Psalm 6 → 147
Reasoning: 6592 Output: 5046 Total: 11638
Argument
Short thesis: Psalm 147 reads naturally as the “answer” to the plea of Psalm 6. Where Psalm 6 is an individual’s night-cry for healing, mercy, and deliverance from death and enemies, Psalm 147 celebrates God’s healing, gathering, providence, and justice—exactly the kinds of outcomes Psalm 6 asks for. The linkage can be argued on form, style, key vocabulary/roots in Hebrew, and shared life-settings. 1) Form and macro-movement - From lament to praise: Ps 6 is an individual lament (cry, complaint, petition, enemies, “How long?”), Ps 147 a communal hymn (hallelujah, calls to sing, catalogue of God’s saving acts). This “lament → praise” arc is the most common psalmic logic. Ps 6:6 argues “In death there is no remembrance/praise of you,” which is fulfilled in Ps 147’s full-throated praise (vv. 1, 7, 12, 20). - From individual to communal: Ps 6 is “I/me,” Ps 147 is “Jerusalem/Zion/Israel.” In Israelite worship, individual deliverance often culminates in communal thanksgiving at the sanctuary. The editorial move from 6 → 147 mirrors that liturgical flow. 2) Strongest lexical/root links (Hebrew; rarer or theologically weighty lexemes first) - חסד (hesed, covenant mercy): Ps 6:5 לְמַעַן חַסְדֶּךָ “save me for the sake of your hesed”; Ps 147:11 הַמְיַחֲלִים לְחַסְדּוֹ “those who hope in his hesed.” Same noun, same theological ground for salvation and praise. This is a high-significance match. - רפא (heal): Ps 6:3 רְפָאֵנִי יְהוָה “heal me, YHWH”; Ps 147:3 הָרֹפֵא לִשְׁבוּרֵי־לֵב “the One who heals the brokenhearted.” Same verbal root, same semantic domain (healing the inner person), and the answer to the plea. High-significance root match. - שוב (turn/return): Ps 6:5 שׁוּבָה יְהוָה “Turn back, YHWH”; Ps 6:11 יָשֻׁבוּ “they shall turn back”; Ps 147:18 יַשֵּׁב רוּחוֹ “he makes his wind return/blow.” Not identical forms but same verb class; Ps 147’s “return” of wind that melts ice functions as a cosmic image for God’s restorative “turning,” complementing Ps 6’s petition for YHWH to “turn back.” - Enemies reversed: Ps 6:8–11 speaks of “workers of iniquity” and enemies who will be ashamed and dismayed; Ps 147:6 מַשְׁפִּיל רְשָׁעִים “he casts the wicked down.” Different lexemes (אָוֶן vs. רְשָׁע) but the same theme and outcome: the psalmist’s enemies in 6 meet the broad fate of the wicked in 147. - Prayer → divine word: Ps 6:9–10 stresses God hearing/accepting the suppliant’s prayer (שָׁמַע יְהוָה … תְּחִנָּתִי … תְּפִלָּתִי יִקָּח). Ps 147 reverses the communication current: God’s word now goes out powerfully (15–19: אִמְרָתוֹ, דְּבָרוֹ, מַגִּיד דְּבָרָיו). The human plea of 6 is met by the effective divine word of 147. 3) Thematic continuities and resolutions - From near-death to praise: Ps 6:6 “In death (מָוֶת) there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will praise you?” Ps 147 opens and closes with Hallelu‑Yah, calls to sing (1, 7, 12), and asserts that praise is fitting (נָאוָה תְהִלָּה, 147:1)—a realized outcome of Ps 6’s logic for deliverance. - Healing the person → healing the community: Ps 6 centers on a sick, terrified individual (אֻמְלַל, נִבְהֲלוּ עֲצָמַי, נַפְשִׁי נִבְהֲלָה). Ps 147 universalizes the same grace: God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (147:3), then extends restoration to the nation (בּוֹנֵה יְרוּשָׁלִַם … נִדְחֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יְכַנֵּס, vv. 2–6). - Reversal and stability: Ps 6 longs for relief from turmoil (tears by night, failing eyes). Ps 147 depicts creation and society re‑ordered: rain given, grass sprouting, beasts fed, borders set in shalom, wheat abundance (vv. 8–14). The chaos of Ps 6 is answered by comprehensive order in Ps 147. - Who gets God’s favor: Ps 6 argues from hesed; Ps 147 makes it explicit—God does not delight in horse or human strength (10), but in those who fear him and hope in his hesed (11). Ps 6 is precisely such a God-fearing hoper; Ps 147 names him among the favored. 4) Stylistic and liturgical links - Music/performance: Ps 6’s superscription “to the choirmaster … with stringed instruments” (בִּנְגִינוֹת; עַל־הַשְּׁמִינִית) anticipates Ps 147’s explicit summons to sing and to play the lyre (זַמְּרוּ … בְּכִנּוֹר, v. 7). The lament set “for the musicians” is followed by the hymn that the gathered community actually sings. - Repetition/anaphora of YHWH: Both psalms are YHWH‑centric with repeated vocatives/naming of YHWH; Ps 147 frames everything with Hallelu‑Yah. Stylistically this matches the move from direct address (Ps 6) to communal acclamation (Ps 147). 5) Imagery correspondences - Tears to waters: Ps 6 is saturated with weeping and liquid imagery in distress (7: “I drench my bed with tears”). Ps 147 presents waters as life-giving and obedient to God’s word: rain, snow, frost, hail, then melting and flowing water at his command (8, 16–18). The same element (water) moves from the sign of lament to the sign of blessing. - “Bones” and inner collapse → bound wounds: Ps 6’s “my bones are terrified” (נִבְהֲלוּ עֲצָמַי) and eye failing from grief (עָשְׁשָׁה … עֵינִי) are answered by Ps 147:3 “binds up their wounds” (לְעַצְּבוֹתָם). Although עֲצָמַי (bones) and עַצְּבוֹת (pains/wounds) are from different roots, the phonetic echo reinforces the movement from inner disintegration to mending. 6) Life-setting and historical logic - Typical worship sequence: Individual prays in crisis (Ps 6), is delivered, then fulfills a vow of thanksgiving with the congregation (Ps 147’s communal praise). This matches known Israelite liturgical practice. - Post-crisis national frame: Ps 147’s “rebuilder of Jerusalem” and “gatherer of Israel’s outcasts” (v. 2) places the praise in a restoration setting (very naturally post‑exilic). An individual’s plea in Ps 6 becomes part of the grander restoration story: God not only heals me, he heals us and our city. - Divine kingship proven in creation: Ps 6 asks “How long?” and presses God to act. Ps 147 answers by showcasing God’s timely, sovereign acts in creation and history—his word runs swiftly (15), he numbers and names the stars (4–5), and he orders weather and seasons (8, 16–18). The cosmos‑king answers the sufferer’s plea. Why this ordering makes sense - Ps 6 furnishes the need and the theological basis (hesed; the desire to live to praise); Ps 147 furnishes the fulfillment (healing, gathering, justice, provision) and the praise itself. - Linguistically, the hesed–rafa–shuv triad is the tightest set of interpsalmic hooks: an appeal to hesed (6:5) answered by God’s delight in hopers in hesed (147:11); a plea for healing (6:3) answered by God the healer (147:3); a call for God to “turn back” and a promise that enemies will “turn back” (6:5, 11) echoed in God “making his wind return” to melt and restore (147:18). - Liturgically and narratively, the sequence takes us from the solitary sickroom at night (Ps 6) to the restored city gates by day (Ps 147:13–14), from weeping to wheat, from threat to shalom. In sum, read together, Psalm 147 is exactly the sort of communal, creation‑wide Hallelu‑Yah one would expect to follow the personal night‑lament of Psalm 6—on formal grounds, on key shared roots (חסד; רפא; שוב), and on the lived pattern of Israel’s faith where individual cries become communal praise when God acts.
Evaluation
Score: 6.0
Evaluated at: 2025-11-22T04:19:45 (UTC)
Evaluator model: gpt-5
Evaluator version: v2
Reasoning: 3264 Output: 5899 Total: 9163
Checklist
- Has verse refs: Yes
- Factual error detected: No
- Only generic motifs: No
- Counterargument considered: No
- LXX/MT numbering acknowledged: No
Vocabulary specificity: 4.0 / 10
Solid, text‑anchored links: hesed (6:5; 147:11), rafa ‘heal’ (6:3; 147:3), shuv (6:5,11; 147:18), and death→praise (6:6 vs 147:1,7,12). But these lexemes and lament→praise arc are common; distance and book-break weaken sequence.
Prompt
Consider Psalm 6 and Psalm 147 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 147 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 147:
Psalm 147
1. הַ֥לְלוּ
יָ֨הּ ׀
כִּי־
ט֭וֹב
זַמְּרָ֣ה
אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ
כִּֽי־
נָ֝עִים
נָאוָ֥ה
תְהִלָּֽה׃
2. בּוֹנֵ֣ה
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֣ם
יְהוָ֑ה
נִדְחֵ֖י
יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל
יְכַנֵּֽס׃
3. הָ֭רֹפֵא
לִשְׁב֣וּרֵי
לֵ֑ב
וּ֝מְחַבֵּ֗שׁ
לְעַצְּבוֹתָֽם׃
4. מוֹנֶ֣ה
מִ֭סְפָּר
לַכּוֹכָבִ֑ים
לְ֝כֻלָּ֗ם
שֵׁמ֥וֹת
יִקְרָֽא׃
5. גָּד֣וֹל
אֲדוֹנֵ֣ינוּ
וְרַב־
כֹּ֑חַ
לִ֝תְבוּנָת֗וֹ
אֵ֣ין
מִסְפָּֽר׃
6. מְעוֹדֵ֣ד
עֲנָוִ֣ים
יְהוָ֑ה
מַשְׁפִּ֖יל
רְשָׁעִ֣ים
עֲדֵי־
אָֽרֶץ׃
7. עֱנ֣וּ
לַיהוָ֣ה
בְּתוֹדָ֑ה
זַמְּר֖וּ
לֵאלֹהֵ֣ינוּ
בְכִנּֽוֹר׃
8. הַֽמְכַסֶּ֬ה
שָׁמַ֨יִם ׀
בְּעָבִ֗ים
הַמֵּכִ֣ין
לָאָ֣רֶץ
מָטָ֑ר
הַמַּצְמִ֖יחַ
הָרִ֣ים
חָצִֽיר׃
9. נוֹתֵ֣ן
לִבְהֵמָ֣ה
לַחְמָ֑הּ
לִבְנֵ֥י
עֹ֝רֵ֗ב
אֲשֶׁ֣ר
יִקְרָֽאוּ׃
10. לֹ֤א
בִגְבוּרַ֣ת
הַסּ֣וּס
יֶחְפָּ֑ץ
לֹֽא־
בְשׁוֹקֵ֖י
הָאִ֣ישׁ
יִרְצֶֽה׃
11. רוֹצֶ֣ה
יְ֭הוָה
אֶת־
יְרֵאָ֑יו
אֶת־
הַֽמְיַחֲלִ֥ים
לְחַסְדּֽוֹ׃
12. שַׁבְּחִ֣י
יְ֭רוּשָׁלִַם
אֶת־
יְהוָ֑ה
הַֽלְלִ֖י
אֱלֹהַ֣יִךְ
צִיּֽוֹן׃
13. כִּֽי־
חִ֭זַּק
בְּרִיחֵ֣י
שְׁעָרָ֑יִךְ
בֵּרַ֖ךְ
בָּנַ֣יִךְ
בְּקִרְבֵּֽךְ׃
14. הַשָּׂם־
גְּבוּלֵ֥ךְ
שָׁל֑וֹם
חֵ֥לֶב
חִ֝טִּ֗ים
יַשְׂבִּיעֵֽךְ׃
15. הַשֹּׁלֵ֣חַ
אִמְרָת֣וֹ
אָ֑רֶץ
עַד־
מְ֝הֵרָ֗ה
יָר֥וּץ
דְּבָרֽוֹ׃
16. הַנֹּתֵ֣ן
שֶׁ֣לֶג
כַּצָּ֑מֶר
כְּ֝פ֗וֹר
כָּאֵ֥פֶר
יְפַזֵּֽר׃
17. מַשְׁלִ֣יךְ
קַֽרְח֣וֹ
כְפִתִּ֑ים
לִפְנֵ֥י
קָ֝רָת֗וֹ
מִ֣י
יַעֲמֹֽד׃
18. יִשְׁלַ֣ח
דְּבָר֣וֹ
וְיַמְסֵ֑ם
יַשֵּׁ֥ב
ר֝וּח֗וֹ
יִזְּלוּ־
מָֽיִם׃
19. מַגִּ֣יד
דברו
דְּבָרָ֣יו
לְיַעֲקֹ֑ב
חֻקָּ֥יו
וּ֝מִשְׁפָּטָ֗יו
לְיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
20. לֹ֘א
עָ֤שָׂה
כֵ֨ן ׀
לְכָל־
גּ֗וֹי
וּמִשְׁפָּטִ֥ים
בַּל־
יְדָע֗וּם
הַֽלְלוּ־
יָֽהּ׃