Psalm 7 → 72

Reasoning: 12032 Output: 6354 Total: 18386

Argument

Short thesis: Read together, Psalm 7 is David’s lawsuit-psalm that asks God to arise and render the judgment He has “ordained,” while Psalm 72 is the answer: God’s own mishpat and tsedaqah are handed to the king so that justice, deliverance, and peace are institutionalized. The lexical nets, rare forms, and motifs line up surprisingly well, and the historical/editorial frame (David → Solomon; “end of the prayers of David”) reinforces the sequence.

Most probative lexical/morphological links (rarer/identical forms first)
- ידין (identical form, 3ms yiqtol “he will judge”)
  - Ps 7:9 יְהוָה יָדִין עַמִּים
  - Ps 72:2 יָדִין עַמְּךָ בְצֶדֶק
  Logical move: in 7 God judges the peoples; in 72 the king judges the people with God’s justice.

- משפט + צדק/צדקה/צדיק (same roots, same word class)
  - Ps 7:7 מִשְׁפָּט צִוִּיתָ; 7:9 שָׁפְטֵנִי… כְּצִדְקִי; 7:10–12 תְּכוֹנֵן צַדִּיק… אֱלֹהִים צַדִּיק; 7:18 כְּצִדְקוֹ
  - Ps 72:1 מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ… וְצִדְקָתְךָ; 72:2 בְצֶדֶק… בְמִשְׁפָּט; 72:3 בִּצְדָקָה; 72:7 צַדִּיק
  This is the central legal lexicon of both psalms; 72 explicitly makes God’s mishpat/tsedaqah the king’s mandate—fulfilling 7’s appeal that God enact the “judgment you ordained.”

- יֶשַׁע (Hiphil forms: הוֹשִׁיעַ/מוֹשִׁיעַ/יוֹשִׁיעַ; same root, same semantics)
  - Ps 7:2 הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי; 7:11 מוֹשִׁיעַ יִשְׁרֵי־לֵב
  - Ps 72:4 יוֹשִׁיעַ לִבְנֵי אֶבְיוֹן; 72:13 נַפְשׁוֹת אֶבְיוֹנִים יוֹשִׁיעַ
  Direct continuity: individual rescue in 7 becomes systemic deliverance of the vulnerable in 72.

- חָמָס (same noun, same root)
  - Ps 7:17 וְעַל קָדְקֳדּוֹ חֲמָסוֹ יֵרֵד
  - Ps 72:14 מִתּוֹךְ וּמֵחָמָס יִגְאַל נַפְשָׁם
  In 7, the violent person’s hamas recoils on his own head; in 72, hamas is removed by the king’s just rule.

- עָפָר (identical noun) + כָּבוֹד (identical noun)
  - Ps 7:6 וּכְבוֹדִי לֶעָפָר יַשְׁכֵּן
  - Ps 72:9 וְאֹיְבָיו עָפָר יְלַחֵכוּ; 72:19 וְיִמָּלֵא כְבוֹדוֹ אֶת־כָּל הָאָרֶץ
  Rhetorical inversion: in 7 the supplicant’s glory risks sinking to dust; in 72 the enemies lick the dust and God’s glory fills the earth.

- אֹיֵב/אויב (same root, same semantics)
  - Ps 7:6 יִרְדֹּף אוֹיֵב נַפְשִׁי
  - Ps 72:9 וְאֹיְבָיו עָפָר יְלַחֵכוּ
  The pursuer/oppressor of 7 becomes the subdued enemy of 72.

- נֶפֶשׁ (same noun; salvation framed as saving the “soul/life”)
  - Ps 7:3,6 נַפְשִׁי
  - Ps 72:13–14 וְנַפְשׁוֹת… יִגְאַל נַפְשָׁם

- שׁ־ל־ם root: a striking linkage that is rarer in this combination
  - Ps 7:5 אִם־גָּמַלְתִּי שׁוֹלְמִי רָע (“my ally, one at peace with me,” from שלם)
  - Ps 72:3 יִשְׂאוּ הָרִים שָׁלוֹם; 72:7 וְרֹב שָׁלוֹם; Superscription לִשְׁלֹמֹה
  The root שלם brackets the pair: a contested shalom/loyalty in 7 is resolved into overflowing shalom under Solomon (whose name also carries the שלם root).

- כל־יום (near-identical collocation)
  - Ps 7:12 אֵל זֹעֵם בְּכָל־יוֹם
  - Ps 72:15 כָּל־הַיּוֹם יְבָרֲכֶנְהוּ
  Daily anger in 7 is replaced by daily blessing in 72.

- רֹאשׁ (same noun)
  - Ps 7:17 עֲמָלוֹ בְּרֹאשׁוֹ
  - Ps 72:16 בְּרֹאשׁ הָרִים
  Not thematic by itself, but adds to the pile of shared lexemes.

Key phrase-level and conceptual echoes
- “Ordained judgment” → “Give your judgments to the king”
  - Ps 7:7 וְעוּרָה אֵלַי מִשְׁפָּט צִוִּיתָ
  - Ps 72:1 אֱלֹהִים מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ לְמֶלֶךְ תֵּן
  The rare collocation “judgment you have commanded” in 7 finds its concrete implementation in 72 when God’s mishpat is explicitly “given” to the king.

- God’s courtroom and the nations → the king’s world-rule and the nations
  - Ps 7:8–9 וַעֲדַת לְאֻמִּים תְּסוֹבְבֶךָּ… יְהוָה יָדִין עַמִּים
  - Ps 72:9–11,17 לְפָנָיו יִכְרְעוּ… וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ־לוֹ כָּל־מְלָכִים; וְיִתְבָּרְכוּ בוֹ כָּל־גּוֹיִם
  The peoples who assemble for God’s judgment in 7 become the kings and nations who submit to the king endowed with God’s justice in 72.

- Reversal motifs (from threat to fulfillment)
  - Trampled to kneeling: Ps 7:6 “he tramples my life to the ground” → Ps 72:9 “before him desert-tribes kneel; his enemies lick dust.”
  - Predator to rain: Ps 7:3 “like a lion tearing my soul” → Ps 72:6 “he descends like rain on mown grass.”
  - Ending evil vs ending the section: Ps 7:10 יִגְמָר־נָא רַע רְשָׁעִים (“let the wicked’s evil end”) → Ps 72:20 כָּלוּ תְּפִלּוֹת דָּוִד (“the prayers of David are ended”). Not the same root, but editorially resonant: closure of wickedness sought in 7; closure of Davidic prayers achieved at 72’s end.

Form and genre logic
- Lawsuit → Kingship implementation
  - Ps 7 is a classic individual complaint/lawsuit with protestations of innocence (7:4–6), summons to the Judge (7:7–9), verdict/retribution on the wicked (7:15–17), and thanksgiving (7:18).
  - Ps 72 is a royal prayer that codifies the very values of that lawsuit—mishpat, tsedaqah, rescue of the weak—into the king’s ongoing administration. It reads like the societal/political implementation of the verdict David asks God to render in Psalm 7.

- Both close in praise:
  - Ps 7:18 “I will thank the LORD according to his righteousness; I will sing to the name of the LORD Most High.”
  - Ps 72:18–19 “Blessed be the LORD God… Blessed be his glorious name forever… Amen and Amen.”
  Psalm 72’s double doxology and final colophon are an intensified, editorialized version of Psalm 7’s closing praise.

Historical/editorial sequencing that makes sense
- Superscriptions: Ps 7 “of David… about the words of Cush the Benjamite” (i.e., conflict with a Benjamite, plausibly from Saul’s tribe) sits naturally before Ps 72 “of/for Solomon.” The narrative arc David → Solomon, lament under pressure → prayer for the son’s reign, matches the move from contested justice in 7 to established justice in 72.
- Psalm 72:20 “The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended” resonates with Psalm 7 as one of those “prayers of David” whose themes find resolution in the royal ideal just articulated.

Mythic/ideological coherence in an ANE frame
- In Ancient Near Eastern ideology the deity renders justice and authorizes the king to enact it. Psalm 7 presents YHWH as the cosmic judge (7:7–12). Psalm 72 portrays the human king as YHWH’s justice-bearer (“your judgments to the king,” 72:1), expanding that justice from the courtroom to the whole earth, from the individual’s nefesh to the poor, needy, and nations. That is an expected and logical sequence.

Bottom line
- Lexically, the shared and rare items are conspicuous: identical ידין; the dense mishpat/tsedaqah cluster; the matched ישע verbs; the shared nouns חמס, עפר, כבוד, נפש; the ש־ל־ם root (שׁוֹלְמִי ~ שָׁלוֹם ~ שְׁלֹמֹה); and several rhetorical reversals (dust/glory, daily anger/daily blessing, trampled/kneeling).
- Formally and thematically, Psalm 72 reads like the concrete answer and stabilization of Psalm 7’s plea: the “judgment you commanded” becomes “your judgments to the king,” and the personal rescue becomes the king’s mandate to rescue, judge, and bring shalom to the ends of the earth.
- Historically/editorially, a Davidic lament plausibly precedes a Solomonic royal prayer that closes a Davidic collection.

On these grounds one can argue that Psalm 72 logically follows and fulfills Psalm 7.

Evaluation

Score: 6.0

Evaluated at: 2025-11-25T03:46:14 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 4544 Output: 7182 Total: 11726

Vocabulary specificity: 3.0 / 10

Best link: Ps 7:7 “mishpat tzivita” → Ps 72:1 “mishpatekha ten”; plus ידין, ישע, חמס. Yet most lexemes are common across Psalms, psalms are distant, and no counterarguments addressed.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 7 and Psalm 72 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 72 logically follows on from Psalm 7? 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 7:
Psalm 7
1. שִׁגָּי֗וֹן
        לְדָ֫וִ֥ד
        אֲשֶׁר־
        שָׁ֥ר
        לַיהוָ֑ה
        עַל־
        דִּבְרֵי־
        כ֝֗וּשׁ
        בֶּן־
        יְמִינִֽי׃
2. יְהוָ֣ה
        אֱ֭לֹהַי
        בְּךָ֣
        חָסִ֑יתִי
        הוֹשִׁיעֵ֥נִי
        מִכָּל־
        רֹ֝דְפַ֗י
        וְהַצִּילֵֽנִי׃
3. פֶּן־
        יִטְרֹ֣ף
        כְּאַרְיֵ֣ה
        נַפְשִׁ֑י
        פֹּ֝רֵ֗ק
        וְאֵ֣ין
        מַצִּֽיל׃
4. יְהוָ֣ה
        אֱ֭לֹהַי
        אִם־
        עָשִׂ֣יתִי
        זֹ֑את
        אִֽם־
        יֶשׁ־
        עָ֥וֶל
        בְּכַפָּֽי׃
5. אִם־
        גָּ֭מַלְתִּי
        שֽׁוֹלְמִ֥י
        רָ֑ע
        וָאֲחַלְּצָ֖ה
        צוֹרְרִ֣י
        רֵיקָֽם׃
6. יִֽרַדֹּ֥ף
        אוֹיֵ֨ב ׀
        נַפְשִׁ֡י
        וְיַשֵּׂ֗ג
        וְיִרְמֹ֣ס
        לָאָ֣רֶץ
        חַיָּ֑י
        וּכְבוֹדִ֓י ׀
        לֶעָפָ֖ר
        יַשְׁכֵּ֣ן
        סֶֽלָה׃
7. ק֘וּמָ֤ה
        יְהוָ֨ה ׀
        בְּאַפֶּ֗ךָ
        הִ֭נָּשֵׂא
        בְּעַבְר֣וֹת
        צוֹרְרָ֑י
        וְע֥וּרָה
        אֵ֝לַ֗י
        מִשְׁפָּ֥ט
        צִוִּֽיתָ׃
8. וַעֲדַ֣ת
        לְ֭אֻמִּים
        תְּסוֹבְבֶ֑ךָּ
        וְ֝עָלֶ֗יהָ
        לַמָּר֥וֹם
        שֽׁוּבָה׃
9. יְהוָה֮
        יָדִ֢ין
        עַ֫מִּ֥ים
        שָׁפְטֵ֥נִי
        יְהוָ֑ה
        כְּצִדְקִ֖י
        וּכְתֻמִּ֣י
        עָלָֽי׃
10. יִגְמָר־
        נָ֬א
        רַ֨ע ׀
        רְשָׁעִים֮
        וּתְכוֹנֵ֢ן
        צַ֫דִּ֥יק
        וּבֹחֵ֣ן
        לִ֭בּ֗וֹת
        וּכְלָי֗וֹת
        אֱלֹהִ֥ים
        צַדִּֽיק׃
11. מָֽגִנִּ֥י
        עַל־
        אֱלֹהִ֑ים
        מ֝וֹשִׁ֗יעַ
        יִשְׁרֵי־
        לֵֽב׃
12. אֱ֭לֹהִים
        שׁוֹפֵ֣ט
        צַדִּ֑יק
        וְ֝אֵ֗ל
        זֹעֵ֥ם
        בְּכָל־
        יֽוֹם׃
13. אִם־
        לֹ֣א
        יָ֭שׁוּב
        חַרְבּ֣וֹ
        יִלְט֑וֹשׁ
        קַשְׁתּ֥וֹ
        דָ֝רַ֗ךְ
        וַֽיְכוֹנְנֶֽהָ׃
14. וְ֭לוֹ
        הֵכִ֣ין
        כְּלֵי־
        מָ֑וֶת
        חִ֝צָּ֗יו
        לְֽדֹלְקִ֥ים
        יִפְעָֽל׃
15. הִנֵּ֥ה
        יְחַבֶּל־
        אָ֑וֶן
        וְהָרָ֥ה
        עָ֝מָ֗ל
        וְיָ֣לַד
        שָֽׁקֶר׃
16. בּ֣וֹר
        כָּ֭רָֽה
        וַֽיַּחְפְּרֵ֑הוּ
        וַ֝יִּפֹּ֗ל
        בְּשַׁ֣חַת
        יִפְעָֽל׃
17. יָשׁ֣וּב
        עֲמָל֣וֹ
        בְרֹאשׁ֑וֹ
        וְעַ֥ל
        קָ֝דְקֳד֗וֹ
        חֲמָס֥וֹ
        יֵרֵֽד׃
18. אוֹדֶ֣ה
        יְהוָ֣ה
        כְּצִדְק֑וֹ
        וַ֝אֲזַמְּרָ֗ה
        שֵֽׁם־
        יְהוָ֥ה
        עֶלְיֽוֹן׃

Psalm 72:
Psalm 72
1. לִשְׁלֹמֹ֨ה ׀
        אֱ‍ֽלֹהִ֗ים
        מִ֭שְׁפָּטֶיךָ
        לְמֶ֣לֶךְ
        תֵּ֑ן
        וְצִדְקָתְךָ֥
        לְבֶן־
        מֶֽלֶךְ׃
2. יָדִ֣ין
        עַמְּךָ֣
        בְצֶ֑דֶק
        וַעֲנִיֶּ֥יךָ
        בְמִשְׁפָּֽט׃
3. יִשְׂא֤וּ
        הָרִ֓ים
        שָׁ֘ל֥וֹם
        לָעָ֑ם
        וּ֝גְבָע֗וֹת
        בִּצְדָקָֽה׃
4. יִשְׁפֹּ֤ט ׀
        עֲ‍ֽנִיֵּי־
        עָ֗ם
        י֭וֹשִׁיעַ
        לִבְנֵ֣י
        אֶבְי֑וֹן
        וִֽידַכֵּ֣א
        עוֹשֵֽׁק׃
5. יִֽירָא֥וּךָ
        עִם־
        שָׁ֑מֶשׁ
        וְלִפְנֵ֥י
        יָ֝רֵ֗חַ
        דּ֣וֹר
        דּוֹרִֽים׃
6. יֵ֭רֵד
        כְּמָטָ֣ר
        עַל־
        גֵּ֑ז
        כִּ֝רְבִיבִ֗ים
        זַרְזִ֥יף
        אָֽרֶץ׃
7. יִֽפְרַח־
        בְּיָמָ֥יו
        צַדִּ֑יק
        וְרֹ֥ב
        שָׁ֝ל֗וֹם
        עַד־
        בְּלִ֥י
        יָרֵֽחַ׃
8. וְ֭יֵרְדְּ
        מִיָּ֣ם
        עַד־
        יָ֑ם
        וּ֝מִנָּהָ֗ר
        עַד־
        אַפְסֵי־
        אָֽרֶץ׃
9. לְ֭פָנָיו
        יִכְרְע֣וּ
        צִיִּ֑ים
        וְ֝אֹיְבָ֗יו
        עָפָ֥ר
        יְלַחֵֽכוּ׃
10. מַלְכֵ֬י
        תַרְשִׁ֣ישׁ
        וְ֭אִיִּים
        מִנְחָ֣ה
        יָשִׁ֑יבוּ
        מַלְכֵ֥י
        שְׁבָ֥א
        וּ֝סְבָ֗א
        אֶשְׁכָּ֥ר
        יַקְרִֽיבוּ׃
11. וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ־
        ל֥וֹ
        כָל־
        מְלָכִ֑ים
        כָּל־
        גּוֹיִ֥ם
        יַֽעַבְדֽוּהוּ׃
12. כִּֽי־
        יַ֭צִּיל
        אֶבְי֣וֹן
        מְשַׁוֵּ֑עַ
        וְ֝עָנִ֗י
        וְֽאֵין־
        עֹזֵ֥ר
        לֽוֹ׃
13. יָ֭חֹס
        עַל־
        דַּ֣ל
        וְאֶבְי֑וֹן
        וְנַפְשׁ֖וֹת
        אֶבְיוֹנִ֣ים
        יוֹשִֽׁיעַ׃
14. מִתּ֣וֹךְ
        וּ֖dמֵחָמָס
        יִגְאַ֣ל
        נַפְשָׁ֑ם
        וְיֵיקַ֖ר
        דָּמָ֣ם
        בְּעֵינָֽיו׃
15. וִיחִ֗י
        וְיִתֶּן־
        לוֹ֮
        מִזְּהַ֢ב
        שְׁ֫בָ֥א
        וְיִתְפַּלֵּ֣ל
        בַּעֲד֣וֹ
        תָמִ֑יד
        כָּל־
        הַ֝יּ֗וֹם
        יְבָרֲכֶֽנְהֽוּ׃
16. יְהִ֤י
        פִסַּת־
        בַּ֨ר ׀
        בָּאָרֶץ֮
        בְּרֹ֢אשׁ
        הָ֫רִ֥ים
        יִרְעַ֣שׁ
        כַּלְּבָנ֣וֹן
        פִּרְי֑וֹ
        וְיָצִ֥יצוּ
        מֵ֝עִ֗יר
        כְּעֵ֣שֶׂב
        הָאָֽרֶץ׃
17. יְהִ֤י
        שְׁמ֨וֹ ׀
        לְֽעוֹלָ֗ם
        לִפְנֵי־
        שֶׁמֶשׁ֮
        ינין
        יִנּ֢וֹן
        שְׁ֫מ֥וֹ
        וְיִתְבָּ֥רְכוּ
        ב֑וֹ
        כָּל־
        גּוֹיִ֥ם
        יְאַשְּׁרֽוּהוּ׃
18. בָּר֤וּךְ ׀
        יְהוָ֣ה
        אֱ֭לֹהִים
        אֱלֹהֵ֣י
        יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל
        עֹשֵׂ֖ה
        נִפְלָא֣וֹת
        לְבַדּֽוֹ׃
19. וּבָר֤וּךְ ׀
        שֵׁ֥ם
        כְּבוֹד֗וֹ
        לְע֫וֹלָ֥ם
        וְיִמָּלֵ֣א
        כְ֭בוֹדוֹ
        אֶת־
        כֹּ֥ל
        הָאָ֗רֶץ
        אָ֘מֵ֥ן ׀
        וְאָמֵֽן׃
20. כָּלּ֥וּ
        תְפִלּ֑וֹת
        דָּ֝וִ֗ד
        בֶּן־
        יִשָֽׁי׃