Psalm 6 → 143
Reasoning: 6976 Output: 4458 Total: 11434
Argument
Here are converging arguments—textual, formal, and thematic—that make Psalm 143 read naturally as a sequel to (or development from) Psalm 6. 1) Genre and structural fit - Both are “individual laments” with the same flow: plea to YHWH → reasons/motivation → appeal to God’s covenant qualities → request for deliverance from enemies → anticipated reversal for enemies. - Psalm 6 ends with proleptic confidence that YHWH has heard and the enemies will be shamed (vv. 9–11). Psalm 143 picks that up by reopening the plea on the basis of God’s hearing and moving toward the same outcome (vv. 1, 12). This is a familiar lament “two-step”: assurance spoken in faith, followed by renewed petition as the crisis persists. 2) Night-to-morning seam (narrative time progression) - Psalm 6 is set in the long night of anguish: “All night I make my bed swim…with my tears” (v. 7). - Psalm 143 asks for the morning after: “Make me hear in the morning your steadfast love” (143:8). - This is a liturgical life-pattern in Israel: night-weeping/morning-chesed. Reading 143 after 6 yields a natural temporal progression—night lament (Ps 6) followed by dawn-seeking (Ps 143). 3) Identical or near-identical vocabulary (highest weight: identical forms) - תפילתי “my prayer”: Ps 6:10; Ps 143:1 (identical form). - חסדך “your steadfast love”: Ps 6:5; Ps 143:8, 12 (identical form, and highly programmatic in both). - כל צוררי “all my adversaries”: Ps 6:8; Ps 143:12 (same string, in 143 with נפשי added; adversary-term repeated). - שמע + יהוה + תפילה/תחנה: Ps 6:9–10 “שמע יהוה קולי/תחנתי… תפלתי יקח”; Ps 143:1 “יהוה שמע תפילתי… האזינה אל־תחנוני.” Same roots and collocation (שמע + תפילה/תחנה), even the same two nouns for prayer. - נפשי as the focal object of deliverance: Ps 6:4–5 “ונפשי נבהלה… חלצה נפשי”; Ps 143 passim (vv. 3, 6, 8, 11, 12). The repetition of נפש as the threatened/lifted life unifies both laments. 4) Same roots, same word-classes (next weight) - חנן “be gracious”: Ps 6:3 חנני; Ps 6:10 תחנתי; Ps 143:1 תחנוני. Same root in verb and cognate noun, same prayer register. - שמע “hear”: Ps 6:9–10 שָׁמַע; Ps 143:1 שְׁמַע; 143:8 הַשְׁמִיעֵנִי (Hiphil). Hearing/causing to hear frames both laments. - זכר “remember”: Ps 6:6 “in death there is no remembrance of you”; Ps 143:5 “I remembered (זכרתי) days of old.” The pivot is memory: Ps 6 warns that if he dies he cannot remember/thank; Ps 143 actively remembers God’s works, matching that logic. - ישׁ/אין תודה/זכר vs. ירדי בור/מתי עולם: Ps 6:6–7 (שְׁאוֹל, no remembrance/no thanks); Ps 143:3, 7 (במחשכים, כמתי עולם; עם־ירדי בור). Different lexemes, same death-world field (Sheol/pit/darkness/ancient dead). 5) Shared motifs and formulas (semantically tight parallels) - “Do not punish/judge me”: Ps 6:2 “Do not rebuke me in your anger… nor chasten me in your wrath”; Ps 143:2 “Do not enter into judgment with your servant.” Both begin with a negative plea aimed at God’s judicial/disciplinary action, shifting the ground to mercy. - The basis clause “for the sake of…”: Ps 6:5 “Save me for the sake of your חסד”; Ps 143:11 “For the sake of your Name… in your צדקה bring my soul out of distress,” and 143:12 “In your חסד annihilate my enemies.” Both anchor appeal in God’s character (חסד, plus שמך/צדקה in 143). - Body-and-soul collapse: Ps 6:3 “my bones are terrified,” 6:4 “my soul is greatly terrified,” 6:8 “my eye is wasted”; Ps 143:4 “my spirit is overwhelmed… my heart within me is appalled,” 143:7 “my spirit fails.” Multi-level internal disintegration in both. - Enemies and their reversal: Ps 6:8–11 “all my enemies… let them turn back… be ashamed suddenly”; Ps 143:3, 12 “the enemy has pursued my soul… in your חסד destroy my enemies; you will annihilate all my adversaries.” Same plot: persecuting foes → divine reversal. 6) Form-critical echoes that read like continuation - Psalm 6 ends with a confidence formula: “YHWH has heard…” (vv. 9–10). Such confidence statements often function proleptically. Psalm 143’s opening plea “YHWH, hear my prayer” (143:1) can be heard as the renewed invocation that follows that proleptic trust—i.e., the faith of Ps 6 is now exercised again in Ps 143. - Psalm 143 adds the pedagogical/transformative petition (“Teach me to do your will… your good Spirit lead me,” 143:10). That looks like the next spiritual step after the raw cry of Ps 6: from being spared under wrath (Ps 6) to being guided in righteousness (Ps 143). It is a logical follow-on in covenant life: deliver me → now form me. 7) Life-pattern and cultic plausibility - Night vigil to morning petition (6 → 143) matches daily temple rhythms (night anguish; morning appeal to חסד, with guidance for the day, 143:8–10). - Both psalms are counted among the seven “penitential psalms” (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143). In that traditional sequence, 143 intentionally reprises earlier Davidic lament language (including Ps 6) to culminate the penitential arc with guidance and total enemy reversal. 8) Rarity/weight notes - The exact collocation כל־צוררי in both (6:8; 143:12) and the identical possessive forms תפילתי and חסדך carry high weight under your criteria (identical forms). - The matching prayer-noun pair תפילה/תחנה and the triad of appeal-attributes חסד/אמת/צדקה (explicit in Ps 143:1, 8, 11–12; חסד explicit in Ps 6:5) are key covenantal markers; when these cluster, they strongly suggest deliberate intertextuality. - The death-domain vocabulary—שאול (6) vs. מחשכים/מתי עולם/בור (143)—is not everyday diction; the convergence is significant even when the exact lexemes differ. Putting it together as a “logical follow-on” - Content flow: Psalm 6 pleads for mercy under divine anger, in a night of bodily and psychic collapse, arguing that death would silence praise. Psalm 143 resumes that plight, now explicitly naming the legal/judicial danger and enemy pressure, while carrying forward the same reasons (God’s character; the nearness of death). It then advances the response: morning trust, guidance by God’s good Spirit, and comprehensive reversal for enemies. - Lexical stitching: identical forms (תפילתי, חסדך, כל־צוררי), the same prayer vocabulary and hearing motif (שמע/השמיעני; תפילה/תחנה), and the same “for the sake of [divine attribute]” basis knot the two psalms together. - Liturgical time: the “night” of Psalm 6 sets up the “morning חסד” of Psalm 143. On these grounds—form, diction, motifs, and liturgical logic—Psalm 143 reads naturally as a sequel to Psalm 6.
Evaluation
Score: 6.0
Evaluated at: 2025-11-22T04:13:52 (UTC)
Evaluator model: gpt-5
Evaluator version: v2
Reasoning: 3904 Output: 5275 Total: 9179
Checklist
- Has verse refs: Yes
- Factual error detected: No
- Only generic motifs: No
- Counterargument considered: No
- LXX/MT numbering acknowledged: No
Vocabulary specificity: 3.5 / 10
Accurate, multiple verse-anchored links (night→morning; hearing/prayer; judgment/mercy; enemies). Yet most diction/motifs are common lament features; no editorial markers or unique signals. No caps applied.
Prompt
Consider Psalm 6 and Psalm 143 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 143 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 143:
Psalm 143
1. מִזְמ֗וֹר
לְדָ֫וִ֥ד
יְהוָ֤ה ׀
שְׁמַ֬ע
תְּפִלָּתִ֗י
הַאֲזִ֥ינָה
אֶל־
תַּחֲנוּנַ֑י
בֶּאֱמֻנָתְךָ֥
עֲ֝נֵ֗נִי
בְּצִדְקָתֶֽךָ׃
2. וְאַל־
תָּב֣וֹא
בְ֭מִשְׁפָּט
אֶת־
עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ
כִּ֤י
לֹֽא־
יִצְדַּ֖ק
לְפָנֶ֣יךָ
כָל־
חָֽי׃
3. כִּ֥י
רָ֘דַ֤ף
אוֹיֵ֨ב ׀
נַפְשִׁ֗י
דִּכָּ֣א
לָ֭אָרֶץ
חַיָּתִ֑י
הוֹשִׁיבַ֥נִי
בְ֝מַחֲשַׁכִּ֗ים
כְּמֵתֵ֥י
עוֹלָֽם׃
4. וַתִּתְעַטֵּ֣ף
עָלַ֣י
רוּחִ֑י
בְּ֝תוֹכִ֗י
יִשְׁתּוֹמֵ֥ם
לִבִּֽי׃
5. זָ֘כַ֤רְתִּי
יָמִ֨ים ׀
מִקֶּ֗דֶם
הָגִ֥יתִי
בְכָל־
פָּעֳלֶ֑ךָ
בְּֽמַעֲשֵׂ֖ה
יָדֶ֣יךָ
אֲשׂוֹחֵֽחַ׃
6. פֵּרַ֣שְׂתִּי
יָדַ֣י
אֵלֶ֑יךָ
נַפְשִׁ֓י ׀
כְּאֶֽרֶץ־
עֲיֵפָ֖ה
לְךָ֣
סֶֽלָה׃
7. מַ֘הֵ֤ר
עֲנֵ֨נִי ׀
יְהוָה֮
כָּלְתָ֢ה
ר֫וּחִ֥י
אַל־
תַּסְתֵּ֣ר
פָּנֶ֣יךָ
מִמֶּ֑נִּי
וְ֝נִמְשַׁ֗לְתִּי
עִם־
יֹ֥רְדֵי
בֽוֹר׃
8. הַשְׁמִ֘יעֵ֤נִי
בַבֹּ֨קֶר ׀
חַסְדֶּךָ֮
כִּֽי־
בְךָ֢
בָ֫טָ֥חְתִּי
הוֹדִיעֵ֗נִי
דֶּֽרֶךְ־
ז֥וּ
אֵלֵ֑ךְ
כִּֽי־
אֵ֝לֶיךָ
נָשָׂ֥אתִי
נַפְשִֽׁי׃
9. הַצִּילֵ֖נִי
מֵאֹיְבַ֥י ׀
יְהוָ֗ה
אֵלֶ֥יךָ
כִסִּֽתִי׃
10. לַמְּדֵ֤נִי ׀
לַֽעֲשׂ֣וֹת
רְצוֹנֶךָ֮
כִּֽי־
אַתָּ֢ה
אֱל֫וֹהָ֥י
רוּחֲךָ֥
טוֹבָ֑ה
תַּ֝נְחֵ֗נִי
בְּאֶ֣רֶץ
מִישֽׁוֹר׃
11. לְמַֽעַן־
שִׁמְךָ֣
יְהוָ֣ה
תְּחַיֵּ֑נִי
בְּצִדְקָתְךָ֓ ׀
תּוֹצִ֖יא
מִצָּרָ֣ה
נַפְשִֽׁי׃
12. וּֽבְחַסְדְּךָ֮
תַּצְמִ֢ית
אֹ֫יְבָ֥י
וְֽ֭הַאֲבַדְתָּ
כָּל־
צֹרֲרֵ֣י
נַפְשִׁ֑י
כִּ֝֗י
אֲנִ֣י
עַבְדֶּֽךָ׃