Psalm 7 → 112
Reasoning: 11712 Output: 4992 Total: 16704
Argument
Here are ways to argue that Psalm 112 can be read as a logical follow‑on or answer to Psalm 7. I list the strongest verbal links first (rarer/identical forms and roots), then conceptual and stylistic links, then a plausible “sequence of events” that 112 portrays as the outcome of 7’s prayer. A. High‑significance verbal links (same roots and notably close forms) - צ–ר–ר “adversary/foe”: Ps 7:7 צוררי “my adversaries”; Ps 112:8 בצריו “on his adversaries.” Same noun (צָר) with pronominal suffixes; comparatively rarer than generic אוֹיֵב. This directly ties the individual under attack in Ps 7 with the “man” of Ps 112 who will look on his foes. - י–ש–ר “upright/straight”: Ps 7:11 ישרי־לב “upright of heart”; Ps 112:2 דור ישרים; 112:4 לישרים. Same adjective in the plural; both psalms focus on the “upright,” a relatively marked group term in the Psalter. - צ–ד–ק “righteous/justice”: Ps 7:9 כצִדְקִי “according to my righteousness”; 7:10 ותכונן צדיק; 7:12 אלהים שופט צדיק; 7:18 אודה יהוה כצדקו. Ps 112:3 וצִדְקָתוֹ עֹמֶדֶת לָעַד; 112:4 …וְצַדִּיק; 112:6 יהיה צדיק; 112:9 צדקתו עומדת לעד. The same root saturates both psalms; Ps 7 asks God to establish the צדיק and to act “according to righteousness,” and Ps 112 describes the stable state and public profile of the צדיק. - לֵב “heart”: Ps 7:10 בֹחֵן לִבּוֹת וכליות; 7:11 ישרי־לב. Ps 112:7–8 נָכוֹן לִבּוֹ… סָמוּךְ לִבּוֹ. Both cluster “upright” with an examined/steadfast “heart,” which is more marked than generic piety language. - מִשְׁפָּט “judgment/justice”: Ps 7:7 מִשְׁפָּט צִוִּיתָ; Ps 112:5 יְכַלְכֵּל דְּבָרָיו בְמִשְׁפָּט. Same noun; Ps 7 petitions for divine judicial action; Ps 112 depicts the righteous conducting his affairs “in justice,” mirroring God’s court in daily life. - כָּבוֹד “honor/glory”: Ps 7:6 וּכְבוֹדִי לֶעָפָר יַשְׁכֵּן; Ps 112:9 תָּרוּם קַרְנוֹ בְּכָבוֹד. Same noun; Ps 7 fears his “glory” will be laid in the dust; Ps 112 shows the righteous exalted “in honor.” The reversal is pointed and concrete. - ר–ו–ם “height/exalt”: Ps 7:8 לַמָּרוֹם שׁוּבָה; Ps 112:9 תָּרוּם קַרְנוֹ. Same root as noun (מָרוֹם) and verb (תָּרוּם). The move from God’s return “to the heights” (7:8) to the righteous man’s “horn” being lifted (112:9) links heavenly vindication with the righteous one’s public exaltation. - רָשָׁע/רְשָׁעִים “wicked”: Ps 7:10 רְשָׁעִים; 7:15–17 the wicked’s self‑destruction. Ps 112:10 רָשָׁע… תַּאֲוַת רְשָׁעִים תֹּאבֵד. Both psalms close with the demise/frustration of the wicked. B. Medium‑significance lexical/semantic links (same ideas; sometimes different roots) - Refuge/trust: Ps 7:2 בך חסיתי; Ps 112:7–8 נָכוֹן לִבּוֹ בָּטוּחַ בַּיהוָה… לֹא יִירָא. Different roots (חסה / בטח) but the same trust posture; in Ps 112 the fearful anxiety of Ps 7:2–3 is replaced by a steady heart. - Establish/stand firm: Ps 7:10 ותכונן צדיק; 7:13–14 ויכוננה; Ps 112:6–9 לא־ימוט… צדקתו עומדת לעד. Different verbs (כון/עמד/מוט) but a shared stability motif: Ps 7 prays “establish the righteous”; Ps 112 declares “he will never be shaken” and “his righteousness stands forever.” - Adversary outcome: Ps 7:6–7, 15–17 envision enemies pursuing, falling into their own pit; Ps 112:8 the righteous “will look on his adversaries,” and 112:10 the wicked “gnash and melt” and their desire perishes. Ps 112’s finale reads like the execution of Ps 7’s lex talionis prayer. - Divine anger vs. wicked anger: Ps 7:7, 12 God’s anger (אַפֶּךָ; אֵל זֹעֵם); Ps 112:10 the wicked “is enraged” (וכעס). The wrath shifts from divine against the wicked to the wicked’s frustrated rage at the righteous’ exaltation—an ironic inversion. C. Formal and stylistic bridges - Vow-to-praise fulfilled by praise: Ps 7 ends with a vow/performance of praise (7:18 אודה… ואזמרה שֵׁם־יהוה עֶלְיוֹן). Ps 112 opens with a liturgical summons “הַלְלוּ־יָהּ” and an אשׁרי beatitude. In Israelite lament → praise liturgy, it is normal for a vow at the end of a complaint (Ps 7) to be followed by a hymn/wisdom celebration (Ps 112) that embodies the promised praise. - Courtroom → wisdom: Ps 7 is a juridical lament (שָׁפְטֵנִי… מִשְׁפָּט צִוִּיתָ… יָדִין עַמִּים… בֹּחֵן לִבּוֹת וּכְלָיוֹת), ending with God’s righteous name. Ps 112 is a wisdom acrostic that “publicizes the verdict”: the righteous man (the sort God vindicates in Ps 7) is secure, honored, and beneficent, while the wicked come to nothing. This is a common psalmic move from plea to didactic confirmation of the moral order (cf. Ps 34; 37). - Imagery reversal: Ps 7 fears humiliation to the dust (כבודי לעפר ישכן) and life trampled to the ground (וירמס לארץ חיי); Ps 112 presents the righteous in a house filled with good (בביתו), with his horn lifted “in honor.” Dust/ground vs. house/honor is a vivid reversal that reads like answered prayer. D. A plausible “sequence” that makes Ps 112 a narrative answer to Ps 7 - Ps 7: The innocent plaintiff, surrounded by “adversaries” (צוררי), appeals to the Judge. He asks for an end to the wicked and for the righteous to be established (יגמר־נא רע רשעים וּתכונן צדיק), trusting God, the examiner of hearts, to vindicate the upright of heart (מושיע ישרי־לב). He vows to praise YHWH upon deliverance. - Ps 112: The scene after the verdict. The “man who fears YHWH” is precisely the צדיק/ישר of Ps 7. He is now unshaken (לא־ימוט), his “righteousness stands forever,” his “heart is steadfast” and fearless, and he “will look on his adversaries” (עד אשר יראה בצריו). His “horn is lifted up in honor” (תרום… בכבוד), the mirror‑opposite of Ps 7’s threatened “glory in the dust.” Meanwhile, the wicked “see and rage… and melt,” and their desire “perishes,” matching Ps 7’s vision of the wicked falling into the pit they dug and their violence returning on their own head. E. Additional notes on significance - The cluster צדיק/ישר/לב/משפט appears in both psalms and is not accidental: in Ps 7 it frames God’s forensic work; in Ps 112 it defines the righteous person’s character. The overlap of these rarer, value‑laden terms (especially ישרים, צורריו/צוררי) strengthens the case. - The shared root רום (למרום/תרום) plus the shared noun כבוד mark a tightly focused “down vs. up” reversal across the pair. - Ps 7’s “assembly of peoples” and God’s ascent to the heights (7:8) signal a cosmic/heavenly court; Ps 112’s “horn exalted in honor” is royal/warrior imagery applied to the vindicated righteous, a common mythic transfer in the Psalms where divine victory issues in the exaltation of God’s anointed or godly ones. Concise thesis - Psalm 112 reads naturally as the narrated outcome of Psalm 7’s prayer. The same lexical network (צדיק/ישר/לב/משפט/צָר/כבוד/רום), the legal‑to‑wisdom shift, the explicit reversal of humiliation to exaltation, and the matching fates of the wicked together form a coherent throughline: 7 petitions, litigates, and vows; 112 praises, teaches, and displays the settled state of the vindicated righteous and the frustrated end of the wicked.
Evaluation
Score: 6.5
Evaluated at: 2025-11-26T04:20:47 (UTC)
Evaluator model: gpt-5
Evaluator version: v2
Reasoning: 3328 Output: 5813 Total: 9141
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
Multiple precise lexical correspondences (צוררי/בצריו; כבוד; רום; לב; משפט) and reversal rationale are strong. But many are common across Psalms, and Ps 112 is canonically paired with 111, not 7.
Prompt
Consider Psalm 7 and Psalm 112 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 112 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 112:
Psalm 112
1. הַ֥לְלוּ
יָ֨הּ ׀
אַשְׁרֵי־
אִ֭ישׁ
יָרֵ֣א
אֶת־
יְהוָ֑ה
בְּ֝מִצְוֺתָ֗יו
חָפֵ֥ץ
מְאֹֽד׃
2. גִּבּ֣וֹר
בָּ֭אָרֶץ
יִהְיֶ֣ה
זַרְע֑וֹ
דּ֖וֹר
יְשָׁרִ֣ים
יְבֹרָֽךְ׃
3. הוֹן־
וָעֹ֥שֶׁר
בְּבֵית֑וֹ
וְ֝צִדְקָת֗וֹ
עֹמֶ֥דֶת
לָעַֽד׃
4. זָ֘רַ֤ח
בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְ
א֭וֹר
לַיְשָׁרִ֑ים
חַנּ֖וּן
וְרַח֣וּם
וְצַדִּֽיק׃
5. טֽוֹב־
אִ֭ישׁ
חוֹנֵ֣ן
וּמַלְוֶ֑ה
יְכַלְכֵּ֖ל
דְּבָרָ֣יו
בְּמִשְׁפָּֽט׃
6. כִּֽי־
לְעוֹלָ֥ם
לֹא־
יִמּ֑וֹט
לְזֵ֥כֶר
ע֝וֹלָ֗ם
יִהְיֶ֥ה
צַדִּֽיק׃
7. מִשְּׁמוּעָ֣ה
רָ֭עָה
לֹ֣א
יִירָ֑א
נָכ֥וֹן
לִ֝בּ֗וֹ
בָּטֻ֥חַ
בַּיהוָֽה׃
8. סָמ֣וּךְ
לִ֭בּוֹ
לֹ֣א
יִירָ֑א
עַ֖ד
אֲשֶׁר־
יִרְאֶ֣ה
בְצָרָֽיו׃
9. פִּזַּ֤ר ׀
נָ֘תַ֤ן
לָאֶבְיוֹנִ֗ים
צִ֭דְקָתוֹ
עֹמֶ֣דֶת
לָעַ֑ד
קַ֝רְנ֗וֹ
תָּר֥וּם
בְּכָבֽוֹד׃
10. רָ֘שָׁ֤ע
יִרְאֶ֨ה ׀
וְכָעָ֗ס
שִׁנָּ֣יו
יַחֲרֹ֣ק
וְנָמָ֑ס
תַּאֲוַ֖ת
רְשָׁעִ֣ים
תֹּאבֵֽד׃