Psalm 10 → 79

Reasoning: 12096 Output: 6049 Total: 18145

Argument

Short answer: Read Psalm 79 as the communal, historical sequel to the personal-legal lament of Psalm 10. The same rhetorical shape, several striking lexical/phrase echoes (especially around “why?”, “forever,” the “arm/hand” of power, the plight of the poor, God’s seeing/knowing vs hiding, and the nations in God’s land), and the Deuteronomistic “hidden face → enemy taunt → vengeance → praise” storyline all reappear in Ps 79, but scaled up to national catastrophe (temple desecration, slaughter, derision). Below are the main ways to justify that Ps 79 follows Ps 10.

1) Form and rhetoric (same skeleton, now communal)
- Both are laments with the same moves: vocative → complaint → urgent imperatives to God → motivations/appeals → confidence/vow.
- Parallel complaint formulas:
  - Ps 10:1 למה יהוה תעמד ברחוק … תעלים לעתות בצרה (“Why, O YHWH, do you stand far off… hide in times of distress?”)
  - Ps 79:5 עד־מה יהוה תאנף לנצח (“How long, YHWH, will you be angry forever?”)
  - Both ask “why/how long,” both stress “forever” (לנצח), and both explain the crisis in detail.
- Imperatives to God to act:
  - Ps 10:12 קומה… נשא ידך; 10:15 שבר זרוע רשע (“Arise… lift your hand; break the arm of the wicked”).
  - Ps 79:6 שפך חמתך; 79:12 והשב… (“Pour out your wrath”; “Return [their reproach]…”).
- Closure in trust/praise:
  - Ps 10 ends in confidence (10:16–18).
  - Ps 79 ends with a vow of praise (79:13).

2) Lexical/phrase echoes that signal continuity
Rarer or tighter matches first; identical forms and same word-class noted.

- “Arm/hand” as the instrument of power/judgment (same noun, זרוע):
  - Ps 10:15 שבר זרוע רשע (“Break the arm of the wicked”).
  - Ps 79:11 כגדל זרועך הותר בני תמותה (“By the greatness of your arm preserve those doomed to die”).
  - Ps 10:12 also has נשא ידך (“lift your hand”).
  This sets a neat antithetic progression: the wicked’s arm is to be broken (Ps 10) and God’s arm is to deliver (Ps 79).

- “Why?”/public vindication vs divine hiddenness:
  - Ps 10:1 למה… תעמד ברחוק; 10:11 הסתיר פניו, בל־יראה לנצח (“He has hidden his face; he will never see”).
  - Ps 79:10 למה יאמרו הגוים: איה אלהיהם (“Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’”).
  - Ps 79:10 יוּדע בגוים… לעינינו (“Let it be known among the nations… before our eyes”).
  The taunt “Where is their God?” is a public form of the wicked’s creed in Ps 10 (“He won’t see/require”). Ps 79 asks God to reverse that by public demonstration (“be known… before our eyes”).

- “Knowing/Calling to account” (דרש/ידע motif; same legal field):
  - Ps 10:13 לא תדרש (“You will not call to account”), 10:15 תדרש רשעו (“You will seek out his wickedness”).
  - Ps 79:6 על הגוים אשר לא ידעוך (“on the nations that do not know you”); 79:10 יוּדע בגוים (“let [it] be known among the nations”).
  Ps 10 struggles with whether God “דרשׁ” (requires/inquires); Ps 79 asks for visible “ידע/יוּדע” (knowledge/reputation) among the nations—functional equivalents in forensic vindication.

- Nations in God’s land—pointed antithesis that looks like a sequel:
  - Ps 10:16 יהוה מלך עולם ועד; אבדו גוים מארצו (“YHWH is king forever and ever; nations have perished from his land”).
  - Ps 79:1 באו גוים בנחלתך… טמאו את היכל קדשך (“Nations have come into your inheritance… they have defiled your holy temple”).
  The confidence of Ps 10 (“nations have perished from his land”) is challenged by the reality described in Ps 79 (“nations have entered your inheritance”). Ps 79 thus reads naturally as the next scene, after the prayer of Ps 10, in a later, worse crisis.

- The afflicted/lowly constituency (same semantic field, some same roots):
  - Ps 10 piles up the vulnerable: עני (vv. 2, 9), חלכה (vv. 8, 14), דך (v. 18), יתום (vv. 14, 18).
  - Ps 79:8 דלונו מאד (“we are very low”), 79:11 אנקת אסיר (“the groaning of the prisoner”), 79:11 בני תמותה (“those doomed to die”).
  While not all the same roots, both psalms define the speakers as God’s protected-but-helpless group under ruthless violence.

- “Help/save” (same root עזר):
  - Ps 10:14 יתום אתה היית עוזר (“to the orphan you have been a helper”).
  - Ps 79:9 עזרנו… והצלנו (“Help us… and rescue us”).
  The plea moves from a personal/legal claim to a communal salvation cry.

- “Forever”/“generation to generation” formulas (identical forms):
  - Ps 10:6 לדור ודור; 10:11 לנצח; 10:16 עולם ועד.
  - Ps 79:5 לנצח; 79:13 לעולם… לדור ודור.
  The stock “forever” and “לדור ודור” markers frame both psalms.

- Insult/blasphemy language aimed at God (same semantic domain; one relatively rare verb):
  - Ps 10:3 ניאץ יהוה (“he has spurned YHWH”).
  - Ps 79:4 חרפה…; 79:12 חרפוך אדני (“they reproached you, Lord”).
  Both frame the crisis as public dishonor of God’s name.

- Bloodguilt and its requital (very close theme, explicit in Ps 79 and in the 9–10 complex):
  - Ps 10:8–9 יַהֲרֹג נָקִי (“he murders the innocent”)—the violence that creates bloodguilt.
  - Ps 79:3–4 שפכו דמם… ואין קבר; 79:10 נקמת דם עבדיך השפוך.
  Also recall Ps 9:13 (paired acrostically with Ps 10): כי דרש דמים אותם זכר (“For he who requires blood remembers…”). Ps 79:10’s נקמת דם is a direct pickup of the same forensic theme—now explicitly communal.

3) Narrative/theological arc shared by both (Deuteronomistic logic)
- Psalm 10’s complaint centers on divine hiddenness and the wicked’s conclusion that God won’t see or “require” (10:1, 10:11, 10:13), together with a plea for God to rise, lift his hand, break the oppressor’s arm, and judge for the orphan and the crushed (vv. 12, 15, 18).
- Psalm 79 reads like the historical consequence of exactly that “hidden face” scenario: foreign invasion, temple profanation, mass death, public taunt “Where is their God?” (79:1–5, 10). This matches the Deut 31–32 pattern: God hides his face → enemies ravage → taunt “Where is their God?” → God acts for his name. Psalm 79 then asks for precisely that action: “Pour out your wrath… Let it be known among the nations… avenge the blood… Help us for the glory of your name… and we will praise you to generation and generation” (79:6–13). It is the communal version of Ps 10’s legal-ethical petition.

4) Event-sequence plausibility in Israel’s life
- Ps 10 describes the predatory success of the wicked, especially against the poor and fatherless, and asks for decisive divine intervention. In Israel’s historical experience the “macro” version of that predation is military invasion; Ps 79 situates the same moral crisis at the national level: nations in God’s land, the holy place desecrated, the innocent slaughtered, the community mocked by neighbors.
- The taunt “Where is their God?” (79:10) is the stereotypical exilic/post-destruction insult (cf. Joel 2:17; Mic 7:10), precisely the public version of Ps 10’s inner boast “He will not see/require.”

5) One particularly tight antithetic hinge that makes 79 a natural “after” to 10
- Ps 10:16 ends, “YHWH is king forever and ever; nations have perished from his land” (אבדו גוים מארצו).
- Ps 79:1 opens, “Nations have come into your inheritance” (באו גוים בנחלתך).
This near-chiasm (perished from his land vs entered his inheritance) reads like a deliberate editorial/canonical juxtaposition: what Ps 10 prayed and affirmed, Ps 79 now urgently re-asks amid a later catastrophe.

6) Stylistic texture
- Both exhibit dense strings of short imperatives to God; both shift rapidly between courtroom vocabulary (דרש/נקם/יוּדע), warfare/power imagery (יד/זרוע; שפך חמה), and pastoral/social protection (יתום/דך/ענוים → עמך וצאן מרעיתך).
- Both close with everlasting language and a communal horizon (Ps 10 crowns YHWH as eternal king; Ps 79 pledges eternal praise by his flock).

Conclusion
- By form (lament sequence), by multiple lexical and phrase echoes (למה; לנצח/לעולם; לדור ודור; זרוע; עזר; גוים + “his land/your inheritance”; seeing/knowing/דרש; blasphemy terms), by the shared protection-of-the-vulnerable motif, and by the Deuteronomistic storyline (hidden face → taunt → public vindication), Psalm 79 reads naturally as a communal, historical continuation of Psalm 10. The wicked individual of Ps 10 has become the invading nations of Ps 79; the call to break the wicked arm has become an appeal to the greatness of God’s arm; the plea that no mortal terrify any more (10:18) has become a plea to avenge the blood and silence the taunt (79:10–12); and the eternal kingship/praise formulas bind the two conclusions together (10:16; 79:13).

Evaluation

Score: 6.0

Evaluated at: 2025-12-10T04:05:31 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 4032 Output: 6880 Total: 10912

Vocabulary specificity: 4.0 / 10

Several accurate, verse-anchored correspondences (זרוע, למה/לנצח, עזר, גוים מארצו↔באו גוים בנחלתך, נקמת דם) and a plausible sequence; yet most are common lament vocabulary and distance in placement weakens editorial case. No caps.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 10 and Psalm 79 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 79 logically follows on from Psalm 10? 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 10:
Psalm 10
1. לָמָ֣ה
        יְ֭הוָה
        תַּעֲמֹ֣ד
        בְּרָח֑וֹק
        תַּ֝עְלִ֗ים
        לְעִתּ֥וֹת
        בַּצָּרָֽה׃
2. בְּגַאֲוַ֣ת
        רָ֭שָׁע
        יִדְלַ֣ק
        עָנִ֑י
        יִתָּפְשׂ֓וּ ׀
        בִּמְזִמּ֖וֹת
        ז֣וּ
        חָשָֽׁבוּ׃
3. כִּֽי־
        הִלֵּ֣ל
        רָ֭שָׁע
        עַל־
        תַּאֲוַ֣ת
        נַפְשׁ֑וֹ
        וּבֹצֵ֥עַ
        בֵּ֝רֵ֗ךְ
        נִ֘אֵ֥ץ ׀
        יְהוָֽה׃
4. רָשָׁ֗ע
        כְּגֹ֣בַהּ
        אַ֭פּוֹ
        בַּל־
        יִדְרֹ֑שׁ
        אֵ֥ין
        אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים
        כָּל־
        מְזִמּוֹתָֽיו׃
5. יָ֘חִ֤ילוּ
        דרכו
        דְרָכָ֨יו ׀
        בְּכָל־
        עֵ֗ת
        מָר֣וֹם
        מִ֭שְׁפָּטֶיךָ
        מִנֶּגְדּ֑וֹ
        כָּל־
        צ֝וֹרְרָ֗יו
        יָפִ֥יחַ
        בָּהֶֽם׃
6. אָמַ֣ר
        בְּ֭לִבּוֹ
        בַּל־
        אֶמּ֑וֹט
        לְדֹ֥ר
        וָ֝דֹ֗ר
        אֲשֶׁ֣ר
        לֹֽא־
        בְרָֽע׃
7. אָלָ֤ה ׀
        פִּ֣יהוּ
        מָ֭לֵא
        וּמִרְמ֣וֹת
        וָתֹ֑ךְ
        תַּ֥חַת
        לְ֝שׁוֹנ֗וֹ
        עָמָ֥ל
        וָאָֽוֶן׃
8. יֵשֵׁ֤ב ׀
        בְּמַאְרַ֬ב
        חֲצֵרִ֗ים
        בַּֽ֭מִּסְתָּרִים
        יַהֲרֹ֣ג
        נָקִ֑י
        עֵ֝ינָ֗יו
        לְֽחֵלְכָ֥ה
        יִצְפֹּֽנוּ׃
9. יֶאֱרֹ֬ב
        בַּמִּסְתָּ֨ר ׀
        כְּאַרְיֵ֬ה
        בְסֻכֹּ֗ה
        יֶ֭אֱרֹב
        לַחֲט֣וֹף
        עָנִ֑י
        יַחְטֹ֥ף
        עָ֝נִ֗י
        בְּמָשְׁכ֥וֹ
        בְרִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃
10. ודכה
        יִדְכֶּ֥ה
        יָשֹׁ֑חַ
        וְנָפַ֥ל
        בַּ֝עֲצוּמָּ֗יו
        חלכאים
        חֵ֣יל
        כָּאִֽים׃
11. אָמַ֣ר
        בְּ֭לִבּוֹ
        שָׁ֣כַֽח
        אֵ֑ל
        הִסְתִּ֥יר
        פָּ֝נָ֗יו
        בַּל־
        רָאָ֥ה
        לָנֶֽצַח׃
12. קוּמָ֤ה
        יְהוָ֗ה
        אֵ֭ל
        נְשָׂ֣א
        יָדֶ֑ךָ
        אַל־
        תִּשְׁכַּ֥ח
        עניים
        עֲנָוִֽים׃
13. עַל־
        מֶ֤ה ׀
        נִאֵ֖ץ
        רָשָׁ֥ע ׀
        אֱלֹהִ֑ים
        אָמַ֥ר
        בְּ֝לִבּ֗וֹ
        לֹ֣א
        תִדְרֹֽשׁ׃
14. רָאִ֡תָה
        כִּֽי־
        אַתָּ֤ה ׀
        עָ֘מָ֤ל
        וָכַ֨עַס ׀
        תַּבִּיט֮
        לָתֵ֢ת
        בְּיָ֫דֶ֥ךָ
        עָ֭לֶיךָ
        יַעֲזֹ֣ב
        חֵלֶ֑כָה
        יָ֝ת֗וֹם
        אַתָּ֤ה ׀
        הָיִ֬יתָ
        עוֹזֵֽר׃
15. שְׁ֭בֹר
        זְר֣וֹעַ
        רָשָׁ֑ע
        וָ֝רָ֗ע
        תִּֽדְרוֹשׁ־
        רִשְׁע֥וֹ
        בַל־
        תִּמְצָֽא׃
16. יְהוָ֣ה
        מֶ֭לֶךְ
        עוֹלָ֣ם
        וָעֶ֑ד
        אָבְד֥וּ
        ג֝וֹיִ֗ם
        מֵֽאַרְצֽוֹ׃
17. תַּאֲוַ֬ת
        עֲנָוִ֣ים
        שָׁמַ֣עְתָּ
        יְהוָ֑ה
        תָּכִ֥ין
        לִ֝בָּ֗ם
        תַּקְשִׁ֥יב
        אָזְנֶֽךָ׃
18. לִשְׁפֹּ֥ט
        יָת֗וֹם
        וָ֫דָ֥ךְ
        בַּל־
        יוֹסִ֥יף
        ע֑וֹד
        לַעֲרֹ֥ץ
        אֱ֝נ֗וֹשׁ
        מִן־
        הָאָֽרֶץ׃

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׃