Psalm 10 → 83

Reasoning: 8896 Output: 5667 Total: 14563

Argument

Here is a compact case that Psalm 83 can be read as a logical sequel to Psalm 10, with the links arranged by type and weighted (rarer/identical forms and roots emphasized).

1) Frame and movement (from individual injustice to national threat)
- Same opening problem: God’s inaction.
  - Ps 10:1 “Why do you stand far off… hide in times of trouble?” (תעמד ברחוק; תעלים)
  - Ps 83:2 “O God, do not be silent… do not be quiet” (אל־דמי־לך; אל־תחרש; ואל־תשקט)
  - The silence/hiddenness motif continues seamlessly, now scaled from a lone sufferer to the whole people.

- Same closing aim: public recognition of YHWH’s rule.
  - Ps 10:16 “YHWH is king forever and ever; nations have perished from his land” (יהוה מלך עולם ועד; אבדו גוים מארצו)
  - Ps 83:19 “Let them know that You—Your name is YHWH—alone are Most High over all the earth” (וידעו כי־אתה שמך יהוה לבדך עליון על כל־הארץ)
  - 83 thus concretizes 10’s claim about YHWH’s kingship by focusing on nations; it seeks exactly the public acknowledgment that counters the wicked’s denial in Ps 10.

2) Rare or striking shared lexemes/roots (high weight)
- צפן “hide/treasure” (rare in this sense; identical root, different forms/classes).
  - Ps 10:8 עיניו לחֵלְכָה יִצְפֹּנוּ “his eyes lie in ambush for the helpless”
  - Ps 83:4 על־צְפוּנֶיךָ “against your hidden/treasured ones”
  - The “hidden” motif flips: in 10 the wicked hide to trap the vulnerable; in 83 Israel itself is God’s “hidden ones.”

- זרוע “arm” (identical form).
  - Ps 10:15 שְׁבֹר זְרוֹעַ רָשָׁע “break the arm of the wicked”
  - Ps 83:9 היו זְרוֹעַ לבני־לוט “they became an arm to the sons of Lot”
  - 83 looks like the historical-national enactment of 10’s prayer: the coalition’s “arm” must be broken.

- נשא “lift” (identical root; echo effect).
  - Ps 10:12 נְשָׂא יָדֶךָ “lift your hand”
  - Ps 83:3 נָשְׂאוּ רֹאשׁ “they have lifted up the head”
  - The enemies’ self-exaltation (lifting head) elicits God’s counter-exaltation (lifting hand).

- פנים “face” (identical lexeme).
  - Ps 10:11 הִסְתִּיר פָּנָיו “he has hidden his face”
  - Ps 83:17 מַלֵּא פְּנֵיהֶם קָלוֹן “fill their faces with shame”
  - The “face” theme continues, turning divine hiddenness (10) into enemy disgrace (83).

- אבד “perish” (identical root).
  - Ps 10:16 אבדו גוים מארצו “the nations have perished from his land”
  - Ps 83:18 וְיֹאבֵדוּ “let them perish”
  - 83 names and targets the very “nations” whose perishing 10 anticipates.

- עד/ועד formulas of eternity (identical morpheme; very characteristic).
  - Ps 10:16 עולם ועד “forever and ever”
  - Ps 83:18 עדי־עד “forever and ever”
  - Matching doxological cadence.

3) Conceptual/semantic links where roots differ but ideas match (medium weight)
- “Seeking” God vs denial that God “seeks.”
  - Ps 10:4,13 בל ידרש; לא תדרש “he will not seek/inquire; you will not seek”
  - Ps 83:17 ויבקשו שמך יהוה “that they may seek your name, YHWH”
  - 83 explicitly reverses the boast of 10: the endgame is that the hostile world, not the righteous, becomes the seekers of YHWH.

- Pursuit imagery reversed.
  - Ps 10:2 ידלּק עני “the wicked hotly pursues the poor”
  - Ps 83:16 כן תרדפם “so pursue them (with your storm)”
  - The hunter becomes the hunted.

- Plotting in secret.
  - Ps 10:2 במזִמות… חשבו “schemes they devised”
  - Ps 83:4–6 יַעֲרִימוּ סוד; יתיעצו “they craft counsel; they consult together”
  - Identical plot-process, but scaled up to inter-state conspiracy.

- Divine property under attack.
  - Ps 10:16 מארצו “from his land”
  - Ps 83:13 נִירֲשָׁה לנו את נְא֣וֹת אֱלֹהִים “let us take possession of the pastures/dwellings of God”
  - Both recognize the land as God’s; 83 turns 10:16’s claim into a contested battlefield.

4) Shared structure and rhetoric (medium-to-high weight)
- Lament → imprecation → confidence/recognition.
  - Ps 10 moves from “Why are you far?” to “Break the arm of the wicked” to “YHWH is king forever… to judge the orphan and crushed” (vv. 1 → 15 → 16–18).
  - Ps 83 moves from “Do not be silent” to “Do to them as Midian, as Sisera… make them like chaff; pursue them with storm” (vv. 2 → 10–16) to the goal “that they may seek your name… and know that you alone are Most High” (vv. 17–19).
  - The formal arc is the same; 83 is the macro/political version of 10’s micro/social case.

- Enemy speech foregrounded.
  - Ps 10:6,11,13 אָמַר בלבו… “he said in his heart…”
  - Ps 83:5,13 אָמְרוּ “they said…”
  - Both develop the case by quoting the antagonist’s words; 83 answers 10’s inner arrogance with a public coalition program (“Come, let us wipe them out as a nation,” 83:5).

- Divine titles staged similarly.
  - Ps 10 addresses יהוה and also calls on אֵל (v. 12).
  - Ps 83 opens with אֱלֹהִים… אֵל (vv. 2–3) and closes with יהוה and עֶלְיוֹן (v. 19).
  - Both alternate names to frame lament and doxology.

5) Historical-mythic throughline (medium weight)
- 83’s “storm-warrior” epithets (בסערך; בסופתך; כגלגל; כקש; כאש תבער יער) enact the kingship confession of 10:16. In Israelite mythic-historical memory, YHWH’s kingship is proven by defeating coalitions (Midian; Sisera–Jabin; 83:10–12). Psalm 10’s generic “break the arm” becomes concretized: the coalition even has an “arm” (זרוע; 83:9), inviting God to break it.

- Social-to-national logic common in Israel’s life: injustice at home (10: the poor, orphan, crushed) and assault from abroad (83: a ten-member alliance). The same God who “judges the orphan and the crushed” (10:18) must also defend “your people” and “your hidden ones” (83:4). The sequel is coherent sociologically and liturgically.

6) A pointed hinge between the two psalms
- Ps 10:16 claims: “Nations have perished from his land.”
- Ps 83 immediately supplies the list of those nations (Edom, Ishmael, Moab, Hagrites, Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia, Tyre, Assyria; 83:7–9) and prays for their destruction, so that the programmatic line of 10:16 becomes visible in history.
- This is strengthened by the rare/striking pairings already noted: זרוע//זרוע; צפן//צפון; אבד//יאבד; עד/ועד formulas; נשא (hand/head); and the face/hiddenness exchange.

Bottom line
- Read this way, Psalm 83 is the national, historical sequel to Psalm 10’s personal, social lament. It reuses the same complaint of divine “distance/silence,” the same rhetoric (enemy speech; petitions; imprecations), and several marked lexical anchors (צפן; זרוע; נשא; פנים; אבד; עד/ועד), but transposes the scene from an urban ambush of the poor (10:8–10) to an international ambush of God’s people (83:4–9). It then drives to the same theological end: YHWH’s kingship publicly acknowledged (10:16; 83:19), with the wicked’s boast (“God will not seek/see,” 10:4, 11, 13) reversed into the nations’ seeking and knowing God’s name (83:17–19).

Evaluation

Score: 7.8

Evaluated at: 2025-12-10T04:10:02 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 3584 Output: 6489 Total: 10073

Vocabulary specificity: 6.0 / 10

Multiple precise lexeme links (צפן; זרוע; נשא; פנים; אבד; עדי־עד) with ordered reversals and shared arc. Yet many items are common lament tropes; non-adjacent canonical distance weakens sequential claim.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 10 and Psalm 83 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 83 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 83:
Psalm 83
1. שִׁ֖יר
        מִזְמ֣וֹר
        לְאָסָֽף׃
2. אֱלֹהִ֥ים
        אַל־
        דֳּמִי־
        לָ֑ךְ
        אַל־
        תֶּחֱרַ֖שׁ
        וְאַל־
        תִּשְׁקֹ֣ט
        אֵֽל׃
3. כִּֽי־
        הִנֵּ֣ה
        א֭וֹיְבֶיךָ
        יֶהֱמָי֑וּן
        וּ֝מְשַׂנְאֶ֗יךָ
        נָ֣שְׂאוּ
        רֹֽאשׁ׃
4. עַֽל־
        עַ֭מְּךָ
        יַעֲרִ֣ימוּ
        ס֑וֹד
        וְ֝יִתְיָעֲצ֗וּ
        עַל־
        צְפוּנֶֽיךָ׃
5. אָמְר֗וּ
        לְ֭כוּ
        וְנַכְחִידֵ֣ם
        מִגּ֑וֹי
        וְלֹֽא־
        יִזָּכֵ֖ר
        שֵֽׁם־
        יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל
        עֽוֹד׃
6. כִּ֤י
        נוֹעֲצ֣וּ
        לֵ֣ב
        יַחְדָּ֑ו
        עָ֝לֶ֗יךָ
        בְּרִ֣ית
        יִכְרֹֽתוּ׃
7. אָהֳלֵ֣י
        אֱ֭דוֹם
        וְיִשְׁמְעֵאלִ֗ים
        מוֹאָ֥ב
        וְהַגְרִֽים׃
8. גְּבָ֣ל
        וְ֭עַמּוֹן
        וַעֲמָלֵ֑ק
        פְּ֝לֶ֗שֶׁת
        עִם־
        יֹ֥שְׁבֵי
        צֽוֹר׃
9. גַּם־
        אַ֭שּׁוּר
        נִלְוָ֣ה
        עִמָּ֑ם
        הָ֤י֥וּ
        זְר֖וֹעַ
        לִבְנֵי־
        ל֣וֹט
        סֶֽלָה׃
10. עֲשֵֽׂה־
        לָהֶ֥ם
        כְּמִדְיָ֑ן
        כְּֽסִֽיסְרָ֥א
        כְ֝יָבִ֗ין
        בְּנַ֣חַל
        קִישֽׁוֹן׃
11. נִשְׁמְד֥וּ
        בְֽעֵין־
        דֹּ֑אר
        הָ֥יוּ
        דֹ֝֗מֶן
        לָאֲדָמָֽה׃
12. שִׁיתֵ֣מוֹ
        נְ֭דִיבֵמוֹ
        כְּעֹרֵ֣ב
        וְכִזְאֵ֑ב
        וּֽכְזֶ֥בַח
        וּ֝כְצַלְמֻנָּ֗ע
        כָּל־
        נְסִיכֵֽמוֹ׃
13. אֲשֶׁ֣ר
        אָ֭מְרוּ
        נִ֣ירֲשָׁה
        לָּ֑נוּ
        אֵ֝֗ת
        נְא֣וֹת
        אֱלֹהִֽים׃
14. אֱ‍ֽלֹהַ֗י
        שִׁיתֵ֥מוֹ
        כַגַּלְגַּ֑ל
        כְּ֝קַ֗שׁ
        לִפְנֵי־
        רֽוּחַ׃
15. כְּאֵ֥שׁ
        תִּבְעַר־
        יָ֑עַר
        וּ֝כְלֶהָבָ֗ה
        תְּלַהֵ֥ט
        הָרִֽים׃
16. כֵּ֭ן
        תִּרְדְּפֵ֣ם
        בְּסַעֲרֶ֑ךָ
        וּבְסוּפָתְךָ֥
        תְבַהֲלֵֽם׃
17. מַלֵּ֣א
        פְנֵיהֶ֣ם
        קָל֑וֹן
        וִֽיבַקְשׁ֖וּ
        שִׁמְךָ֣
        יְהוָֽה׃
18. יֵבֹ֖שׁוּ
        וְיִבָּהֲל֥וּ
        עֲדֵי־
        עַ֗ד
        וְֽיַחְפְּר֥וּ
        וְיֹאבֵֽדוּ׃
19. וְֽיֵדְע֗וּ
        כִּֽי־
        אַתָּ֬ה
        שִׁמְךָ֣
        יְהוָ֣ה
        לְבַדֶּ֑ךָ
        עֶ֝לְי֗וֹן
        עַל־
        כָּל־
        הָאָֽרֶץ׃