Psalm 10 → 88
Reasoning: 11584 Output: 6525 Total: 18109
Argument
Short thesis: If you read Psalm 88 as the “what happened next?” after Psalm 10, it looks like a deepening of the same crisis of divine distance that Psalm 10 names. Psalm 10 complains that God stands far off and is said by the wicked to have hidden his face; Psalm 88 is the afflicted person’s lived experience of that hiddenness pushed to its extremity (Sheol), with the same prayer vocabulary, many of the same roots, and closely echoing phrases. High‑value lexical and phrase echoes (rarer or closer matches first) - “Hide the face” formula (near‑verbatim collocation): - Ps 10:11: הִסְתִּיר פָּנָיו “He has hidden his face” - Ps 88:15: תַּסְתִּיר פָּנֶיךָ מִמֶּנִּי “you hide your face from me” Significance: identical collocation (verb הסתיר + פנים), differing only in person/tense. In Ps 10 it’s the wicked man’s claim about God; in Ps 88 it becomes the sufferer’s reality. - “Why, YHWH …?”: - Ps 10:1 לָמָה יְהוָה… - Ps 88:15 לָמָה יְהוָה… Same two-word address opening the lament question; relatively marked formula. - God’s “ear” receiving prayer: - Ps 10:17 תַּקְשִׁיב אָזְנֶךָ “you incline your ear” - Ps 88:3 הַטֵּה אָזְנְךָ “incline your ear” Same body part and same petition (“incline the ear”), with two near‑synonymous verbs. - Prayer going “before” God: - Ps 88:3 תָּבֹוא לְפָנֶיךָ תְּפִלָּתִי; 88:14 תְּפִלָּתִי תְקַדְּמֶךָּ - Ps 10:5 מָרֹום מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ מִנֶּגְדּוֹ (contrastive: God’s judgments are “out of his sight”/“not before him” for the wicked) Shared prepositional frame “נגד/לפני” creates a rhetorical antithesis: the wicked acts with God’s judgments “not before him,” while the sufferer labors to set his prayer “before” God. - Distance language (root ר־ח־ק): - Ps 10:1 תַּעֲמֹד בְּרָחֹוק “you stand far off” - Ps 88:9, 19 הִרְחַקְתָּ מְיֻדָּעַי / הִרְחַקְתָּ … אֹהֵב וָרֵעַ Same root; Psalm 10 marks God’s distance, Psalm 88 shows the social fallout of divine distance. - Remember/forget motif (root ז־כ־ר / ש־כ־ח): - Ps 10:11 שָׁכַח אֵל “God has forgotten”; 10:12 אַל־תִּשְׁכַּח עֲנָוִים “do not forget the humble” - Ps 88:6 אֲשֶׁר לֹא זְכַרְתָּם עוֹד “whom you remember no more”; 88:13 …בְּאֶרֶץ נְשִׁיָּה “land of forgetfulness” The theme escalates: the wicked’s taunt (“God forgot”) in Ps 10 becomes the underworld’s status (“not remembered,” “forgetfulness”) in Ps 88. - Perish/Abaddon (root א־ב־ד): - Ps 10:16 אָבְדוּ גוֹיִם “nations have perished” - Ps 88:12 …אֱמוּנָתְךָ בָּאֲבַדּוֹן “your faithfulness in Abaddon” Same rare root; Ps 88 even uses the rarer noun אֲבַדּוֹן. The “perishing” of nations in Ps 10 is mirrored by the realm “Abaddon” that threatens the speaker in Ps 88. - The “poor/afflicted” word‑family (root ע־נ־י / ע־נ־ה): - Ps 10:2, 9–10 עָנִי; 10:12, 17 עֲנָוִים; 10:18 וָדָךְ (synonym of “crushed/lowly”) - Ps 88 title: לְעַנּוֹת; 88:10 מִנִּי עֹנִי; 88:16 עָנִי אֲנִי Same lexical field saturates both psalms; Ps 88’s superscription and body deliberately play on עני/עֹני. - Hands lifted—God’s and the sufferer’s: - Ps 10:12 נְשָׂא יָדֶךָ “lift your hand” - Ps 88:10 שִׁטַּחְתִּי … כַּפָּי “I spread out my hands” Same prayer posture, now mirrored. - Terrors/terrifying: - Ps 10:18 בַּל־יוֹסִיף עוֹד לַעֲרֹץ “so that man no longer terrify” - Ps 88:17 בִּעוּתֶיךָ צִמְּתוּנִי “your terrors destroy me” Semantic echo (ערץ ~ בעות): Psalm 10’s hoped‑for end of human terror contrasts with Psalm 88’s experience of divine terrors. - Eyes weakened/seeing denied: - Ps 10:11 בַּל־רָאָה לָנֶצַח “he will never see” (wicked about God) - Ps 88:10 עֵינִי דָאֲבָה “my eye wastes away” Seeing is thematically suspended in both; in Ps 10 God supposedly “does not see,” in Ps 88 the sufferer’s own “seeing” fails. - Strength strong/weak: - Ps 10:10–11 (textually difficult) portrays the poor falling “by his strong ones”; 10:15 “break the arm of the wicked” - Ps 88:5 כְּגֶבֶר אֵין־אֵיָל “like a man without strength” The weak/strong contrast of Ps 10 becomes first‑person embodiment in Ps 88. Structural and form parallels (both classical laments) - Address → complaint → petition → “why?” interrogation: - Ps 10 opens with “למה יְהוָה…” and complaint of divine distance, moving to imperatives (קומה… שְׁבֹר) and confidence. - Ps 88 opens with address + petition; reiterates “למה יְהוָה…”; ends in unresolved complaint. Same form, but 88 refuses the turn to praise—fitting as a darker sequel. Narrative/theological progression - In Psalm 10: - Problem: God is distant; the wicked ambush the poor; the wicked say God hides his face and will not see (10:11). - Prayer: “Arise… lift your hand… do not forget the humble” (10:12). - Confidence: “You have heard the desire of the humble… you will incline your ear… to judge the orphan and the crushed” (10:17–18). - In Psalm 88 (as a logical “what then?” if deliverance tarries): - The distance has become existential: Sheol, the pit, darkness, God’s face hidden (88:5–8, 15). - The same petitions from Ps 10 reappear (ear, hands, hearing, “why YHWH?”), but without the resolution Ps 10 anticipates. - The wicked’s taunt in Ps 10 (“He has hidden his face,” “He will not see,” “God has forgotten”) is ironically realized as the sufferer’s felt reality (hidden face, not remembered, land of forgetfulness) in Ps 88. Mythic and life‑experience links - Underworld/chaos waters: - Ps 10 uses hunter/fisher imagery for the wicked (“בְּמָשְׁכוֹ בְרִשְׁתּוֹ,” 10:9), a stock image for chaos‑predation. - Ps 88 shifts to cosmic waters and the pit: “בְּבּוֹר תַּחְתִּיּוֹת … בְּמַחֲשַׁכִּים בִּמְצֹלוֹת … כָּל־מִשְׁבָּרֶיךָ” (88:7–8, 18). The predation motif moves from human snare to divine/depths assault—an intensification typical of Israelite mythopoetic laments. - Temple/liturgical continuity: - Both psalms fit lament liturgy: cries “day and night” (88:2), lifted hands (88:10)/call for God to “lift hand” (10:12), petitions for God’s hearing (10:17; 88:3). It is easy to imagine these texts used sequentially in a vigil: a communal complaint (Ps 10) followed by an individual night watch lament (Ps 88). - Kingship and Sheol: - Ps 10 asserts: “YHWH is king forever… nations perish from his land” (10:16). - Ps 88 presses the theological edge: do God’s kingship and saving wonders reach Abaddon/Sheol? “הֲלַמֵּתִים תַּעֲשֶׂה־פֶלֶא… אֱמוּנָתְךָ בָּאֲבַדּוֹן?” (88:11–12). This is a logical next question after Ps 10’s kingship claim. Why these links are strong under your weighting - Near‑identical collocations: “הסתיר פנים” (Ps 10:11 / Ps 88:15); “למה יְהוָה” (10:1 / 88:15) are high‑value. - Same root, same semantic field: - עני/עֳנִי/לְעַנּוֹת across both psalms (title and body in 88; multiple occurrences in 10). - אבד/אבדון is relatively rare and significant (10:16 ↔ 88:12). - רחק, אזן, זכר/שכח appear in both with tight semantic alignment. - Structural/formal sameness: both are laments with complaint + petition + “why?” interrogative; Psalm 88 intentionally suppresses the praise turn, which makes narrative sense as a sequel when the answer has not yet come. A concise “reading” that ties it together - Psalm 10: The community names the problem of divine hiddenness and human predation, prays God to act, and confesses that God hears the humble and will judge the crushed. - Psalm 88: The individual humble/afflicted one steps forward from that community and says, in effect, “I have prayed day and night as you taught me, I lifted my hands while asking you to lift yours, but your face is still hidden; if I die, will your wonders be known?” The vocabulary deliberately echoes Psalm 10 while pushing its crisis to the limit (Sheol/Abaddon). On these grounds—shared rare words/roots and collocations, echoed petition formulas, common lament form, and a coherent theological progression from social oppression to mortal affliction—one can make a credible case that Psalm 88 “logically follows” Psalm 10.
Evaluation
Score: 6.5
Evaluated at: 2025-12-10T04:17:16 (UTC)
Evaluator model: gpt-5
Evaluator version: v2
Reasoning: 4544 Output: 7364 Total: 11908
Checklist
- Has verse refs: Yes
- Factual error detected: No
- Only generic motifs: No
- Counterargument considered: No
- LXX/MT numbering acknowledged: No
Vocabulary specificity: 4.5 / 10
Precise echoes (הִסְתִּיר פָּנָיו; לָמָה יְהוָה; אָזֶן; לפני/נגד) and plausible progression, but many are common lament idioms; ‘Abaddon’ link is root‑only; no counterarguments. No caps triggered.
Prompt
Consider Psalm 10 and Psalm 88 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 88 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 88:
Psalm 88
1. שִׁ֥יר
מִזְמ֗וֹר
לִבְנֵ֫י
קֹ֥רַח
לַמְנַצֵּ֣חַ
עַל־
מָחֲלַ֣ת
לְעַנּ֑וֹת
מַ֝שְׂכִּ֗יל
לְהֵימָ֥ן
הָאֶזְרָחִֽי׃
2. יְ֭הוָה
אֱלֹהֵ֣י
יְשׁוּעָתִ֑י
יוֹם־
צָעַ֖קְתִּי
בַלַּ֣יְלָה
נֶגְדֶּֽךָ׃
3. תָּב֣וֹא
לְ֭פָנֶיךָ
תְּפִלָּתִ֑י
הַטֵּֽה־
אָ֝זְנְךָ֗
לְרִנָּתִֽי׃
4. כִּֽי־
שָֽׂבְעָ֣ה
בְרָע֣וֹת
נַפְשִׁ֑י
וְ֝חַיַּ֗י
לִשְׁא֥וֹל
הִגִּֽיעוּ׃
5. נֶ֭חְשַׁבְתִּי
עִם־
י֣וֹרְדֵי
ב֑וֹר
הָ֝יִ֗יתִי
כְּגֶ֣בֶר
אֵֽין־
אֱיָֽל׃
6. בַּמֵּתִ֗ים
חָ֫פְשִׁ֥י
כְּמ֤וֹ
חֲלָלִ֨ים ׀
שֹׁ֥כְבֵי
קֶ֗בֶר
אֲשֶׁ֤ר
לֹ֣א
זְכַרְתָּ֣ם
ע֑וֹד
וְ֝הֵ֗מָּה
מִיָּדְךָ֥
נִגְזָֽרוּ׃
7. שַׁ֭תַּנִי
בְּב֣וֹר
תַּחְתִּיּ֑וֹת
בְּ֝מַחֲשַׁכִּ֗ים
בִּמְצֹלֽוֹת׃
8. עָ֭לַי
סָמְכָ֣ה
חֲמָתֶ֑ךָ
וְכָל־
מִ֝שְׁבָּרֶ֗יךָ
עִנִּ֥יתָ
סֶּֽלָה׃
9. הִרְחַ֥קְתָּ
מְיֻדָּעַ֗י
מִ֫מֶּ֥נִּי
שַׁתַּ֣נִי
תוֹעֵב֣וֹת
לָ֑מוֹ
כָּ֝לֻ֗א
וְלֹ֣א
אֵצֵֽא׃
10. עֵינִ֥י
דָאֲבָ֗ה
מִנִּ֫י
עֹ֥נִי
קְרָאתִ֣יךָ
יְהוָ֣ה
בְּכָל־
י֑וֹם
שִׁטַּ֖חְתִּי
אֵלֶ֣יךָ
כַפָּֽי׃
11. הֲלַמֵּתִ֥ים
תַּעֲשֶׂה־
פֶּ֑לֶא
אִם־
רְ֝פָאִ֗ים
יָק֤וּמוּ ׀
יוֹד֬וּךָ
סֶּֽלָה׃
12. הַיְסֻפַּ֣ר
בַּקֶּ֣בֶר
חַסְדֶּ֑ךָ
אֱ֝מֽוּנָתְךָ֗
בָּאֲבַדּֽוֹן׃
13. הֲיִוָּדַ֣ע
בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְ
פִּלְאֶ֑ךָ
וְ֝צִדְקָtתְךָ֗
בְּאֶ֣רֶץ
נְשִׁיָּֽה׃
14. וַאֲנִ֤י ׀
אֵלֶ֣יךָ
יְהוָ֣ה
שִׁוַּ֑עְתִּי
וּ֝בַבֹּ֗קֶר
תְּֽפִלָּתִ֥י
תְקַדְּמֶֽךָּ׃
15. לָמָ֣ה
יְ֭הוָה
תִּזְנַ֣ח
נַפְשִׁ֑י
תַּסְתִּ֖יר
פָּנֶ֣יךָ
מִמֶּֽנִּי׃
16. עָ֘נִ֤י
אֲנִ֣י
וְגֹוֵ֣עַ
מִנֹּ֑עַר
נָשָׂ֖אתִי
אֵמֶ֣יךָ
אָפֽוּנָה׃
17. עָ֭לַי
עָבְר֣וּ
חֲרוֹנֶ֑יךָ
בִּ֝עוּתֶ֗יךָ
צִמְּתוּתֻֽנִי׃
18. סַבּ֣וּנִי
כַ֭מַּיִם
כָּל־
הַיּ֑וֹם
הִקִּ֖יפוּ
עָלַ֣י
יָֽחַד׃
19. הִרְחַ֣קְתָּ
מִ֭מֶּנִּי
אֹהֵ֣ב
וָרֵ֑עַ
מְֽיֻדָּעַ֥י
מַחְשָֽׁךְ׃