Psalm 7 → 79

Reasoning: 11008 Output: 6048 Total: 17056

Argument

Here is a set of mutually reinforcing arguments—formal, lexical, thematic, and historical—that can justify reading Psalm 79 as a logical follow‑on to Psalm 7.

1) Form and structure: the same lament “arc,” individual → communal
- Both are laments that move from complaint → petition for God’s intervention/judgment → confidence/vow of praise.
- Psalm 7 (individual) ends with a vow of public praise: “אוֹדֶה יְהוָה כְּצִדְקוֹ, וַאֲזַמְּרָה שֵׁם יְהוָה עֶלְיוֹן” (7:18).
- Psalm 79 (communal) ends with the corporate echo of that same vow: “וַאֲנַחְנוּ עַמְּךָ… נוֹדֶה לְּךָ לְעוֹלָם… נְסַפֵּר תְּהִלָּתֶךָ” (79:13).
- This shared closure is a classic lament seam. It invites a reading in which Psalm 79 corporatizes and extends the individual vow of Psalm 7.

2) Judicial frame and “public verdict” logic
- Psalm 7 summons God to court as universal judge: “יְהוָה יָדִין עַמִּים… שָׁפְטֵנִי יְהוָה” (7:9); “מִשְׁפָּט צִוִּיתָ” (7:7).
- Psalm 79 asks for the judicial sequel on an international stage: “לָמָּה יֹאמְרוּ הַגּוֹיִם… יִוָּדַע בַגּוֹיִם לְעֵינֵינוּ נִקְמַת דַּם־עֲבָדֶיךָ הַשָּׁפוּךְ” (79:10). The plea “let it be known among the nations… the vengeance for the blood” picks up Psalm 7’s “YHWH judges the peoples,” demanding that the public verdict now be enacted against those nations.

3) Anger/wrath vocabulary cluster in both (same field, different angles)
- Psalm 7 invokes God’s anger against the psalmist’s foes: “קוּמָה יְהוָה בְּאַפֶּךָ… בְּעַבְרוֹת צוררָי” (7:7); “אֱלֹהִים… אֵל זֹעֵם בְּכָל־יוֹם” (7:12).
- Psalm 79 registers that anger as burning against Israel and begs its redirection to the nations: “עַד־מָה יְהוָה תֶּאֱנַף לָנֶצַח? תִּבְעַר כְּמוֹ־אֵשׁ קִנְאָתֶךָ” (79:5) → “שְׁפֹךְ חֲמָתְךָ אֶל־הַגּוֹיִם… וְעַל מַמְלָכוֹת…” (79:6).
- Thus Psalm 79 “follows” by applying Psalm 7’s wrath/judgment motif to a national catastrophe and redirecting wrath toward the true perpetrators.

4) Identical roots and near-identical forms (high‑value links)
- ישע / נצל “save/deliver”
  - Psalm 7: “הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי… וְהַצִּילֵנִי” (7:2); “…מוֹשִׁיעַ יִשְׁרֵי־לֵב” (7:11).
  - Psalm 79: “עָזְרֵנוּ אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׁעֵנוּ… וְהַצִּילֵנוּ” (79:9).
  - Note the identical Hifil imperatives with pronominal suffixes: והַצִּילֵנִי (7:2) / והַצִּילֵנוּ (79:9). Same verb, same stem, same function—singular becomes communal.
- שוב “return” in a retributive sense
  - Psalm 7: “שׁוּבָה לַמָּרוֹם” (7:8); “יָשׁוּב עֲמָלוֹ בְּרֹאשׁוֹ” (7:17).
  - Psalm 79: “וְהָשֵׁב לִשְׁכֵנֵינוּ שִׁבְעָתַיִם אֶל־חֵיקָם” (79:12).
  - Both use שוב to express talionic justice (evil “returns” upon the perpetrator), with Psalm 79 explicitly demanding that “return” be sevenfold.
- שֵׁם / כָּבוֹד “name/glory” (theology of the Name)
  - Psalm 7 closes with praise to the Name: “וַאֲזַמְּרָה שֵׁם יְהוָה” (7:18).
  - Psalm 79 pleads for action “עַל־דְּבַר כְּבוֹד־שְׁמֶךָ… לְמַעַן שְׁמֶךָ” (79:9).
  - The logic is tight: Ps 7 promises to magnify the Name; Ps 79 urges God to act for that Name’s honor under international reproach.

5) Shared images and progression of outcomes (threat → realized catastrophe)
- Predation/devouring:
  - Threat in Psalm 7: “פֶּן־יִטְרֹף כְּאַרְיֵה נַפְשִׁי… וְאֵין מַצִּיל” (7:3).
  - Realization in Psalm 79: “נָתְנוּ… מַאֲכָל לְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם… לְחַיְתוֹ־אָרֶץ” (79:2); and “וְאֵין קוֹבֵר” (79:3). The “no rescuer” becomes “no burier”—a deepening of the disaster scenario.
- Dust/burial:
  - Psalm 7: “וְיִרְמֹס לָאָרֶץ חַיָּי, וּכְבוֹדִי לֶעָפָר יַשְׁכֵּן” (7:6).
  - Psalm 79: bodies unburied (79:3), exposed to birds and beasts (79:2). The self‑imprecation “to the dust” (Ps 7) becomes the communal curse realized (Ps 79).
- Talionic reversal:
  - Psalm 7: “בּוֹר כָּרָה… וַיִּפֹּל בְּשַׁחַת יִפְעָל” (7:16); “יָשׁוּב עֲמָלוֹ בְּרֹאשׁוֹ” (7:17).
  - Psalm 79: “וְהָשֵׁב… אֶל־חֵיקָם חֶרְפָּתָם” (79:12). Same retributive principle, now requested against the nations.

6) International horizon in both
- Psalm 7 calls the court of the nations: “וַעֲדַת לְאֻמִּים תְּסוֹבְבֶךָ… יְהוָה יָדִין עַמִּים” (7:8–9).
- Psalm 79 is saturated with “גּוֹיִם”: invasion of God’s inheritance (79:1), the plea to pour wrath on the nations and kingdoms that do not call on God’s name (79:6), and the demand that God’s justice be “known among the nations” (79:10).
- Thus the universal judicial summons of Psalm 7 becomes the concrete international courtroom of Psalm 79.

7) Sin, guilt, and the redirection of wrath
- Psalm 7 is framed by a protestation of innocence with self‑imprecation if guilty (7:4–6).
- Psalm 79 accepts communal culpability and asks for expiation: “אַל־תִּזְכֹּר־לָנוּ עֲוֹנוֹת רִאשֹׁנִים… וְכַפֵּר עַל־חַטֹּאתֵינוּ” (79:8–9), then asks that wrath be poured instead on the truly godless nations (79:6–7).
- This creates a tight moral logic: the principle of just recompense announced in Psalm 7 is now applied by Psalm 79 with confession and a plea that the divine anger be rightly aimed.

8) Shared roots beyond the obvious (less central, but cumulative)
- שכן:
  - Psalm 7: “וּכְבוֹדִי לֶעָפָר יַשְׁכֵּן” (verb “to dwell”) (7:6).
  - Psalm 79: “לִשְׁכֵנֵינוּ… לִשְׁכֵנֵינוּ” (79:4,12) (noun “neighbors,” from the same root).
- “No X” formula:
  - Psalm 7: “וְאֵין מַצִּיל” (7:3).
  - Psalm 79: “וְאֵין קוֹבֵר” (79:3).
- Even when word class differs, the repeated roots and formulae knit the rhetoric.

9) Historical/cultic sequence plausibility
- Psalm 7’s cosmic‑court scene (“return to the heights,” 7:8) and weapons imagery (7:13–14) articulate a theology in which YHWH actively sentences the wicked and protects the upright.
- Psalm 79 presents the aftermath of siege and temple profanation (typical exilic/post‑exilic catastrophe motifs: unburied dead, birds/beasts consuming bodies, mockery by “neighbors,” desecrated sanctuary). Within Israel’s covenant story, such a catastrophe is both (a) the curse outcome when sin persists and (b) the occasion for God to vindicate his Name against blaspheming nations.
- Reading 79 after 7, the community appeals to the very judicial and talionic principles laid down in 7, now asking for atonement and for the sentence against the nations to be carried out publicly.

10) Bottom line: why Psalm 79 “follows” Psalm 7
- Psalm 7 establishes the divine‑court grammar: God arises in anger to judge, ends the wicked’s evil, and the result will be public praise of the divine Name.
- Psalm 79 steps into history where the worst has happened, confesses guilt, pleads for deliverance “for the glory of your Name,” and demands that God’s verdict against the nations be made known before all eyes—then promises the same public praise.
- The link is strengthened by identical roots and even near‑identical forms (especially הוֹשִׁיע/הַצֵּל and שׁוּב), parallel wrath/judgment lexicon, the predator/burial imagery moving from threatened (Ps 7) to realized (Ps 79), and matching vows of praise.
- In sum, Psalm 79 reads naturally as the communal, historical application of the judicial and doxological logic articulated programmatically in Psalm 7.

Evaluation

Score: 6.5

Evaluated at: 2025-11-25T03:56:00 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 3776 Output: 6884 Total: 10660

Vocabulary specificity: 3.5 / 10

Multiple verse-anchored links (והציל-, שוב talion, vow-of-praise; court/nations; predator→corpses) and a coherent individual→communal progression. But motifs are common across Psalms, no editorial/superscription signal, and Asaphic Book III context favors other linkages.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 7 and Psalm 79 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 79 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 79:
Psalm 79
1. מִזְמ֗וֹר
        לְאָ֫סָ֥ף
        אֱ‍ֽלֹהִ֡ים
        בָּ֤אוּ
        גוֹיִ֨ם ׀
        בְּֽנַחֲלָתֶ֗ךָ
        טִ֭מְּאוּ
        אֶת־
        הֵיכַ֣ל
        קָדְשֶׁ֑ךָ
        שָׂ֖מוּ
        אֶת־
        יְרוּשָׁלִַ֣ם
        לְעִיִּֽים׃
2. נָֽתְנ֡וּ
        אֶת־
        נִבְלַ֬ת
        עֲבָדֶ֗יךָ
        מַ֭אֲכָל
        לְע֣וֹף
        הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם
        בְּשַׂ֥ר
        חֲ֝סִידֶ֗יךָ
        לְחַיְתוֹ־
        אָֽרֶץ׃
3. שָׁפְכ֬וּ
        דָמָ֨ם ׀
        כַּמַּ֗יִם
        סְֽבִ֘יב֤וֹת
        יְֽרוּשָׁלִָ֗ם
        וְאֵ֣ין
        קוֹבֵֽר׃
4. הָיִ֣ינוּ
        חֶ֭רְפָּה
        לִשְׁכֵנֵ֑ינוּ
        לַ֥עַג
        וָ֝קֶ֗לֶס
        לִסְבִיבוֹתֵֽינוּ׃
5. עַד־
        מָ֣ה
        יְ֭הוָה
        תֶּאֱנַ֣ף
        לָנֶ֑צַח
        תִּ֭tבְעַ֥ר
        כְּמוֹ־
        אֵ֝֗שׁ
        קִנְאָתֶֽךָ׃
6. שְׁפֹ֤ךְ
        חֲמָתְךָ֗
        אֶֽל־
        הַגּוֹיִם֮
        אֲשֶׁ֢ר
        לֹא־
        יְדָ֫ע֥וּךָ
        וְעַ֥ל
        מַמְלָכ֑וֹת
        אֲשֶׁ֥ר
        בְּ֝שִׁמְךָ֗
        לֹ֣א
        קָרָֽאוּ׃
7. כִּ֭י
        אָכַ֣ל
        אֶֽת־
        יַעֲקֹ֑ב
        וְֽאֶת־
        נָוֵ֥הוּ
        הֵשַֽׁמּוּ׃
8. אַֽל־
        תִּזְכָּר־
        לָנוּ֮
        עֲוֺנֹ֢ת
        רִאשֹׁ֫נִ֥ים
        מַ֭הֵר
        יְקַדְּמ֣וּנוּ
        רַחֲמֶ֑יךָ
        כִּ֖י
        דַלּ֣וֹנוּ
        מְאֹֽד׃
9. עָזְרֵ֤נוּ ׀
        אֱלֹ֘הֵ֤י
        יִשְׁעֵ֗נוּ
        עַל־
        דְּבַ֥ר
        כְּבֽוֹד־
        שְׁמֶ֑ךָ
        וְהַצִּילֵ֥נוּ
        וְכַפֵּ֥ר
        עַל־
        חַ֝טֹּאתֵ֗ינוּ
        לְמַ֣עַן
        שְׁמֶֽךָ׃
10. לָ֤מָּה ׀
        יֹאמְר֣וּ
        הַגּוֹיִם֮
        אַיֵּ֢ה
        אֱ‍ֽלֹהֵ֫יהֶ֥ם
        יִוָּדַ֣ע
        בגיים
        בַּגּוֹיִ֣ם
        לְעֵינֵ֑ינוּ
        נִ֝קְמַ֗ת
        דַּֽם־
        עֲבָדֶ֥יךָ
        הַשָּׁפֽוּךְ׃
11. תָּ֤ב֣וֹא
        לְפָנֶיךָ֮
        אֶנְקַ֢ת
        אָ֫סִ֥יר
        כְּגֹ֥דֶל
        זְרוֹעֲךָ֑
        ה֝וֹתֵ֗ר
        בְּנֵ֣י
        תְמוּתָֽה׃
12. וְהָ֘שֵׁ֤ב
        לִשְׁכֵנֵ֣ינוּ
        שִׁ֭בְעָתַיִם
        אֶל־
        חֵיקָ֑ם
        חֶרְפָּ֘תָ֤ם
        אֲשֶׁ֖ר
        חֵרְפ֣וּךָ
        אֲדֹֽcנָי׃
13. וַאֲנַ֤חְנוּ
        עַמְּךָ֨ ׀
        וְצֹ֥אן
        מַרְעִיתֶךָ֮
        נ֤וֹדֶ֥ה
        לְּךָ֗
        לְע֫וֹלָ֥ם
        לְדֹ֥ר
        וָדֹ֑ר
        נְ֝סַפֵּ֗ר
        תְּהִלָּתֶֽךָ׃