalm 143:1,7 עֲנֵנִי “answer me” (imperatives). - Both attach the request to the divine name YHWH and to covenantal character: - Psalm 3: divine protection (מָגֵן), glory, holy mountain, salvation and blessing on God’s people. - Psalm 143: “בֶּאֱמֻנָתְךָ…בְּצִדְקָתֶךָ” (v.1), “חַסְדֶּךָ” (vv. 8, 12). The triad חסד/אמונה/צדקה supplies the theological ground for the same answering/saving action asserted in Ps 3:9 “לַיהוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה.” Shared protection imagery (different words, same field) - Psalm 3:4 “מָגֵן בַּעֲדִי” “a shield around me”; 3:9 God’s salvation and blessing. - Psalm 143:9 “אֵלֶיךָ כִסִּיתִי” “I take cover in you,” a protection metaphor of the same field as “shield.” Also 143:7 “Do not hide your face” (אל תסתיר פניך) presupposes and seeks the protective presence implied in Psalm 3. “Enemies all around” → “lead me on level ground” (combat-to-guidance transition) - Psalm 3:7 “I will not fear ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.” - Psalm 143:10 “רוּחֲךָ טוֹבָה תַּנְחֵנִי בְּאֶרֶץ מִישׁוֹר” (“Your good Spirit will lead me in a level land”). After the night of encirclement (Ps 3), the morning prayer (Ps 143) asks not only for rescue but for guidance into safety/stability (“level land”), a fitting next step after surviving the night. David-in-flight setting fits both (historical/life-of-David logic) - Psalm 3’s superscription (fleeing from Absalom) situates the speaker outside Zion yet asserting, paradoxically, that God “answered me from his holy mountain” (3:5). Psalm 143 speaks like a beleaguered David in the field: “the enemy pursues my life” (143:3), “sit me in darkness like those long dead” (143:3), “bring me out of distress” (143:11), “teach/lead me” (143:10). Read consecutively, Psalm 143 can be heard as the morning-after continuation of the same crisis arc: having slept and awakened in Psalm 3, David now pleads for quick help, clear guidance, and final removal of the pursuers. Imperative clusters to YHWH (stylistic fingerprint) - Psalm 3:8 “קוּמָה יְהוָה; הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי” (Arise, save me). - Psalm 143 is rich in second-person imperatives: “שְׁמַע… הַאֲזִינָה… עֲנֵנִי… מַהֵר עֲנֵנִי… אַל־תַסְתֵּר… הַשְׁמִיעֵנִי… הוֹדִיעֵנִי… הַצִּילֵנִי… לַמְּדֵנִי… תַּנְחֵנִי… תְּחַיֵּנִי… תּוֹצִיא… תַּצְמִית… וְהַאֲבַדְתָּ.” The same style of urgent, piled-up imperatives that climaxes Psalm 3 (but more extended) suggests “more of the same prayer,” i.e., the next movement of the same plea. Nefesh as the threatened locus (shared target of the threat) - Psalm 3:3 “רַבִּים אֹמְרִים לְנַפְשִׁי…” enemies speak “to/about my life/soul.” - Psalm 143: multiple hits on נַפְשִׁי as the threatened object (vv. 3, 6, 8, 11, 12). While נפש is common, the concentration around life-threat and deliverance is a clear conceptual bridge. Closing formulas that broaden beyond the self - Psalm 3 ends with the maxim “לַיהוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה; עַל־עַמְּךָ בִרְכָתֶךָ” moving from “me” to “your people.” - Psalm 143, while personal, appeals to God’s Name (לְמַעַן־שִׁמְךָ) and attributes (חסד/צדקה/אמונה) that underwrite communal well-being, consistent with Psalm 3’s widening horizon. Weighting by rarity/significance - Strongest/most specific lexical ties: - The ענה + מהר seam with identical consonants מהר and the chiastic inversion (3:5 vs 143:7). - The shared adversary root צרר (3:2; 143:12) in the same semantic role (“my adversaries”). - Thematically strong and distinctive: - The night-sleep-awakening in Psalm 3 moving into the “morning” petition of Psalm 143:8. - The violent neutralization of enemies in both (Ps 3 with concrete “teeth” imagery; Ps 143 with rare, terminal verbs תַּצְמִית/וְהַאֲבַדְתָּ). Put together: Psalm 3 narrates the night of threat and the first surge of confidence when God answers “from his holy mountain.” Psalm 143 sounds like the next morning’s continuation—now asking God to answer quickly, to make his חסד audible in the morning, to guide the day’s path, and to finish what Psalm 3 envisioned: the complete nullification of the adversaries and the restoration of life under God’s righteous, faithful Name.
Evaluation
No evaluation has been recorded for this pair yet.
Prompt
Consider Psalm 3 and Psalm 143 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 143 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 143:
Psalm 143
1. מִזְמ֗וֹר
לְדָ֫וִ֥ד
יְהוָ֤ה ׀
שְׁמַ֬ע
תְּפִלָּתִ֗י
הַאֲזִ֥ינָה
אֶל־
תַּחֲנוּנַ֑י
בֶּאֱמֻנָתְךָ֥
עֲ֝נֵ֗נִי
בְּצִדְקָתֶֽךָ׃
2. וְאַל־
תָּב֣וֹא
בְ֭מִשְׁפָּט
אֶת־
עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ
כִּ֤י
לֹֽא־
יִצְדַּ֖ק
לְפָנֶ֣יךָ
כָל־
חָֽי׃
3. כִּ֥י
רָ֘דַ֤ף
אוֹיֵ֨ב ׀
נַפְשִׁ֗י
דִּכָּ֣א
לָ֭אָרֶץ
חַיָּתִ֑י
הוֹשִׁיבַ֥נִי
בְ֝מַחֲשַׁכִּ֗ים
כְּמֵתֵ֥י
עוֹלָֽם׃
4. וַתִּתְעַטֵּ֣ף
עָלַ֣י
רוּחִ֑י
בְּ֝תוֹכִ֗י
יִשְׁתּוֹמֵ֥ם
לִבִּֽי׃
5. זָ֘כַ֤רְתִּי
יָמִ֨ים ׀
מִקֶּ֗דֶם
הָגִ֥יתִי
בְכָל־
פָּעֳלֶ֑ךָ
בְּֽמַעֲשֵׂ֖ה
יָדֶ֣יךָ
אֲשׂוֹחֵֽחַ׃
6. פֵּרַ֣שְׂתִּי
יָדַ֣י
אֵלֶ֑יךָ
נַפְשִׁ֓י ׀
כְּאֶֽרֶץ־
עֲיֵפָ֖ה
לְךָ֣
סֶֽלָה׃
7. מַ֘הֵ֤ר
עֲנֵ֨נִי ׀
יְהוָה֮
כָּלְתָ֢ה
ר֫וּחִ֥י
אַל־
תַּסְתֵּ֣ר
פָּנֶ֣יךָ
מִמֶּ֑נִּי
וְ֝נִמְשַׁ֗לְתִּי
עִם־
יֹ֥רְדֵי
בֽוֹר׃
8. הַשְׁמִ֘יעֵ֤נִי
בַבֹּ֨קֶר ׀
חַסְדֶּךָ֮
כִּֽי־
בְךָ֢
בָ֫טָ֥חְתִּי
הוֹדִיעֵ֗נִי
דֶּֽרֶךְ־
ז֥וּ
אֵלֵ֑ךְ
כִּֽי־
אֵ֝לֶיךָ
נָשָׂ֥אתִי
נַפְשִֽׁי׃
9. הַצִּילֵ֖נִי
מֵאֹיְבַ֥י ׀
יְהוָ֗ה
אֵלֶ֥יךָ
כִסִּֽתִי׃
10. לַמְּדֵ֤נִי ׀
לַֽעֲשׂ֣וֹת
רְצוֹנֶךָ֮
כִּֽי־
אַתָּ֢ה
אֱל֫וֹהָ֥י
רוּחֲךָ֥
טוֹבָ֑ה
תַּ֝נְחֵ֗נִי
בְּאֶ֣רֶץ
מִישֽׁוֹר׃
11. לְמַֽעַן־
שִׁמְךָ֣
יְהוָ֣ה
תְּחַיֵּ֑נִי
בְּצִדְקָתְךָ֓ ׀
תּוֹצִ֖יא
מִצָּרָ֣ה
נַפְשִֽׁי׃
12. וּֽבְחַסְדְּךָ֮
תַּצְמִ֢ית
אֹ֫יְבָ֥י
וְֽ֭הַאֲבַדְתָּ
כָּל־
צֹרֲרֵ֣י
נַפְשִׁ֑י
כִּ֝֗י
אֲנִ֣י
עַבְדֶּֽךָ׃