Psalm 4 → 5

Reasoning: 8512 Output: 4286 Total: 12798

Argument

Here are multiple, converging reasons to see Psalm 5 as a logical sequel to Psalm 4.

Editorial and performance frame
- Shared superscription formula: both begin “Lamnatzeach … Mizmor leDavid” (to the choirmaster … a Psalm of David), marking them as neighboring items in the same Davidic/choral collection.
- Complementary instrumentation: Ps 4 “bin’ginot” (strings), Ps 5 “el-hannechiloth” (commonly taken as “for flutes”). This looks like paired performance directions in a cycle rather than unrelated standalone pieces.

Time-of-day and temple-liturgy sequence
- Night to morning: Ps 4 culminates in lying down to sleep in safety (4:9 “b’shalom yachdav eshkevah v’ishan”), while Ps 5 opens with a morning approach to God (5:4 “boker tishma koli … boker e’erakh-lekha va’atzappeh”). That is a natural next-moment progression.
- From evening introspection to morning offering: Ps 4:5 calls for silent, on-bed self-examination (“imru bilvavkhem … v’domu”); Ps 5:4 uses the cultic verb “e’erakh” (arrange/lay out), a term used for arranging offerings, paired with morning (boker). This maps onto the daily tamid rhythm (evening rest → morning approach/sacrifice).
- From exhortation to performance: Ps 4:6 “Zivchu zivchei-tzedek” (offer right sacrifices); Ps 5:8 “Avo veitecha … eshtachaveh el heikhal-qodshekha” (I will enter your house … bow toward your holy temple). The morning psalm enacts what the evening psalm urged.

Form-critical kinship
- Both are individual laments/prayers with: invocation for God to hear, complaint about deceitful adversaries, confession of trust, and a confidence/blessing ending. Psalm 5 intensifies the forensic/moral dimension already present in Psalm 4.

Shared vocabulary and roots (rarer/weightier links first)
- Kazav כָזָב (falsehood): identical noun across psalms and same semantic target.
  • Ps 4:3 “t’vakshu kazav” (you seek falsehood).
  • Ps 5:7 “dovrei kazav” (speakers of falsehood).
- Tz-d-q צדק (righteousness): tightly shared root family.
  • Ps 4:2 “Elohei tzidqi” (God of my righteousness); 4:6 “zivchei-tzedek”.
  • Ps 5:9 “necheini b’tzidkatekha” (lead me in your righteousness); 5:13 “t’barekh tzaddiq” (you bless the righteous).
- Ch-s-d חסד (steadfast love/devotion): cross-psalm pairing of the root as person/quality.
  • Ps 4:4 “hiphlah YHWH chasid lo” (YHWH has set apart a chasid for himself).
  • Ps 5:8 “b’rov chasdekha” (in the abundance of your chesed).
- S-m-ch שמח (joy/rejoice):
  • Ps 4:8 “natatah simchah b’libi” (you have given joy in my heart).
  • Ps 5:12 “v’yism’chu kol-chosei vakh … v’ya’altzu” (let all who take refuge in you rejoice … exult).
- Sh-m-’ שמע (hear): same verb in the same prayer frame.
  • Ps 4:2 “u’shma tefillati” (hear my prayer); 4:4 “YHWH yishma b’kar’i elav”.
  • Ps 5:2–4 “ha’azina … haqshivah … tishma koli” (give ear … listen … you hear my voice).
- P-l-l פלל (pray):
  • Ps 4:2 “Tefillati” (my prayer).
  • Ps 5:3 “etpallel” (I will pray).
- B-t-ch בטח (trust/safety/refuge):
  • Ps 4:6 “u’vitchu el-YHWH” (trust in YHWH); 4:9 “l’vetach toshiveni” (you make me dwell in safety).
  • Ps 5:12 “kol-chosei vakh” (all who take refuge in you) and 5:13 “katzinah ratzon ta’atrennu” (surrounded with favor like a shield) — a close semantic field of protection/secure dwelling.
- ’h-v אהב (love): same root contrasts loyalties.
  • Ps 4:3 “te’ehavun riq” (you love emptiness).
  • Ps 5:12 “ohavei shmekha” (lovers of your name).
- Face/eyes-of-God motif with judgment/protection polarity:
  • Ps 4:7 “n’sa aleinu or panekha YHWH” (lift upon us the light of your face) → priestly-blessing resonance.
  • Ps 5:6 “lo yityatzvu holelim l’neghed einekha” (the boastful cannot stand before your eyes). The faithful are illumined by God’s face; the wicked cannot even stand before his gaze.
- “Rav/rov” רַב / רֹב (many/abundance): editorial echo across the seam.
  • Ps 4:7 “rabbim omrim” (many are saying).
  • Ps 5:8 “b’rov chasdekha” (in the abundance of your steadfast love); 5:11 “b’rov pish’ehem” (in the multitude of their transgressions). The “many” in 4 becomes a double “abundance” antithesis in 5 (God’s chesed vs. their crimes).
- Speech/innerness field across both:
  • Ps 4:5 “imru bilvavkhem … v’domu” (speak in your heart … be silent).
  • Ps 5:10 “b’fihum … leshonam yachaliqun” (their mouth … their tongue smooths), 5:7 “dovrei kazav”. Psalm 5 expands the moral diagnosis of speech hinted in Psalm 4.
- Interior terms: Ps 4 uses “lev” (heart); Ps 5 uses “qirbam” (their inward part), a near-synonymic echo.

Thematic development
- From personal reassurance to moral sorting: Ps 4 defends the speaker’s honor against those who love vanity and seek lies; Ps 5 sharpens this into a courtroom-like delineation: God does not host evil (5:5 “lo yagur’kha ra”), hates “po’alei aven,” destroys “dovrei kazav,” and rejects “ish-damim u’mirma.” This is a natural intensification of the adversary theme.
- From trust claimed to trust enacted: Ps 4 asserts “YHWH will hear when I call” (4:4); Ps 5 assumes it in practice: “In the morning you hear my voice … I will arrange [my prayer/offerings] and watch” (5:4).

Cultic and blessing frame (priestly-benediction echoes)
- Ps 4:7 “light of your face” and 4:9 “in peace” evoke Num 6:24–26 (shine his face … give you peace).
- Ps 5:12–13 extends the benediction: the trusting are covered and encircled with divine favor “like a shield,” an alternate image of the priestly blessing’s protective peace.

Social-address progression
- Ps 4 calls out “b’nei ish” (4:3) and urges them to change.
- Ps 5, seeing that many persist, appeals to God to judge them (5:11 “ha’ashimem Elohim … hadichemo”), while securing guidance for the supplicant (5:9).

In sum: editorial signals, a night-to-morning liturgical arc, tight form-critical kinship, and multiple shared/echoed lexemes—especially the rarer kazav (falsehood), the ch-s-d and tz-d-q word-families, and the joy/trust/protection field—make strong cumulative arguments that Psalm 5 is designed to follow Psalm 4. The second psalm reads as the morning enactment and moral amplification of the trust, introspection, and sacrificial exhortation voiced the night before.

Evaluation

No evaluation has been recorded for this pair yet.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 4 and Psalm 5 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 5 logically follows on from Psalm 4? 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 4:
Psalm 4
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ
        בִּנְגִינ֗וֹת
        מִזְמ֥וֹר
        לְדָוִֽד׃
2. בְּקָרְאִ֡י
        עֲנֵ֤נִי ׀
        אֱלֹ֘הֵ֤י
        צִדְקִ֗י
        בַּ֭צָּר
        הִרְחַ֣בְתָּ
        לִּ֑י
        חָ֝נֵּ֗נִי
        וּשְׁמַ֥ע
        תְּפִלָּתִֽי׃
3. בְּנֵ֥י
        אִ֡ישׁ
        עַד־
        מֶ֬ה
        כְבוֹדִ֣י
        לִ֭כְלִמָּה
        תֶּאֱהָב֣וּן
        רִ֑יק
        תְּבַקְשׁ֖וּ
        כָזָ֣ב
        סֶֽלָה׃
4. וּדְע֗וּ
        כִּֽי־
        הִפְלָ֣ה
        יְ֭הוָה
        חָסִ֣יד
        ל֑וֹ
        יְהוָ֥ה
        יִ֝שְׁמַ֗ע
        בְּקָרְאִ֥י
        אֵלָֽיו׃
5. רִגְז֗וּ
        וְֽאַל־
        תֶּ֫חֱטָ֥אוּ
        אִמְר֣וּ
        בִ֭לְבַבְכֶם
        עַֽל־
        מִשְׁכַּבְכֶ֗ם
        וְדֹ֣מּוּ
        סֶֽלָה׃
6. זִבְח֥וּ
        זִבְחֵי־
        צֶ֑דֶק
        וּ֝בִטְח֗וּ
        אֶל־
        יְהוָֽה׃
7. רַבִּ֥ים
        אֹמְרִים֮
        מִֽי־
        יַרְאֵ֢נ֫וּ
        ט֥וֹב
        נְֽסָה־
        עָ֭לֵינוּ
        א֨וֹר
        פָּנֶ֬יךָ
        יְהוָֽה׃
8. נָתַ֣תָּה
        שִׂמְחָ֣ה
        בְלִבִּ֑י
        מֵעֵ֬ת
        דְּגָנָ֖ם
        וְתִֽירוֹשָׁ֣ם
        רָֽבּוּ׃
9. בְּשָׁל֣וֹם
        יַחְדָּו֮
        אֶשְׁכְּבָ֢ה
        וְאִ֫ישָׁ֥ן
        כִּֽי־
        אַתָּ֣ה
        יְהוָ֣ה
        לְבָדָ֑ד
        לָ֝בֶ֗טַח
        תּוֹשִׁיבֵֽנִי׃

Psalm 5:
Psalm 5
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ
        אֶֽל־
        הַנְּחִיל֗וֹת
        מִזְמ֥וֹר
        לְדָוִֽד׃
2. אֲמָרַ֖י
        הַאֲזִ֥ינָה ׀
        יְהוָ֗ה
        בִּ֣ינָה
        הֲגִֽיגִי׃
3. הַקְשִׁ֤יבָה ׀
        לְק֬וֹל
        שַׁוְעִ֗י
        מַלְכִּ֥י
        וֵאלֹהָ֑י
        כִּֽי־
        אֵ֝לֶ֗יךָ
        אֶתְפַּלָּֽל׃
4. יְֽהוָ֗ה
        בֹּ֭קֶר
        תִּשְׁמַ֣ע
        קוֹלִ֑י
        בֹּ֥קֶר
        אֶֽעֱרָךְ־
        לְ֝ךָ֗
        וַאֲצַפֶּֽה׃
5. כִּ֤י ׀
        לֹ֤א
        אֵֽל־
        חָפֵ֘ץ
        רֶ֥שַׁע ׀
        אָ֑תָּה
        לֹ֖א
        יְגֻרְךָ֣
        רָֽע׃
6. לֹֽא־
        יִתְיַצְּב֣וּ
        הֽ֭וֹלְלִים
        לְנֶ֣גֶד
        עֵינֶ֑יךָ
        שָׂ֝נֵ֗אתָ
        כָּל־
        פֹּ֥עֲלֵי
        אָֽוֶן׃
7. תְּאַבֵּד֮
        דֹּבְרֵ֢י
        כָ֫זָ֥ב
        אִישׁ־
        דָּמִ֥ים
        וּמִרְמָ֗ה
        יְתָ֘עֵ֥ב ׀
        יְהוָֽה׃
8. וַאֲנִ֗י
        בְּרֹ֣ב
        חַ֭סְדְּךָ
        אָב֣וֹא
        בֵיתֶ֑ךָ
        אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֥ה
        אֶל־
        הֵֽיכַל־
        קָ֝דְשְׁךָ֗
        בְּיִרְאָתֶֽךָ׃
9. יְהוָ֤ה ׀
        נְחֵ֬נִי
        בְצִדְקָתֶ֗ךָ
        לְמַ֥עַן
        שׁוֹרְרָ֑י
        הושר
        הַיְשַׁ֖ר
        לְפָנַ֣י
        דַּרְכֶּֽךָ׃
10. כִּ֤י
        אֵ֪ין
        בְּפִ֡יהוּ
        נְכוֹנָה֮
        קִרְבָּ֢ם
        הַ֫וּ֥וֹת
        קֶֽבֶר־
        פָּת֥וּחַ
        גְּרוֹנָ֑ם
        לְ֝שׁוֹנָ֗ם
        יַחֲלִֽיקוּן׃
11. הַֽאֲשִׁימֵ֨ם ׀
        אֱ‍ֽלֹהִ֗ים
        יִפְּלוּ֮
        מִֽמֹּעֲצ֢וֹתֵ֫יהֶ֥ם
        בְּרֹ֣ב
        פִּ֭שְׁעֵיהֶם
        הַדִּיחֵ֑מוֹ
        כִּי־
        מָ֥רוּ
        בָֽךְ׃
12. וְיִשְׂמְח֨וּ
        כָל־
        ח֪וֹסֵי
        בָ֡ךְ
        לְעוֹלָ֣ם
        יְ֭רַנֵּנוּ
        וְתָסֵ֣ךְ
        עָלֵ֑ימוֹ
        וְֽיַעְלְצ֥וּ
        בְ֝ךָ֗
        אֹהֲבֵ֥י
        שְׁמֶֽךָ׃
13. כִּֽי־
        אַתָּה֮
        תְּבָרֵ֢ךְ
        צַ֫דִּ֥יק
        יְהוָ֑ה
        כַּ֝צִּנָּ֗ה
        רָצ֥וֹן
        תַּעְטְרֶֽנּוּ׃