Psalm 5 → 13

Reasoning: 8064 Output: 4061 Total: 12125

Argument

Here are lines of argument you could marshal to show Psalm 13 as a logical sequel to Psalm 5. I list the strongest textual links first (identical forms/collocations and rarer items), then broader formal and thematic continuities, and finally a plausible life-setting sequence that makes Psalm 13 “the next scene” after Psalm 5.

Identical or near-identical Hebrew forms and collocations
- Superscription formula: Both open with the identical string למנצח מזמור לדוד (Ps 5:1; Ps 13:1). This is common in Book I, but it is still an exact match.
- Hinge phrase of trust: The identical collocation וַאֲנִי בְּחַסְדְּךָ appears in both psalms at the structural pivot from plea/complaint to trust.
  - Ps 5:8 וַאֲנִי בְּרֹב חַסְדְּךָ אָבוֹא בֵיתֶךָ
  - Ps 13:6 וַאֲנִי בְּחַסְדְּךָ בָטַחְתִּי
  This is a highly specific link: same words, same role (turn to confidence), same addressee.
- Direct personal address with the same divine title: אֱלֹהַי “my God” (Ps 5:3; Ps 13:4), in both cases in an imperative petition sequence to YHWH.
- Eyes/face lexemes in direct relation to God and the speaker:
  - Ps 5:6 לֹא־יִתְיַצְּבוּ הוֹלְלִים לְנֶגֶד עֵינֶיךָ “before your eyes”
  - Ps 13:2 תַּסְתִּיר אֶת־פָּנֶיךָ מִמֶּנִּי “hide your face from me”; 13:4 הָאִירָה עֵינַי “lighten my eyes”
  Same nouns (עין/פנים), same discourse function (divine attention), but now inverted roles: in Ps 5 God’s eyes scrutinize the wicked; in Ps 13 God’s face is hidden from the suppliant, and the suppliant’s eyes need light.

Salient lexical/motif correspondences (rare or weighty images)
- Watch/wait → “How long?” The rare verb אֶצַפֶּה “I will watch” (Ps 5:4) sets up an expectation of waiting that Psalm 13 thematizes with the fourfold refrain עַד־אָנָה “How long?” (Ps 13:2–3). Conceptually, Ps 13 reads like the extended experience of the waiting Ps 5 anticipates.
- Death imagery advances from the wicked to the speaker:
  - Ps 5:10 קֶבֶר־פָתוּחַ גְּרוֹנָם “their throat is an open grave” (rare, striking image).
  - Ps 13:4 פֶּן־אִישַׁן הַמָּוֶת “lest I sleep the sleep of death.”
  The deadly realm evoked in Ps 5 now threatens the psalmist himself in Ps 13.
- Joy/exultation contest:
  - Ps 5:12–13 the righteous rejoice: וְיִשְׂמְחוּ… לְעוֹלָם יְרַנֵּנוּ… וְיַעְלְצוּ
  - Ps 13:5 the enemies would rejoice: צָרַי יָגִילוּ; 13:6 the psalmist will rejoice: יָגֵל לִבִּי
  Psalm 13 intensifies the “who gets to rejoice?” motif: first the enemies might exult, then the psalmist does. The move from communal plurals (Ps 5) to personal heart-joy (Ps 13) is a logical narrowing.
- Chesed as the ground of access/trust in both:
  - Ps 5:8 בְּרֹב חַסְדְּךָ אָבוֹא בֵיתֶךָ
  - Ps 13:6 בְּחַסְדְּךָ בָטַחְתִּי
  Same theological anchor (חסד), same syntagm (בְּחַסְדְּךָ), same function (grounds of confidence), different outworking (temple approach vs. heart-trust/‘salvation’).

Form and structure: Psalm 13 recapitulates and compresses Psalm 5’s movement
- Both are individual laments with the classic sequence: invocation → complaint against wicked/oppressors → petition → shift to trust → anticipated praise.
  - Invocation: Ps 5:2–4 “Give ear… listen… you will hear my voice”; Ps 13:4 “Look, answer me, YHWH my God.”
  - Complaint about the wicked/enemies: Ps 5:5–7 Po‘alei-’aven, ish-damim; Ps 13:2–3 “How long…? my enemy… my foes.”
  - Petition: Ps 5:9 “Lead me… make your way straight”; Ps 13:4–5 “Lighten my eyes… lest my enemy say….”
  - Turn to confidence introduced by וַאֲנִי + בְּחַסְדְּךָ in both (see above).
  - Praise/assurance: Ps 5:12–13 blessing, protection, rejoicing; Ps 13:6 “I will sing to YHWH, for he has dealt bountifully with me.”
  Psalm 13 reads like a tight reprise of the longer arc of Psalm 5, with the same hinge language and end-state.

Narrative/time-sequence coherence
- Morning prayer → prolonged waiting → need for renewed help:
  - Ps 5 is a morning liturgy: בֹּקֶר תִּשְׁמַע קוֹלִי… בֹּקֶר אֶעֱרָךְ־לְךָ וְאֶצַּפֶּה (5:4). The suppliant lays out his case/sacrifice and begins to watch.
  - Ps 13 describes what happens when that watching extends without visible answer: “How long…?”; “sorrow in my heart יוֹמָם ‘by day’” (13:3); danger of “sleep of death” (13:4). The diurnal markers (בֹּקֶר vs. יוֹמָם/’sleep’) and the move from hopeful “watching” to “how long?” form a plausible day-in-the-life sequence.
- Temple presence vs. hidden face:
  - Ps 5:8 “I will come into your house… bow toward your holy temple.”
  - Ps 13:2 “Will you hide your face from me?”
  The experience moves from confident access to God’s presence to the anguish of perceived absence; Psalm 13 thus dramatizes the test of the faith articulated in Psalm 5.

Further semantic and syntactic correspondences
- Imperative clusters to secure divine attention: Ps 5 uses listening verbs (הַאֲזִינָה, הַקְשִׁיבָה), Ps 13 uses seeing/light verbs (הַבִּיטָה, הָאִירָה) and עֲנֵנִי. The sensory shift (ears → eyes/face) links with the “before your eyes”/“hide your face” axis across the pair.
- Ethical polarity held across both: Ps 5 contrasts the righteous and the deceitful; Ps 13 keeps the binary (“my enemy/foes” vs. the faithful “I”), but internalizes the struggle as a crisis of trust.

Putting it all together as a “logical sequel”
- Psalm 5 sets the stance: an early-morning plea, confident that God sees, hears, guides, shields, and will cause the righteous to rejoice. It ends with the protective and rejoicing assurances.
- Psalm 13 narrates what happens when the expected answer tarries: the watching turns into “How long?”, God’s face seems hidden, death threatens, and the enemies look ready to claim victory. Yet with the same hinge phrase (וַאֲנִי בְּחַסְדְּךָ) the psalmist reaffirms trust and ends, like Psalm 5, in song.
- The shared lexemes (especially the exact וַאֲנִי בְּחַסְדְּךָ; עין/פנים; אֱלֹהַי), the mirrored joy motif, the morning→waiting/daytime→sleep/death temporal markers, and the identical formal arc together provide a coherent literary case that Psalm 13 can be read as the next movement after Psalm 5.

Evaluation

Score: 2.0

Evaluated at: 2025-11-13T03:57:07 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 3264 Output: 4883 Total: 8147

Vocabulary specificity: 4.0 / 10

Flags: misquote

Cap: factual errors. Superscription not identical (Ps 5:1 adds אל הנחילות). ‘ואני בחסדך’ not identical in Ps 5 (ברב חסדך). Otherwise several specific links, but many are common motifs.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 5 and Psalm 13 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 13 logically follows on from Psalm 5? 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 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׃

Psalm 13:
Psalm 13
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ
        מִזְמ֥וֹר
        לְדָוִֽד׃
2. עַד־
        אָ֣נָה
        יְ֭הוָה
        תִּשְׁכָּחֵ֣נִי
        נֶ֑צַח
        עַד־
        אָ֓נָה ׀
        תַּסְתִּ֖יר
        אֶת־
        פָּנֶ֣יךָ
        מִמֶּֽנִיt
3. עַד־
        אָ֨נָה
        אָשִׁ֪ית
        עֵצ֡וֹת
        בְּנַפְשִׁ֗י
        יָג֣וֹן
        בִּלְבָבִ֣י
        יוֹמָ֑ם
        עַד־
        אָ֓נָה ׀
        יָר֖וּם
        אֹיְבִ֣י
        עָלָֽי׃
4. הַבִּ֣יטָֽה
        עֲ֭נֵנִי
        יְהוָ֣ה
        אֱלֹהָ֑י
        הָאִ֥ירָה
        עֵ֝ינַ֗י
        פֶּן־
        אִישַׁ֥ן
        הַמָּֽוֶת׃
5. פֶּן־
        יֹאמַ֣ר
        אֹיְבִ֣י
        יְכָלְתִּ֑יו
        צָרַ֥י
        יָ֝גִ֗ילוּ
        כִּ֣י
        אֶמּֽוֹט׃
6. וַאֲנִ֤י ׀
        בְּחַסְדְּךָ֣
        בָטַחְתִּי֮
        יָ֤גֵ֥ל
        לִבִּ֗י
        בִּֽישׁוּעָ֫תֶ֥ךָ
        אָשִׁ֥ירָה
        לַיהוָ֑ה
        כִּ֖י
        גָמַ֣ל
        עָלָֽי׃