Psalm 6 → 67

Reasoning: 8320 Output: 3583 Total: 11903

Argument

Here are converging lines of evidence that make Psalm 67 read naturally as what comes after (and answers) Psalm 6.

1) Identical performance setting (rarest shared features first)
- Shared superscription: למנצח בנגינות “For the leader; with stringed instruments” (Ps 6:1; Ps 67:1). This exact pairing is relatively rare and strongly marks the two as belonging to the same performance milieu.
- Both carry the genre term מזמור (Ps 6:1; Ps 67:1). Psalm 67 adds שיר, which often signals a hymn of praise—fitting as a sequel to a lament.

2) Same key verb, almost the same form: חנן “be gracious”
- Ps 6:3 חָנֵּנִי יהוה “Be gracious to me, YHWH.”
- Ps 67:2 אֱלֹהִים יְחָנֵּנוּ “May God be gracious to us.”
- The forms are near-identical (same stem, same vocalization pattern), differing only by person/number suffix: -ני “me” versus -נוּ “us.” That is exactly what you’d expect if a personal plea (Ps 6) moves to a communal blessing (Ps 67).

3) Same salvation root: ישע
- Ps 6:5 הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי “Save me.”
- Ps 67:3 יְשׁוּעָתֶךָ “your salvation.”
- The sequel universalizes what was requested individually: from “save me” to “your salvation” being known “in all nations” (בכל־גוים, 67:3).

4) Psalm 67 explicitly answers Psalm 6’s central rhetorical question about praise
- Ps 6:6 “In death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give thanks to you (מִי יוֹדֶה־לָּךְ)?”
- Ps 67 repeats the very verb and supplies the answer—twice: יוֹד֖וּךָ עַמִּ֥ים ... יוֹד֗וּךָ עַמִּ֥ים כֻּלָּם “Let the peoples thank you… let all the peoples thank you” (67:4, 6).
- Same root ידה, same hifil imperfect form (plural), now fulfilled expansively. The “who will thank you?” of Ps 6 becomes “all peoples will thank you” in Ps 67.

5) Anger withdrawn versus face shining: resolution of divine posture
- Ps 6:2 “Do not reprove me in your anger (בְּאַפְּךָ)… nor discipline me in your wrath (בַּחֲמָתְךָ).”
- Ps 67:2 “May he make his face shine upon us (יָאֵר פָּנָיו).”
- The sequel replaces the posture of wrath with the priestly blessing of favor (Num 6:24–26). Note also the repetition of חנן (see #2). Psalm 6 asks for grace and an end to wrath; Psalm 67 pronounces that grace and shining face.

6) From individual crisis to communal and universal outcome: standard Israelite liturgical sequence
- Formally, Ps 6 is a classic individual lament (complaint + petition + motive clause “for the sake of your hesed” + confidence + enemy-shame). Ps 67 is a communal hymn/blessing (jussives/wishes; refrains; universal scope).
- In temple practice, a lament could be followed by priestly assurance/blessing and public thanksgiving. Psalm 67 opens with the language of the Aaronic/Priestly Blessing (יחננו… יאר פניו), just what you would expect after Psalm 6’s plea for grace.
- The movement “I cried, YHWH heard me” (Ps 6:9–10) to “so that your way be known on earth… the peoples will thank you” (Ps 67:3–4) matches the todah (thank-offering) logic: deliverance → testimony → wider praise.

7) Enemies shamed locally → nations rightly ordered globally
- Ps 6 ends with reversal against personal foes: “Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly dismayed… they shall turn back, be ashamed in a moment” (יבֹשׁוּ ... יָשֻׁבוּ יֵבֹשׁוּ, 6:11).
- Ps 67 places that reversal within just governance for all peoples: “For you judge the peoples with equity (מִישׁוֹר) and guide the nations on earth” (67:5). The personal deliverance of Ps 6 scales up to global rectification and guidance in Ps 67.

8) Purpose clauses that “push forward” the story
- Ps 6:5 הושיעני לְמַעַן חַסְדֶּךָ “Save me for the sake of your hesed.” The salvation has an intended outcome.
- Ps 67:2–3 move straight to that outcome in global terms: “May he be gracious… and make his face shine upon us—so that (understood purpose) your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations (לָדַעַת בארץ דרכך; בכל־גוים ישועתך).”
- The sequel supplies the stated purpose: God’s merciful saving action becomes broadly known and praised.

9) Shared musical world; possible festival linkage
- Both are “with stringed instruments” (בנגינות). Psalm 6 adds על־השמינית, often taken as an eight-stringed setting or lower register—performance detail that locates it with other “string” psalms (e.g., Ps 12, Ps 54).
- Psalm 67 includes harvest language: “The land has yielded its increase” (אֶרֶץ נָתְנָה יְבוּלָהּ, 67:7), which fits a thanksgiving/festival context. While על־השמינית in Ps 6 is probably an instrumental direction, some have seen a possible festival resonance with “eighth” (e.g., Shemini Atzeret following the harvest festival). At minimum, both psalms suit temple use with strings; Ps 6 as supplication, Ps 67 as post-deliverance/harvest praise.

10) Stylistic and structural complementarity
- Both open with petitions (imperatives/jussives) and proceed to a climactic affirmation: in Ps 6, confidence that YHWH has heard (שָׁמַע יְהוָה); in Ps 67, a confident blessing and universal doxology (יְבָרְכֵנוּ אֱלֹהִים … וְיִירְאוּ אֹתוֹ כָּל־אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ).
- Psalm 67’s tight refrain structure (יוֹד֖וּךָ עַמִּ֥ים … יוֹד֗וּךָ עַמִּ֥ים כֻּלָּם, vv. 4, 6) reads like the fulfillment of Psalm 6’s threatened loss of praise in death (כי אין במות זכרך… מי יודה־לך, 6:6).

In short: rare shared performance tag (למנצח בנגינות), near-identical “be gracious” forms (חָנֵּנִי / יְחָנֵּנוּ), the same salvation root (הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי / יְשׁוּעָתֶךָ), and—most decisively—the exact “praise/thank” verb (מי יודה־לך → יודוך עמים) create a lexical and formal chain from a personal lament on the brink of death (Ps 6) to a communal, priestly-blessed hymn where the living nations thank God (Ps 67). Liturgically and theologically, Psalm 67 reads like the intended answer to Psalm 6.

Evaluation

Score: 6.5

Evaluated at: 2025-11-20T04:06:54 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 3712 Output: 4423 Total: 8135

Vocabulary specificity: 4.5 / 10

Solid lexical links: חנני/יחננו; הושיעני/ישועתך; crucially, Ps 6:6 ‘מי יודה־לך?’ answered by Ps 67:4,6 ‘יודוך עמים’. Yet superscription/lexemes are common; no editorial marker or counter-evidence addressed.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 6 and Psalm 67 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 67 logically follows on from Psalm 6? 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 6:
Psalm 6
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֣חַ
        בִּ֭נְגִינוֹת
        עַֽל־
        הַשְּׁמִינִ֗ית
        מִזְמ֥וֹר
        לְדָוִֽד׃
2. יְֽהוָ֗ה
        אַל־
        בְּאַפְּךָ֥
        תוֹכִיחֵ֑נִי
        וְֽאַל־
        בַּחֲמָתְךָ֥
        תְיַסְּרֵֽנִי׃
3. חָנֵּ֥נִי
        יְהוָה֮
        כִּ֤י
        אֻמְלַ֫ל
        אָ֥נִי
        רְפָאֵ֥נִי
        יְהוָ֑ה
        כִּ֖י
        נִבְהֲל֣וּ
        עֲצָֽtמָי׃
4. וְ֭נַפְשִׁי
        נִבְהֲלָ֣ה
        מְאֹ֑ד
        ואת
        וְאַתָּ֥ה
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        עַד־
        מָתָֽי׃
5. שׁוּבָ֣ה
        יְ֭הוָה
        חַלְּצָ֣ה
        נַפְשִׁ֑י
        ה֝וֹשִׁיעֵ֗נִי
        לְמַ֣עַן
        חַסְדֶּֽךָ׃
6. כִּ֤י
        אֵ֣ין
        בַּמָּ֣וֶת
        זִכְרֶ֑ךָ
        בִּ֝שְׁא֗וֹל
        מִ֣י
        יֽוֹדֶה־
        לָּֽךְ׃
7. יָגַ֤עְתִּי ׀
        בְּֽאַנְחָתִ֗י
        אַשְׂחֶ֣ה
        בְכָל־
        לַ֭יְלָה
        מִטָּתִ֑י
        בְּ֝דִמְעָתִ֗י
        עַרְשִׂ֥י
        אַמְסֶֽה׃
8. עָֽשְׁשָׁ֣ה
        מִכַּ֣עַס
        עֵינִ֑י
        עָֽ֝תְקָ֗ה
        בְּכָל־
        צוֹרְרָֽי׃
9. ס֣וּרוּ
        מִ֭מֶּנִּי
        כָּל־
        פֹּ֣עֲלֵי
        אָ֑וֶן
        כִּֽי־
        שָׁמַ֥ע
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        ק֣וֹל
        בִּכְיִֽי׃
10. שָׁמַ֣ע
        יְ֭הוָה
        תְּחִנָּתִ֑י
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        תְּֽפִלָּתִ֥י
        יִקָּֽח׃
11. יֵבֹ֤שׁוּ ׀
        וְיִבָּהֲל֣וּ
        מְ֭אֹד
        כָּל־
        אֹיְבָ֑י
        יָ֝שֻׁ֗בוּ
        יֵבֹ֥שׁוּ
        רָֽגַע׃

Psalm 67:
Psalm 67
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֥ח
        בִּנְגִינֹ֗ת
        מִזְמ֥וֹר
        שִֽׁיר׃
2. אֱtלֹהִ֗ים
        יְחָנֵּ֥נוּ
        וִֽיבָרְכֵ֑נוּ
        יָ֤אֵ֥־cר
        פָּנָ֖יו
        אִתָּ֣נוּ
        סֶֽלָה׃
3. לָדַ֣עַת
        בָּאָ֣רֶץ
        דַּרְכֶּ֑ךָ
        בְּכָל־
        גּ֝וֹיִ֗ם
        יְשׁוּעָתֶֽךָ׃
4. יוֹד֖וּךָ
        עַמִּ֥ים ׀
        אֱלֹהִ֑ים
        י֝וֹד֗וּךָ
        עַמִּ֥ים
        כֻּלָּֽם׃
5. יִֽשְׂמְח֥וּ
        וִֽירַנְּנ֗וּ
        לְאֻ֫מִּ֥ים
        כִּֽי־
        תִשְׁפֹּ֣ט
        עַמִּ֣ים
        מִישׁ֑וֹר
        וּלְאֻמִּ֓ים ׀
        בָּאָ֖רֶץ
        תַּנְחֵ֣ם
        סֶֽלָה׃
6. יוֹד֖וּךָ
        עַמִּ֥ים ׀
        אֱלֹהִ֑ים
        י֝וֹד֗וּךָ
        עַמִּ֥ים
        כֻּלָּֽם׃
7. אֶ֭רֶץ
        נָתְנָ֣ה
        יְבוּלָ֑הּ
        יְ֝בָרְכֵ֗נוּ
        אֱלֹהִ֥ים
        אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃
8. יְבָרְכֵ֥נוּ
        אֱלֹהִ֑ים
        וְיִֽירְא֥וּ
        אֹ֝ת֗וֹ
        כָּל־
        אַפְסֵי־
        אָֽרֶץ׃