Psalm 6 → 118

Reasoning: 8512 Output: 5617 Total: 14129

Argument

Short thesis
Read together, Psalm 6 (an individual lament under divine discipline, near to death) and Psalm 118 (a public thanksgiving with procession into the temple) form a classic two‑step sequence in Israelite worship: crisis and plea → deliverance and thanksgiving. This is supported by matches in form, repeated and rarer lexemes or roots (often in the same stems), and by a realistic liturgical “life cycle”: recovery from mortal danger followed by a thanksgiving offering at the sanctuary.

1) Form and life-setting (Gattung) link
- Ps 6 is an Individual Lament: complaint, plea, argument, and a closing confidence formula (vv. 9–11: “YHWH has heard…”).
- Ps 118 is a Thanksgiving/Processional Psalm: corporate call-and-response (vv. 1–4), an “I”-testimony of distress and divine answer (vv. 5–18), entry to the temple gates and sacrifice (vv. 19–27), and communal doxology (v. 29).
- Israelite practice: after deliverance from mortal danger (illness/assailants), one brought a thanksgiving offering (todah) to the temple (cf. Lev 7:11–15). Ps 118 literally narrates this: “Open for me the gates of righteousness… I will enter… I will give thanks (אודה)” (vv. 19–21), “Bind the festival-offering to the horns of the altar” (v. 27). This is exactly what Ps 6 implies as the hoped-for outcome: “In death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give thanks (מי יודה) to you?” (6:6). The second psalm supplies the thanksgiving the first says is impossible if the suppliant dies.

2) Strong lexical and morphological anchors (rarer/weightier items first)
- Discipline (יסר, Piel with 1cs suffix):
  - Ps 6:2 אל… בחמתך תיסרני “Do not discipline me in your wrath” (תיסרני).
  - Ps 118:18 יסר יסרני יה “Yah has indeed disciplined me” (יסרני).
  Same root, same stem (Piel), same pronominal suffix – the crisis (“do not discipline in wrath”) is retrospectively acknowledged (“he did discipline me”) but with a life-preserving outcome.
- Death (מות):
  - Ps 6:6 אין במות זכרך “In death there is no remembrance of you.”
  - Ps 118:17–18 לא אמות כי אחיה… ולמות לא נתנני “I shall not die but live… he did not give me over to death.”
  Same root and explicit reversal of the earlier fear.
- Salvation (ישע, Hifil):
  - Ps 6:5 הושיעני “Save me” (2ms Hifil imperative + 1cs suffix).
  - Ps 118:14–15, 21, 25 לישועה; הושיעה נא (2ms Hifil imperative + נא); “He became my salvation,” “save, please.”
  Same root; same imperative stem; the petition of Ps 6 is both confessed as granted (הייתה לי לישועה) and still voiced liturgically (הושיעה נא).
- Thanksgiving (ידה, Hifil = “give thanks/praise”):
  - Ps 6:6 בשאול מי יודה לך “In Sheol, who will thank you?”
  - Ps 118:19, 21 אוֹדֶה/אוֹדְךָ “I will thank…,” “I thank you for you have answered me.”
  Same root, same Hifil function; Ps 118 is the realized “thanks” Ps 6 argues he cannot render if he dies.
- Voice (קול) as an explicit reversal:
  - Ps 6:9 קול בכי “the sound of my weeping.”
  - Ps 118:15 קול רנה וישועה “the sound of rejoicing and salvation.”
  Identical noun; opposite complements (weeping → rejoicing/salvation).
- Answer/hearing pair:
  - Ps 6:9–10 שמע יהוה… תחינתי… תפלתי יקח “YHWH has heard my supplication… will receive my prayer.”
  - Ps 118:5, 21 ענני… עניתני “He answered me.”
  Different roots (שמע vs. ענה), but the stock lament → thanksgiving progression is explicit: what was asked to be “heard” is later reported as “answered.”
- Enemies reversed:
  - Ps 6:11 יבשו ויבהלו מאד כל איבי… ישובו יבשו רגע “All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly dismayed; they shall turn back, be ashamed in a moment.”
  - Ps 118:7, 10–12, 13 ארעה בשונאי; כל גוים סבבוני… בשם יהוה כי אמילם; דחה דחיתני לנפל ויהוה עזרני “I will look upon my haters; all nations surrounded me… in the name of YHWH I cut them off; you pushed me to fall, but YHWH helped me.”
  Not the same roots throughout, but the same outcome: hostile pressure reversed, vindication secured.

3) Idea and motif development (problem → resolution)
- Near death → preserved life:
  - Ps 6: terror, bones and soul “dismayed” (נבהלו), tears on the bed, the specter of Sheol.
  - Ps 118: “YHWH is for me; I will not fear… I shall not die but live,” “YHWH helped me,” “YHWH’s right hand does valiantly.”
- Under wrath vs. under hesed:
  - Ps 6:2–5 “not in your anger,” “save me for the sake of your hesed (למען חסדך).”
  - Ps 118: refrain “כי לעולם חסדו” (four times vv. 1–4; and v. 29).
  The appeal to hesed in Ps 6 becomes the public refrain announcing its permanence in Ps 118.
- “Who will thank you if I die?” → “I will recount/thank”:
  - Ps 6:6 doubts any praise if dead.
  - Ps 118:17 “I shall… tell (ואספר) the deeds of Yah,” 19–21 repeated “I will thank (אודה).”
- Turning cries to liturgy:
  - Ps 6: “Return (שובה), deliver me (חלצה נפשי), save me (הושיעני).”
  - Ps 118: corporate summons to praise (vv. 1–4), processional dialogue (vv. 19–27), and festival action (“Bind the festival offering,” v. 27).

4) Stylistic and structural similarities
- Direct address and shift to audience:
  - Both address YHWH in 2nd person, then pivot to others. Ps 6:9 “Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity” (addressing opponents). Ps 118:2–4 calls Israel, the house of Aaron, and the God‑fearers to speak; v. 26 blesses the arriving procession.
- Intensifying repetitions:
  - Ps 6 repeats “YHWH” and “שמע” in the assurance section.
  - Ps 118 uses refrains: “כי לעולם חסדו” (vv. 1–4, 29); “בשם יהוה כי אמילם” (vv. 10–12); “ימין יהוה…” (vv. 15–16); “אודך… היית לי לישועה” (vv. 21–22).
- Musical frame:
  - Ps 6 superscription “בנגינות… על השמינית” implies performance; Ps 118 is saturated with song language: “עזי וזמרת יה” (v. 14), “קול רנה” (v. 15), and was used liturgically (Hallel). Both are “performance-ready” texts.

5) Mythic-historical coloration that fits a sequel
- Ps 118 echoes the Exodus victory hymn (“עזי וזמרת יה… ויהי לי לישועה,” cf. Exod 15:2) and “YHWH’s right hand” as holy-war deliverance; the individual’s rescue in Ps 6 is thus recast in national salvation imagery as he brings his thanksgiving to the temple. This is a known psalmic move: personal deliverance narrated with Exodus language, then celebrated corporately.
- The “gates of righteousness… the house of YHWH… the altar’s horns” (vv. 19–27) are precisely where one would fulfill vows promised during a crisis like that of Ps 6 (cf. Ps 66; 116 for the same pattern).

6) Particularly strong point-for-point answers (tightest “logic of sequence”)
- Ps 6: “אל… תיסרני” → Ps 118: “יסר יסרני… ולמות לא נתנני.”
- Ps 6: “אין במות זכרך; בשאול מי יודה לך” → Ps 118: “לא אמות כי אחיה ואספר… אודך כי עניתני.”
- Ps 6: “הושיעני למען חסדך” → Ps 118: “כי לעולם חסדו,” “הושיעה נא,” and “ויהי לי לישועה.”
- Ps 6: “קול בכי” → Ps 118: “קול רנה וישועה.”
- Ps 6: “יבשו… כל אויבי” → Ps 118: “אראה בשונאי,” “בשם יהוה כי אמילם.”

Bottom line
Even though the two psalms are far apart in the canonical order, the cluster of shared and relatively weighty elements (same roots and stems for יסר and ישע; the מות/חיים polarity; ידה/praise as the explicit answer to “who will thank you?”; and the movement from “voice of weeping” to “voice of rejoicing”) plus the temple‑processional thanksgiving in Psalm 118 provide a coherent argument that Psalm 118 can be read as the logical sequel to Psalm 6: the promised/anticipated thanksgiving that follows a near‑death crisis under divine discipline from which YHWH, for the sake of his steadfast love, has saved the suppliant.

Evaluation

Score: 6.5

Evaluated at: 2025-11-22T03:38:03 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 3200 Output: 6437 Total: 9637

Vocabulary specificity: 6.0 / 10

Multiple precise root/stem links (יסר Piel 1cs; מות→חיים; ידה/ישע; קול בכי→קול רנה) and coherent todah sequel, but no editorial marker; motifs common; counterpoints not addressed.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 6 and Psalm 118 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 118 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 118:
Psalm 118
1. הוֹד֣וּ
        לַיהוָ֣ה
        כִּי־
        ט֑וֹב
        כִּ֖י
        לְעוֹלָ֣ם
        חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
2. יֹֽאמַר־
        נָ֥א
        יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל
        כִּ֖י
        לְעוֹלָ֣ם
        חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
3. יֹֽאמְרוּ־
        נָ֥א
        בֵֽית־
        אַהֲרֹ֑ן
        כִּ֖י
        לְעוֹלָ֣ם
        חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
4. יֹֽאמְרוּ־
        נָ֭א
        יִרְאֵ֣י
        יְהוָ֑ה
        כִּ֖י
        לְעוֹלָ֣ם
        חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
5. מִֽן־
        הַ֭מֵּצַ֥ר
        קָרָ֣אתִי
        יָּ֑הּ
        עָנָ֖נִי
        בַמֶּרְחָ֣ב
        יָֽהּ׃
6. יְהוָ֣ה
        לִ֭י
        לֹ֣א
        אִירָ֑א
        מַה־
        יַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה
        לִ֣י
        אָדָֽם׃
7. יְהוָ֣ה
        לִ֭י
        בְּעֹזְרָ֑י
        וַ֝אֲנִ֗י
        אֶרְאֶ֥ה
        בְשֹׂנְאָֽי׃
8. ט֗וֹב
        לַחֲס֥וֹת
        בַּיהוָ֑ה
        מִ֝בְּטֹ֗חַ
        בָּאָדָֽם׃
9. ט֗וֹב
        לַחֲס֥וֹת
        בַּיהוָ֑ה
        מִ֝בְּטֹ֗חַ
        בִּנְדִיבִֽים׃
10. כָּל־
        גּוֹיִ֥ם
        סְבָב֑וּנִי
        בְּשֵׁ֥ם
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        כִּ֣י
        אֲמִילַֽם׃
11. סַבּ֥וּנִי
        גַם־
        סְבָב֑וּנִי
        בְּשֵׁ֥ם
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        כִּ֣י
        אֲמִילַֽם׃
12. סַבּ֤וּנִי
        כִדְבוֹרִ֗ים
        דֹּ֭עֲכוּ
        כְּאֵ֣שׁ
        קוֹצִ֑ים
        בְּשֵׁ֥ם
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        כִּ֣י
        אֲמִילַֽם׃
13. דַּחֹ֣ה
        דְחִיתַ֣נִי
        לִנְפֹּ֑ל
        וַ֖יהוָ֣ה
        עֲזָרָֽנִי׃
14. עָזִּ֣י
        וְזִמְרָ֣ת
        יָ֑הּ
        וַֽיְהִי־
        לִ֝֗י
        לִֽישׁוּעָֽה׃
15. ק֤וֹל ׀
        רִנָּ֬ה
        וִֽישׁוּעָ֗ה
        בְּאָהֳלֵ֥י
        צַדִּיקִ֑ים
        יְמִ֥ין
        יְ֝הוָה
        עֹ֣שָׂה
        חָֽיִל׃
16. יְמִ֣ין
        יְ֭הוָה
        רוֹמֵמָ֑ה
        יְמִ֥ין
        יְ֝הוָה
        עֹ֣שָׂה
        חָֽיִל׃
17. לֹֽא
        אָמ֥וּת
        כִּי־
        אֶֽחְיֶ֑ה
        וַ֝אֲסַפֵּ֗ר
        מַֽעֲשֵׂ֥י
        יָֽהּ׃
18. יַסֹּ֣ר
        יִסְּרַ֣נִּי
        יָּ֑הּ
        וְ֝לַמָּ֗וֶת
        לֹ֣א
        נְתָנָֽנִי׃
19. פִּתְחוּ־
        לִ֥י
        שַׁעֲרֵי־
        צֶ֑דֶק
        אָֽבֹא־
        בָ֝ם
        אוֹדֶ֥ה
        יָֽהּ׃
20. זֶֽה־
        הַשַּׁ֥עַר
        לַיהוָ֑ה
        צַ֝דִּיקִ֗ים
        יָבֹ֥אוּ
        בֽוֹ׃
21. א֭וֹדְךָ
        כִּ֣י
        עֲנִיתָ֑נִי
        וַתְּהִי־
        לִ֝֗י
        לִֽישׁוּעָֽה׃
22. אֶ֭בֶן
        מָאֲס֣וּ
        הַבּוֹנִ֑ים
        הָ֝יְתָ֗ה
        לְרֹ֣אשׁ
        פִּנָּֽה׃
23. מֵאֵ֣ת
        יְ֭הוָה
        הָ֣יְתָה
        זֹּ֑את
        הִ֖יא
        נִפְלָ֣את
        בְּעֵינֵֽינוּ׃
24. זֶה־
        הַ֭יּוֹם
        עָשָׂ֣ה
        יְהוָ֑ה
        נָגִ֖ילָה
        וְנִשְׂמְחָ֣ה
        בֽוֹ׃
25. אָֽנָּ֣א
        יְ֭הוָה
        הוֹשִׁ֘יעָ֥ה
        נָּ֑א
        אָֽנָּ֥א
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        הַצְלִ֘יחָ֥ה
        נָּֽא׃
26. בָּר֣וּךְ
        הַ֭בָּא
        בְּשֵׁ֣ם
        יְהוָ֑ה
        בֵּ֝רַֽכְנוּכֶ֗ם
        מִבֵּ֥ית
        יְהוָֽה׃
27. אֵ֤ל ׀
        יְהוָה֮
        וַיָּ֢אֶ֫ר
        לָ֥נוּ
        אִסְרוּ־
        חַ֥ג
        בַּעֲבֹתִ֑ים
        עַד־
        קַ֝רְנ֗וֹת
        הַמִּזְבֵּֽחַ׃
28. אֵלִ֣י
        אַתָּ֣ה
        וְאוֹדֶ֑ךָּ
        אֱ֝לֹהַ֗י
        אֲרוֹמְמֶֽךָּ׃
29. הוֹד֣וּ
        לַיהוָ֣ה
        כִּי־
        ט֑וֹב
        כִּ֖י
        לְעוֹלָ֣ם
        חַסְדּֽוֹ׃