Psalm 10 → 90
Reasoning: 10432 Output: 6163 Total: 16595
Argument
Here are ways to argue that Psalm 90 “follows on” from Psalm 10, organized by strength of linkage (rarer/identical items first), then by thematic/formal progression and historical logic. High‑significance lexical matches (identical or near‑identical Hebrew collocations) - עָמָל וָאָוֶן (exact collocation): - Ps 10:7 תַּחַת לְשׁוֹנוֹ עָמָל וָאָוֶן - Ps 90:10 וְרָהְבָּם עָמָל וָאָוֶן This pair is a marked wisdom/laments collocation; its exact repetition strongly ties the two psalms’ moral diagnosis of human life. - דַּךְ / דַּכָּא (same root דכא “crush, be crushed”): - Ps 10:18 לִשְׁפֹּט יָתוֹם וָדָךְ - Ps 90:3 תָּשֵׁב אֱנוֹשׁ עַד־דַּכָּא The rare root appears in both psalms at climactic points (10:18; 90:3), linking God’s advocacy for the “crushed” with the universal truth that humanity itself is “crushed back” to dust. - אֱנוֹשׁ (same lemma): - Ps 10:18 בַּל־יוֹסִיף עוֹד לַעֲרֹץ אֱנוֹשׁ מִן־הָאָרֶץ - Ps 90:3 תָּשֵׁב אֱנוֹשׁ עַד־דַּכָּא 10 ends by asking God to stop אֱנוֹשׁ from terrorizing; 90 opens the body of the poem by stating that אֱנוֹשׁ is returned to dust. The second is a sober, theological answer to the first. - דּוֹר וָדֹר (identical phrase): - Ps 10:6 אָמַר בְּלִבּוֹ בַּל־אֶמּוֹט לְדֹר וָדֹר… - Ps 90:1 …מָעוֹן אַתָּה הָיִיתָ לָּנוּ בְּדֹר וָדֹר The arrogant claim of permanence “for ever and ever” in 10:6 is countered by 90:1, which reassigns true endurance across generations to God as Israel’s “dwelling.” - עוֹלָם–וָעֶד / מֵעוֹלָם עַד־עוֹלָם (near‑identical eternity formulas): - Ps 10:16 יְהוָה מֶלֶךְ עוֹלָם וָעֶד - Ps 90:2 וּמֵעוֹלָם עַד־עוֹלָם אַתָּה אֵל Psalm 90 opens by answering Psalm 10’s kingship‑confession with a broader eternity confession (from everlasting to everlasting). - פָּנִים (God’s “face,” seen vs. hidden): - Ps 10:11 הִסְתִּיר פָּנָיו בַּל־רָאָה לָנֶצַח (the wicked says God has hidden his face) - Ps 90:8 עֲוֹנֹתֵינוּ לְנֶגְדֶּךָ עֲלֻמֵינוּ לִמְאוֹר פָּנֶיךָ (our secrets in the light of your face) Psalm 90 explicitly negates the wicked’s claim in Psalm 10: God’s face does not hide; it exposes. - אַף “nose/anger” (same lemma, but different referents): - Ps 10:4 רָשָׁע כְּגֹבַהּ אַפּוֹ (the wicked’s “high nose,” i.e., haughty/angry arrogance) - Ps 90:7,11 כִּֽי־כָלִינוּ בְאַפֶּךָ … מִי־יוֹדֵעַ עֹז אַפֶּךָ (God’s anger) The “nose/anger” that underwrites the wicked’s pride in 10 is re‑ascribed in 90 to God’s rightful judgment. - נֶגֶד (before/opposite): - Ps 10:5 מָרוֹם מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ מִנֶּגְדּוֹ (God’s judgments are “out of his sight”) - Ps 90:8 שַׁתָּה עֲוֹנֹתֵינוּ לְנֶגְדֶּךָ (our iniquities set “before” you) The semantic reversal—what the wicked cannot bear to have “before” him is in fact kept “before” God. - יָד / הֵכִין/כּוֹנֵן (same roots; parallel syntax): - Ps 10:12 נְשָׂא יָדֶךָ; 10:14 לָתֵת בְּיָדֶךָ; 10:17 תָּכִין לִבָּם - Ps 90:17 וּמַעֲשֵׂה יָדֵינוּ כּוֹנְנָה… כּוֹנְנֵהוּ The hand‑motif and the establishing verb (כון) recur: in 10 God “prepares” (תָּכִין) the humble heart; in 90 the community asks God to “establish” (כּוֹנְנָה) their work. Same root, same prayer‑logic, at the close of each psalm. Tightly paired idea‑level rebuttals and continuities - Hiddenness vs. exposure: - 10 opens: “Why do you stand far off? … why do you hide?” (10:1); the wicked: “He has hidden his face; he will never see” (10:11). - 90 answers: God’s face exposes even our secrets (90:8). The felt distance of 10 is theologically corrected in 90. - Human permanence vs. divine permanence: - 10:6 the wicked boasts “I shall not be moved, for ever and ever.” - 90:1–6 insists only God abides through all generations; man is turned to dust and withers by evening. 90 is an intentional demythologizing of the pretension voiced in 10. - Petition sequences that “advance” the prayer: - 10 petitions: “Arise… lift your hand… break the arm…” (10:12–15) and ends with the hope that God will judge for the orphan and the crushed (10:18). - 90 petitions: “Return… satisfy us… let your work appear… establish the work of our hands” (90:13–17). The violent imprecation of 10 yields to constructive restoration in 90; both are covenantal interventions but with complementary emphases (judgment → renewal). - Transfer of “who is seen”: - 10:5–11 the wicked refuses God’s “judgments” before him and claims God cannot see. - 90:16 asks that God’s “work” be seen by his servants and his “splendor” upon their children. What the wicked will not see, the servants ask to see. - From social evil to universal sin: - 10: the wicked oppress the poor/orphan. - 90: all humans stand under God’s wrath for sin (90:7–11). Read together, 90 universalizes the diagnosis after 10 particularizes it. Macro‑form and stylistic affinities - Both are complaint‑prayers addressed directly to YHWH, combining lament, theological reflection, and petition, and both close with compact clusters of jussives/imperatives (10:12–15,17–18; 90:13–17). - Both exploit wisdom diction (אֱנוֹשׁ, עָמָל/אָוֶן, fleeting days) inside a lament frame. - Both use framing confessions at or near their ends: 10:16 “YHWH is king for ever and ever”; 90:2 “From everlasting to everlasting you are God,” then 90:17’s double “כּוֹנְנָה/כּוֹנְנֵהוּ.” Historical/liturgical logic that makes 90 a plausible “follow‑on” - Editorially, Psalm 90 (a Mosaic prayer) inaugurates a turn to pre‑Davidic foundations after crisis; if placed after Psalm 10, it would function as a theological answer: after denouncing predatory injustice (10), Israel turns to penitence and wisdom under Moses (90), acknowledging that beyond “their” evil there is “our” sin and mortality. - Life‑cycle/ritual plausibility: a sequence of (1) lament over oppression, pleading for God’s intervention (10), followed by (2) a communal day of reflection/repentance on human frailty and divine wrath, seeking renewed favor (90), matches Israelite fast‑day liturgies (complaint → confession → petition for restoration). - Narrative “answering” of 10:18: “so that a mortal (אֱנוֹשׁ) may no longer terrify from the earth.” 90:3 explains how אֱנוֹשׁ is in fact removed—God returns man to dust. The deeper sovereignty that guarantees 10’s hope is the mortality decree expounded in 90. One more syntactic echo - “אַתָּה הָיִיתָ …” formula: - Ps 10:14 יָתוֹם אַתָּה הָיִיתָ עוֹזֵר (“you have been a helper”) - Ps 90:1 מָעוֹן אַתָּה הָיִיתָ לָּנוּ (“you have been our dwelling”) Identical verbal frame links God’s past help for the most vulnerable (10) with his abiding refuge for the whole community (90). Summary If you lay Psalm 90 after Psalm 10, Psalm 90 reads as an intentional theological and lexical answer to Psalm 10: it overturns the wicked’s boasts, answers the charge of divine hiddenness by bringing human sins into the light of God’s face, relocates “for ever and ever” from man to God, and moves the prayer from judicial deliverance to constructive restoration. The tight Hebrew ties—especially the rare collocations (עמל ואון; דך/דכא), the shared eternity and generational formulas (עוֹלָם/דּוֹר וָדֹר), face/anger/hand motifs, and the “אתה היית” frame—make the “follow‑on” reading lexically and conceptually persuasive.
Evaluation
Score: 7.5
Evaluated at: 2025-12-10T04:20:15 (UTC)
Evaluator model: gpt-5
Evaluator version: v2
Reasoning: 4288 Output: 7001 Total: 11289
Checklist
- Has verse refs: Yes
- Factual error detected: No
- Only generic motifs: No
- Counterargument considered: No
- LXX/MT numbering acknowledged: No
Vocabulary specificity: 6.0 / 10
Multiple precise, verifiable links: עמל ואון (10:7; 90:10), דך/דכא (10:18; 90:3), דור ודור + אתה היית, נגד/פנים reversals; coherent progression. Counter: many motifs are common and psalms are distant canonically. No errors.
Prompt
Consider Psalm 10 and Psalm 90 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 90 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 90:
Psalm 90
1. תְּפִלָּה֮
לְמֹשֶׁ֢ה
אִֽישׁ־
הָאֱלֹ֫הִ֥ים
אֲֽדֹנָ֗י
מָע֣וֹן
אַ֭תָּה
הָיִ֥יתָ
לָּ֗נוּ
בְּדֹ֣ר
וָדֹֽר׃
2. בְּטֶ֤רֶם ׀
הָ֘רִ֤ים
יֻלָּ֗דוּ
וַתְּח֣וֹלֵֽל
אֶ֣רֶץ
וְתֵבֵ֑ל
וּֽמֵעוֹלָ֥ם
עַד־
ע֝וֹלָ֗ם
אַתָּ֥ה
אֵֽל׃
3. תָּשֵׁ֣ב
אֱ֭נוֹשׁ
עַד־
דַּכָּ֑א
וַ֝תֹּ֗אמֶר
שׁ֣וּבוּ
בְנֵי־
אָדָֽם׃
4. כִּ֤י
אֶ֪לֶף
שָׁנִ֡ים
בְּֽעֵינֶ֗יךָ
כְּי֣וֹם
אֶ֭תְמוֹל
כִּ֣י
יַעֲבֹ֑ר
וְאַשְׁמוּרָ֥ה
בַלָּֽיְלָה׃
5. זְ֭רַמְתָּם
שֵׁנָ֣ה
יִהְי֑וּ
בַּ֝בֹּ֗קֶר
כֶּחָצִ֥יר
יַחֲלֹֽף׃
6. בַּ֭בֹּקֶר
יָצִ֣יץ
וְחָלָ֑ף
לָ֝עֶ֗רֶב
יְמוֹלֵ֥ל
וְיָבֵֽשׁ׃
7. כִּֽי־
כָלִ֥ינוּ
בְאַפֶּ֑ךָ
וּֽבַחֲמָתְךָ֥
נִבְהָֽלְנוּ׃
8. שת
שַׁתָּ֣ה
עֲוֺנֹתֵ֣ינוּ
לְנֶגְדֶּ֑ךָ
עֲ֝לֻמֵ֗נוּ
לִמְא֥וֹר
פָּנֶֽיךָ׃
9. כִּ֣י
כָל־
יָ֭מֵינוּ
פָּנ֣וּ
בְעֶבְרָתֶ֑ךָ
כִּלִּ֖ינוּ
שָׁנֵ֣ינוּ
כְמוֹ־
הֶֽגֶה׃
10. יְמֵֽי־
שְׁנוֹתֵ֨ינוּ
בָהֶ֥ם
שִׁבְעִ֪ים
שָׁנָ֡ה
וְאִ֤ם
בִּגְבוּרֹ֨ת ׀
שְׁמ֘וֹנִ֤ים
שָׁנָ֗ה
וְ֭רָהְבָּם
עָמָ֣ל
וָאָ֑וֶן
כִּי־
גָ֥ז
חִ֝֗ישׁ
וַנָּעֻֽפָה׃
11. מִֽי־
י֭וֹדֵעַ
עֹ֣ז
אַפֶּ֑ךָ
וּ֝כְיִרְאָתְךָ֗
עֶבְרָתֶֽךָ׃
12. לִמְנ֣וֹת
יָ֭מֵינוּ
כֵּ֣ן
הוֹדַ֑ע
וְ֝נָבִ֗א
לְבַ֣ב
חָכְמָֽה׃
13. שׁוּבָ֣ה
יְ֭הוָה
עַד־
מָתָ֑י
וְ֝הִנָּחֵ֗ם
עַל־
עֲבָדֶֽיךָ׃
14. שַׂבְּעֵ֣נוּ
בַבֹּ֣קֶר
חַסְדֶּ֑ךָ
וּֽנְרַנְּנָ֥ה
וְ֝נִשְׂמְחָ֗ה
בְּכָל־
יָמֵֽינוּ׃
15. שַׂ֭מְּחֵנוּ
כִּימ֣וֹת
עִנִּיתָ֑נוּ
שְׁ֝נ֗וֹת
רָאִ֥ינוּ
רָעָֽה׃
16. יֵרָאֶ֣ה
אֶל־
עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ
פָעֳלֶ֑ךָ
וַ֝הֲדָרְךָ֗
עַל־
בְּנֵיהֶֽם׃
17. וִיהִ֤י ׀
נֹ֤עַם
אֲדֹנָ֥י
אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ
עָ֫לֵ֥ינוּ
וּמַעֲשֵׂ֣ה
יָ֭דֵינוּ
כּוֹנְנָ֥ה
עָלֵ֑ינוּ
וּֽמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה
יָ֝דֵ֗ינוּ
כּוֹנְנֵֽהוּ׃