Psalm 9 → 136
Reasoning: 9792 Output: 6228 Total: 16020
Argument
Here is a compact case that Psalm 136 can be read as a logical follow‑on (a liturgical and theological “answer”) to Psalm 9. 1) High‑salience lexical ties (identical lemmas; rarer words first) - נִפְלָאוֹת “wonders” (Ps 9:2 נִפְלְאוֹתֶיךָ; Ps 136:4 נִפְלָאוֹת גְּדֹלוֹת): this is rare and programmatic in both psalms. Psalm 9 vows to recount “all your wonders”; Psalm 136 performs that recounting in a litany. - לְעוֹלָם “forever” (Ps 9:6, 8; cf. 9:19 לָנֶצַח; 9:7 לָנֶצַח; Ps 136 refrain 26× כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ): same adverb anchors both psalms in God’s perpetual rule and covenant commitment. Psalm 9 uses לְעוֹלָם/לָנֶצַח polemically (the enemy’s name is erased forever; the poor won’t be forgotten forever); Psalm 136 answers with the positive ground: his חֶסֶד is forever. - זָכַר “remember” (Ps 9:13 אוֹתָם זָכָר … לֹא־שָׁכַח, “he remembered them … he did not forget”; Ps 136:23 זָכַר לָנוּ, “he remembered us”): same verb, same stem, same perfect 3ms; Psalm 136 is the explicit fulfillment of Psalm 9’s confidence that God remembers the afflicted and does not forget their cry. 2) Same root or same semantic field (very close in value for argument) - ידה “give thanks/praise”: Ps 9:2 אוֹדֶה (Hiphil 1cs); Ps 136:1–3, 26 הוֹדוּ (Hiphil 2mp imperatives). Psalm 9 begins with “I will give thanks”; Psalm 136 turns that into a congregational imperative/response. - ספר “tell/recount”: Ps 9:2 אֲסַפְּרָה; 9:12 הַגִּידוּ בָּעַמִּים עֲלִילוֹתָיו. Psalm 136 is exactly such a recounting “among the peoples,” enumerating the “deeds” Psalm 9 called to proclaim. - צ־ר “distress/oppressor”: Ps 9:10 מִשְׂגָּב לְעִתּוֹת בַּצָּרָה; Ps 136:24 וַיִּפְרְקֵנוּ מִצָּרֵינוּ. Same root ties “times of trouble” to deliverance “from our oppressors.” - שׁ־כ־ח / ז־כ־ר “forget/remember”: Psalm 9’s doublet “he remembered … he did not forget” (9:13) is echoed in 136:23–24 “he remembered us … and freed us,” making the implicit mercy of Ps 9 explicit as חֶסֶד in Ps 136. - אבד/שפט vs. מכה/יהרג (justice enacted): Ps 9’s judicial vocabulary (מִשְׁפָּט, דִּין, יִשְׁפֹּט, יָדִין; the wicked perish) is concretized in Ps 136 by historical judgments (לְמַכֶּה מְלָכִים גְּדֹלִים; וַיַּהֲרֹג מְלָכִים אַדִּירִים). 3) Motif and event‑sequence links (Psalm 136 enacts what Psalm 9 anticipates) - From vow to fulfillment: Ps 9 opens with a personal vow and a communal summons to praise and tell (אוֹדֶה … אֲסַפְּרָה … זַמְּרוּ … הַגִּידוּ). Ps 136 is the community’s antiphonal fulfillment: a catalog of God’s wonders in creation (136:4–9), exodus (10–15), wilderness (16), conquest (17–22), present help and provision (23–25). - “Let the nations be judged/know they are mortal” (Ps 9:20–21): Ps 136 supplies exempla—Egypt’s firstborn struck, Pharaoh thrown into the Sea, great and mighty kings slain (Sihon, Og). The prayer “שִׁיתָה … מוֹרָה לָהֶם … יֵדְעוּ גוֹיִם אֱנוֹשׁ הֵמָּה” is answered by a recital of God humbling imperial pretensions. - The “sinking” of the wicked: Ps 9:16 טָבְעוּ גוֹיִם (“the nations sank”) evokes the paradigmatic drowning of the Egyptians. Ps 136 makes that paradigm explicit (13–15: the Sea of Reeds cleft; Pharaoh and his army cast into it). Psalm 136 thus names the very “wonder” Psalm 9’s wording already hints at. - The poor/lowly upheld: Ps 9 majors on the דַּךְ/אֶבְיוֹן/עֲנָוִים whose cry God hears (9:10–11, 13, 19). Ps 136 remembers “us in our low estate” (שֶׁבְּשִׁפְלֵנוּ, 23) and narrates God’s rescue (וַיִּפְרְקֵנוּ, 24). Same social theology, now grounded in Israel’s story. 4) Kingship and enthronement, then cosmic grounding - Ps 9:8 “YHWH sits enthroned forever” (לְעוֹלָם יֵשֵׁב); v.5 “you sat on the throne, judging in righteousness.” Ps 136 opens by acclaiming the cosmic sovereign (“אֱלֹהֵי הָאֱלֹהִים … אֲדֹנֵי הָאֲדֹנִים”) and then gives the theological ground: he is the Creator (136:4–9). Psalm 136 thus supplies the cosmological basis for the universal judgment Psalm 9 announced (9:9 “He will judge the world [תֵבֵל] in righteousness”). - Zion and inheritance: Ps 9 praises “YHWH, enthroned in Zion” (9:12) and envisions rejoicing “in the gates of Daughter Zion” (9:15). Ps 136 recounts how that Zion‑world came to be historically: God struck the kings, “gave their land as an inheritance” (21–22). The conquest motif in 136 is the historical substrate behind Ps 9’s Zion praise. 5) Rhetorical progression (call and response across the two psalms) - Psalm 9: Call to praise and to public narration; confidence that God remembers the afflicted; plea for God to arise and judge the nations. - Psalm 136: The congregation answers with a liturgical Hallel that (a) narrates the canonical “wonders” Psalm 9 vowed to recount, (b) shows in concrete episodes how God “remembers” and “does not forget,” and (c) displays before the nations the pattern of divine judgment and mercy. 6) Additional lexical/thematic correspondences worth noting - Supreme titles: Ps 9:3 עֶלְיוֹן; Ps 136:2–3 “אֱלֹהֵי הָאֱלֹהִים … אֲדֹנֵי הָאֲדֹנִים.” Different words, same claim: unrivaled sovereignty. - “World/all flesh”: Ps 9:9 “He will judge the world (תֵבֵל)”; Ps 136:25 “He gives food to all flesh (לְכָל־בָּשָׂר).” Both universalize God’s reign and care. - Mercy vocabulary: Ps 9:14 חָנְנֵנִי (“be gracious to me”); Ps 136’s refrain is חֶסֶד. Not the same root, but the same covenantal mercy field—what Ps 9 asks for, Ps 136 names and celebrates. 7) Mythic‑historical frame shared - Psalm 9’s enthronement/judgment language and its hint of enemies “sinking” tap into the Israelite creation‑exodus combat motif (order vs. chaos, YHWH vs. the Sea and proud nations). Psalm 136 makes that motif explicit: creation of heavens/earth, mastery over waters, splitting the Sea, overthrow of kings, gift of land, ongoing providence. In sum - Lexically, the most probative links are נִפְלָאוֹת, לְעוֹלָם, and זָכַר with identical or near‑identical forms, plus the shared praise root ידה and the צ־ר distress/oppressor root. - Formally, Psalm 9’s solo vow + communal summons (“I will praise/recount … you all sing/tell”) naturally issues in a communal antiphon like Psalm 136. - Theologically and narratively, Psalm 136 concretizes Psalm 9: it enumerates the very “wonders” to be told among the nations, exhibits God’s forever‑rule in creation and history, shows that he “remembered” the lowly, and provides historical instances of the judgment on nations Psalm 9 prayed for. On those grounds, Psalm 136 reads well as a logical sequel—liturgically, lexically, and conceptually—to Psalm 9.
Evaluation
Score: 6.5
Evaluated at: 2025-12-07T03:44:46 (UTC)
Evaluator model: gpt-5
Evaluator version: v2
Reasoning: 4160 Output: 7056 Total: 11216
Checklist
- Has verse refs: Yes
- Factual error detected: No
- Only generic motifs: No
- Counterargument considered: No
- LXX/MT numbering acknowledged: No
Vocabulary specificity: 3.0 / 10
Accurate verse‑anchored links (נפלאות, לעולם, זכר; צ־ר), coherent vow→fulfillment rationale. Yet lexemes are common across Psalms, no editorial markers, and Ps 9’s canonical partner is Ps 10. Score 6.5.
Prompt
Consider Psalm 9 and Psalm 136 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 136 logically follows on from Psalm 9? 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 9:
Psalm 9
1. לַ֭מְנַצֵּחַ
עַלְמ֥וּת
לַבֵּ֗ן
מִזְמ֥וֹר
לְדָוִֽד׃
2. אוֹדֶ֣ה
יְ֭הוָה
בְּכָל־
לִבִּ֑י
אֲ֝סַפְּרָ֗ה
כָּל־
נִפְלְאוֹתֶֽיךָ׃
3. אֶשְׂמְחָ֣ה
וְאֶעֶלְצָ֣ה
בָ֑ךְ
אֲזַמְּרָ֖ה
שִׁמְךָ֣
עֶלְיֽוֹן׃
4. בְּשׁוּב־
אוֹיְבַ֥י
אָח֑וֹר
יִכָּשְׁל֥וּ
וְ֝יֹאבְד֗וּ
מִפָּנֶֽיךָ׃
5. כִּֽי־
עָ֭שִׂיתָ
מִשְׁפָּטִ֣י
וְדִינִ֑י
יָשַׁ֥בְתָּ
לְ֝כִסֵּ֗א
שׁוֹפֵ֥ט
צֶֽדֶק׃
6. גָּעַ֣רְתָּ
ג֭וֹיִם
אִבַּ֣דְתָּ
רָשָׁ֑ע
שְׁמָ֥ם
מָ֝חִ֗יתָ
לְעוֹלָ֥ם
וָעֶֽד׃
7. הָֽאוֹיֵ֨ב ׀
תַּ֥מּוּ
חֳרָב֗וֹת
לָ֫נֶ֥צַח
וְעָרִ֥ים
נָתַ֑שְׁתָּ
אָבַ֖ד
זִכְרָ֣ם
הֵֽמָּה׃
8. וַֽ֭יהוָה
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
יֵשֵׁ֑ב
כּוֹנֵ֖ן
לַמִּשְׁפָּ֣ט
כִּסְאֽוֹ׃
9. וְה֗וּא
יִשְׁפֹּֽט־
תֵּבֵ֥ל
בְּצֶ֑דֶק
יָדִ֥ין
לְ֝אֻמִּ֗ים
בְּמֵישָֽׁtרִים׃
10. וִ֘יהִ֤י
יְהוָ֣ה
מִשְׂגָּ֣ב
לַדָּ֑ךְ
מִ֝שְׂגָּ֗ב
לְעִתּ֥וֹת
בַּצָּרָֽה׃
11. וְיִבְטְח֣וּ
בְ֭ךָ
יוֹדְעֵ֣י
שְׁמֶ֑ךָ
כִּ֤י
לֹֽא־
עָזַ֖בְתָּ
דֹרְשֶׁ֣יךָ
יְהוָֽה׃
12. זַמְּר֗וּ
לַ֭יהוָה
יֹשֵׁ֣ב
צִיּ֑וֹן
הַגִּ֥ידוּ
בָ֝עַמִּ֗ים
עֲלִֽילוֹתָֽיו׃
13. כִּֽי־
דֹרֵ֣שׁ
דָּ֭מִים
אוֹתָ֣ם
זָכָ֑ר
לֹֽא־
שָׁ֝כַ֗ח
צַעֲקַ֥ת
עניים
עֲנָוִֽים׃
14. חָֽנְנֵ֬נִי
יְהוָ֗ה
רְאֵ֣ה
עָ֭נְיִי
מִשֹּׂנְאָ֑י
מְ֝רוֹמְמִ֗י
מִשַּׁ֥עֲרֵי
מָֽוֶת׃
15. לְמַ֥עַן
אֲסַפְּרָ֗ה
כָּֽל־
תְּהִלָּ֫תֶ֥יךָ
בְּשַֽׁעֲרֵ֥י
בַת־
צִיּ֑וֹן
אָ֝גִ֗ילָה
בִּישׁוּעָתֶֽךָ׃
16. טָבְע֣וּ
ג֭וֹיִם
בְּשַׁ֣חַת
עָשׂ֑וּ
בְּרֶֽשֶׁת־
ז֥וּ
טָ֝מָ֗נוּ
נִלְכְּדָ֥ה
רַגְלָֽם׃
17. נ֤וֹדַ֨ע ׀
יְהוָה֮
מִשְׁפָּ֢ט
עָ֫שָׂ֥ה
בְּפֹ֣עַל
כַּ֭פָּיו
נוֹקֵ֣שׁ
רָשָׁ֑ע
הִגָּי֥וֹן
סֶֽלָה׃
18. יָשׁ֣וּבוּ
רְשָׁעִ֣ים
לִשְׁא֑וֹלָה
כָּל־
גּ֝וֹיִ֗ם
שְׁכֵחֵ֥י
אֱלֹהִֽים׃
19. כִּ֤י
לֹ֣א
לָ֭נֶצַח
יִשָּׁכַ֣ח
אֶבְי֑וֹן
תִּקְוַ֥ת
ענוים
עֲ֝נִיִּ֗ים
תֹּאבַ֥ד
לָעַֽד׃
20. קוּמָ֣ה
יְ֭הוָה
אַל־
יָעֹ֣ז
אֱנ֑וֹשׁ
יִשָּׁפְט֥וּ
ג֝וֹיִ֗ם
עַל־
פָּנֶֽיךָ׃
21. שִׁ֘יתָ֤ה
יְהוָ֨ה ׀
מוֹרָ֗ה
לָ֫הֶ֥ם
יֵדְע֥וּ
גוֹיִ֑ם
אֱנ֖וֹשׁ
הֵ֣מָּה
סֶּֽלָה׃
Psalm 136:
Psalm 136
1. הוֹד֣וּ
לַיהוָ֣ה
כִּי־
ט֑וֹב
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
2. ה֭וֹדוּ
לֵֽאלֹהֵ֣י
הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
3. ה֭וֹדוּ
לַאֲדֹנֵ֣י
הָאֲדֹנִ֑ים
כִּ֖י
לְעֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
4. לְעֹ֘שֵׂ֤ה
נִפְלָא֣וֹת
גְּדֹל֣וֹת
לְבַדּ֑וֹ
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
5. לְעֹשֵׂ֣ה
הַ֭שָּׁמַיִם
בִּתְבוּנָ֑ה
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
6. לְרֹקַ֣ע
הָ֭אָרֶץ
עַל־
הַמָּ֑יִם
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
7. לְ֭עֹשֵׂה
אוֹרִ֣ים
גְּדֹלִ֑ים
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
8. אֶת־
הַ֭שֶּׁמֶשׁ
לְמֶמְשֶׁ֣לֶת
בַּיּ֑וֹם
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
9. אֶת־
הַיָּרֵ֣חַ
וְ֭כוֹכָבִים
לְמֶמְשְׁל֣וֹת
בַּלָּ֑יְלָה
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
10. לְמַכֵּ֣ה
מִ֭צְרַיִם
בִּבְכוֹרֵיהֶ֑ם
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
11. וַיּוֹצֵ֣א
יִ֭שְׂרָאֵל
מִתּוֹכָ֑ם
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
12. בְּיָ֣ד
חֲ֭זָקָה
וּבִזְר֣וֹעַ
נְטוּיָ֑ה
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
13. לְגֹזֵ֣ר
יַם־
ס֭וּף
לִגְזָרִ֑ים
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
14. וְהֶעֱבִ֣יר
יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל
בְּתוֹכ֑וֹ
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
15. וְנִ֘עֵ֤ר
פַּרְעֹ֣ה
וְחֵיל֣וֹ
בְיַם־
ס֑וּף
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
16. לְמוֹלִ֣יךְ
עַ֭מּוֹ
בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
17. לְ֭מַכֵּה
מְלָכִ֣ים
גְּדֹלִ֑ים
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
18. וַֽ֭יַּהֲרֹג
מְלָכִ֣ים
אַדִּירִ֑ים
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
19. לְ֭סִיחוֹן
מֶ֣לֶךְ
הָאֱמֹרִ֑י
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
20. וּ֭לְעוֹג
מֶ֣לֶךְ
הַבָּשָׁ֑ן
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
21. וְנָתַ֣ן
אַרְצָ֣ם
לְנַחֲלָ֑ה
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
22. נַ֭חֲלָה
לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל
עַבְדּ֑וֹ
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
23. שֶׁ֭בְּשִׁפְלֵנוּ
זָ֣כַר
לָ֑נוּ
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
24. וַיִּפְרְקֵ֥נוּ
מִצָּרֵ֑ינוּ
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
25. נֹתֵ֣ן
לֶ֭חֶם
לְכָל־
בָּשָׂ֑ר
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
26. ה֭וֹדוּ
לְאֵ֣ל
הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם
כִּ֖י
לְעוֹלָ֣ם
חַסְדּֽוֹ׃