Psalm 5 → 15

Reasoning: 6464 Output: 4408 Total: 10872

Argument

Here are lines of argument—textual, stylistic, lexical, thematic, and ritual—that can justify reading Psalm 15 as a logical follow‑on to Psalm 5.

Temple movement and ritual sequence
- From morning prayer to entrance liturgy: Psalm 5 is an individual’s morning prayer anticipating worship (“בֹּקֶר תִּשְׁמַע קוֹלִי… בְּרֹב חַסְדְּךָ אָבוֹא בֵיתֶךָ; אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה… אֶל־הֵיכַל קָדְשֶׁךָ” 5:4,8). Psalm 15 is a classic “entrance liturgy” (cf. Ps 24) asking who may be admitted to the sanctuary (“יְהוָה מִי־יָגוּר בְּאָהֳלֶךָ מִי־יִשְׁכֹּן בְּהַר קָדְשֶׁךָ” 15:1). So 5 → 15 matches an ancient worship day: morning petition → approach to gates → qualification for entry.
- Same sacred space, different vantage: Psalm 5 speaks of entering “בֵיתֶךָ … הֵיכַל־קָדְשֶׁךָ”; Psalm 15 names the same locus with other cultic terms “אָהֳלֶךָ … הַר קָדְשֶׁךָ.” Both share “קָדְשֶׁךָ,” signaling the same holy domain from house/temple to tent/mountain.

A rare and decisive lexical hook: גור “to sojourn, dwell”
- Psalm 5: “לֹא יְגֻרְךָ רָע” (5:5[6])—evil cannot sojourn with you.
- Psalm 15: “מִי־יָגוּר בְּאָהֳלֶךָ” (15:1)—who may sojourn in your tent?
- Identical root, identical stem (Qal yiqtol), same semantic field, and in both cases the subject is “with/near you.” Psalm 5 states who cannot dwell with YHWH; Psalm 15 asks who can. This is the strongest textual seam.

Mirror vocabulary: negative in Ps 5 answered by positive in Ps 15
- Speech ethics:
  - Ps 5: “דֹּבְרֵי כָזָב” (5:7), “לְשׁוֹנָם יַחֲלִיקוּן” (5:10).
  - Ps 15: “וְדֹבֵר אֱמֶת בִּלְבָבוֹ” (15:2), “לֹא־רָגַל עַל־לְשֹׁנוֹ” (15:3).
  - Same roots and word classes (דבר; לשון). Ps 5 condemns speakers of lies and smooth tongues; Ps 15 requires truth-in-heart and no slander.
- Moral agency with פעל:
  - Ps 5: “פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן” (5:6).
  - Ps 15: “וּפֹעֵל צֶדֶק” (15:2).
  - Same participle of פעל; direct antonyms (אָוֶן vs צֶדֶק).
- Righteousness צ־ד־ק:
  - Ps 5: “נְחֵנִי בְצִדְקָתֶךָ… הַיְשַׁר לְפָנַי דַּרְכֶּךָ” (5:9).
  - Ps 15: “וּפֹעֵל צֶדֶק” (15:2).
  - Ps 5 asks to be led on God’s righteous way; Ps 15 describes the person who does righteousness.
- Fear of YHWH י־ר־א:
  - Ps 5: “אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה… בְּיִרְאָתֶךָ” (5:8).
  - Ps 15: “אֶת־יִרְאֵי יְהוָה יְכַבֵּד” (15:4).
  - The worshipper in Ps 5 fears YHWH; the qualified entrant in Ps 15 honors those who fear YHWH.
- “Before the eyes”:
  - Ps 5: “לֹא־יִתְיַצְּבוּ הוֹלְלִים לְנֶגֶד עֵינֶיךָ” (5:6[5]).
  - Ps 15: “נִבְזֶה בְּעֵינָיו נִמְאָס” (15:4).
  - Divine evaluation in Ps 5 and the righteous person’s evaluation in Ps 15 align.

Path and walk imagery
- Ps 5: “הַיְשַׁר לְפָנַי דַּרְכֶּךָ” (5:9), guidance on the right way.
- Ps 15: “הוֹלֵךְ תָּמִים” (15:2), a walker who is blameless.
- The petition for right guidance in 5 becomes the profile of the right walker in 15.

Ethical inversions: From what YHWH hates to what the righteous loves
- Ps 5 catalogs what YHWH rejects: “פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן,” “דֹּבְרֵי כָזָב,” “אִישׁ דָּמִים וּמִרְמָה” (5:6–7).
- Ps 15 catalogs what the qualified worshipper rejects or refrains from: no slander, no harm to a neighbor, no reproach to a kinsman, no usury, no bribe (15:3,5). He honors “יִרְאֵי יְהוָה” (15:4). The worshipper’s ethics mirror God’s preferences stated in Ps 5.

Sanctuary lexemes in parallel
- Ps 5: “בֵיתֶךָ… הֵיכַל־קָדְשֶׁךָ.”
- Ps 15: “אָהֳלֶךָ… הַר קָדְשֶׁךָ.”
- Shared “קָדְשֶׁךָ” with identical suffix; varied but synonymous sanctuary terms heighten the continuity of setting.

Outcomes for the righteous: protection and stability
- Ps 5: “וְיִשְׂמְחוּ כָּל־חוֹסֵי בָךְ… וְתָסֵךְ עָלֵימוֹ… כַּצִּנָּה רָצוֹן תַּעְטְרֶנּוּ… תְּבָרֵךְ צַדִּיק” (5:12–13).
- Ps 15: “עוֹשֵׂה־אֵלֶּה לֹא יִמּוֹט לְעוֹלָם” (15:5).
- Different images, same promise: the righteous receive divine security. Note the shared “לְעוֹלָם” (5:12; 15:5).

Fate of the wicked vs immovability of the righteous
- Ps 5 prays: “יִפְּלוּ מִמֹּעֲצוֹתֵיהֶם” (5:11)—let them fall.
- Ps 15 promises: “לֹא יִמּוֹט לְעוֹלָם”—shall not be moved.
- Contrasting motion verbs (fall vs not be moved) frame the two psalms’ moral polarity.

Interiority of speech
- Ps 5: “בִּינָה הֲגִיגִי” (5:2)—the inner meditation.
- Ps 15: “דֹבֵר אֱמֶת בִּלְבָבוֹ” (15:2)—truth in his heart.
- Both are concerned with the inner source of words, not only their outward form.

Stylistic affinities
- Both are “מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד.”
- Both move from direct address to YHWH to generalized moral description.
- Both deploy strings of participles to typify a class (Ps 5 for the wicked: דֹּבְרֵי, פֹּעֲלֵי; Ps 15 for the righteous: הוֹלֵךְ, פֹּעֵל, דֹבֵר).

Life-setting fit in ancient Israel
- A worshipper rises at dawn (Ps 5), prays for guidance, approaches the sanctuary, and is evaluated at the gate by an entrance catechism (Ps 15). This dovetails with known ancient Near Eastern and Israelite temple routines and is paralleled by Ps 24’s gate dialogue.

Why these links are strong under your weighting
- Rare/shared roots and identical forms carry most weight:
  - גור appears in both with near-identical form and meaning, and in a sanctuary frame.
  - Participial parallels with the same verb (פעל) and antonymic complements (אָוֶן vs צֶדֶק) are precise.
  - דבר and לשון recur with matching word classes and opposite moral valence (כזב/חלקות vs אמת/לא רָגַל).
  - Identical “קָדְשֶׁךָ” ties the cultic locale.
- Thematically, Ps 5’s negatives (“who may not dwell with you”) are answered by Ps 15’s positives (“who may dwell with you”).

In sum: Psalm 5 stages the approach—morning plea, resolve to worship, and a declaration that evil cannot dwell with YHWH. Psalm 15 immediately poses the gate question of who, then, may dwell with him and supplies the ethical profile. The shared sanctuary lexicon, the rare-root hook גור, the mirrored participial lists (דוברי כזב / דובר אמת; פועלי און / פועל צדק), the alignment of “eyes,” and the matching outcomes (protection/immovability) make a strong case that Psalm 15 logically follows and complements Psalm 5.

Evaluation

Score: 7.5

Evaluated at: 2025-11-13T03:59:45 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 3328 Output: 5236 Total: 8564

Vocabulary specificity: 6.5 / 10

Strong גור seam (5:5; 15:1), mirrored participles (פועלי און/פועל צדק), speech‑ethics contrasts, shared sanctuary lexemes and ritual progression. Yet overlaps are common and psalms aren’t adjacent—persuasive but not decisive.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 5 and Psalm 15 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 15 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 15:
Psalm 15
1. מִזְמ֗וֹר
        לְדָ֫וִ֥ד
        י֭הֹוָה
        מִי־
        יָג֣וּר
        בְּאָהֳלֶ֑ךָ
        מִֽי־
        יִ֝שְׁכֹּ֗ן
        בְּהַ֣ר
        קָדְשֶֽׁךָ׃
2. הוֹלֵ֣ךְ
        תָּ֭מִים
        וּפֹעֵ֥ל
        צֶ֑דֶק
        וְדֹבֵ֥ר
        אֱ֝מֶ֗ת
        בִּלְבָֽבוֹ׃
3. לֹֽא־
        רָגַ֨ל ׀
        עַל־
        לְשֹׁנ֗וֹ
        לֹא־
        עָשָׂ֣ה
        לְרֵעֵ֣הוּ
        רָעָ֑ה
        וְ֝חֶרְפָּ֗ה
        לֹא־
        נָשָׂ֥א
        עַל־
        קְרֹֽבוֹ׃
4. נִבְזֶ֤ה ׀
        בְּֽעֵ֘ינָ֤יו
        נִמְאָ֗ס
        וְאֶת־
        יִרְאֵ֣י
        יְהוָ֣ה
        יְכַבֵּ֑ד
        נִשְׁבַּ֥ע
        לְ֝הָרַ֗ע
        וְלֹ֣א
        יָמִֽר׃
5. כַּסְפּ֤וֹ ׀
        לֹא־
        נָתַ֣ן
        בְּנֶשֶׁךְ֮
        וְשֹׁ֥חַד
        עַל־
        נָקִ֗י
        לֹ֥א
        לָ֫קָ֥ח
        עֹֽשֵׂה־
        אֵ֑לֶּה
        לֹ֖א
        יִמּ֣וֹט
        לְעוֹלָֽם׃