Psalm 10 → 114
Reasoning: 8128 Output: 4881 Total: 13009
Argument
Here are several ways to argue that Psalm 114 “logically follows” Psalm 10, drawing on form, style, lexicon, and shared historical-mythic frames. I group them by type of linkage and cite the key Hebrew phrases. 1) Presence vs. absence of God (face/presence vocabulary) - Psalm 10 laments divine hiddenness: “למה… תעמוד ברחוק תעלים…?” (10:1); the wicked says “הִסְתִּיר פָּנָיו, בַּל־רָאָה” (10:11). - Psalm 114 answers with a theophany of presence: twice “מִלִּפְנֵי” (114:7), “מִלִּפְנֵי אָדוֹן… מִלִּפְנֵי אֱלוֹהַ יַעֲקֹב.” The earth is not abandoned; it trembles “before” him. This is an explicit reversal of 10’s “hidden face.” 2) Lament → Theophany/Salvation pattern (a common Israelite liturgical sequence) - Psalm 10 is an individual/community lament: complaint about the arrogant oppressor, petition (“קוּמָה יְהוָה… נְשָׂא יָדֶךָ”, 10:12), confidence, kingship affirmation (10:16). - Psalm 114 is a compact hymnic theophany of the Exodus, the canonical proof that God does rise, act, and save (sea flees, Jordan turns back, rock becomes water). In Israelite worship, complaint is often followed by memory of foundational deliverance; 114 enacts that “answer.” 3) Kingship and dominion: statement then demonstration - Psalm 10 climaxes: “יְהוָה מֶלֶךְ עוֹלָם וָעֶד” (10:16). - Psalm 114 opens by showing the historical instantiation of that kingship: “הָיְתָה יְהוּדָה לְקָדְשׁוֹ, יִשְׂרָאֵל מַמְשְׁלוֹתָיו” (114:2). The rare plural noun מַמְשְׁלוֹתָיו (his dominions) concretizes the abstract “YHWH is king” of 10:16. 4) “Seeing” as a hinge (same root, different subjects) - Psalm 10: “רָאִיתָ… תַּבִּיט” (10:14): You (God) see the oppression. - Psalm 114: “הַיָּם רָאָה וַיָּנֹס” (114:3): The sea saw and fled. The same root ראה pivots from God’s seeing the plight (10) to creation seeing God and retreating (114). This is a neat, rare and memorable bridge. 5) “Hiddenness” vs. “Before/Presence” expressed by פנים/לפני - 10:11: “הִסְתִּיר פָּנָיו” (he hides his face). - 114:7: “מִלִּפְנֵי” (before the face/presence). Identical semantic field; 114 reverses the wicked’s claim in 10. 6) Rhetorical question style, escalating from human complaint to cosmic interrogation - Psalm 10 opens and includes why-questions: “לָמָה…?” (10:1), “עַל־מֶה…?” (10:13). - Psalm 114 takes up the same interrogative mode, now aimed at nature: “מַה־לְּךָ הַיָּם…?” (114:5). The stylistic continuity of pointed questions is preserved, but the addressee expands from God/the wicked (Ps 10) to the sea/mountains (Ps 114). 7) Speech/tongue lexical field - Psalm 10 emphasizes corrupt speech: “אָלָה פִיהוּ מָלֵא… תַּחַת לְשׁוֹנוֹ עָמָל וָאָוֶן” (10:7). - Psalm 114 situates Israel’s deliverance “מֵעַם לֹעֵז” (114:1), literally “from a people of a foreign tongue.” The unusual adjective לֹעֵז is rare; both psalms make “tongue/speech” a marker of oppression and its reversal. 8) Earth/terror wordplay and reorientation of fear - Psalm 10 seeks an end to human terror: “בַּל־יוֹסִיף עוֹד לַעֲרֹץ אֱנוֹשׁ מִן־הָאָרֶץ” (10:18). Note the assonance/near-anagram of עָרֹץ (to terrify) and אֶרֶץ (earth). - Psalm 114 bids the proper subject to tremble: “ח֣וּלִי אָ֑רֶץ” (114:7). Fear/ trembling is redirected: not the weak terrorized by “man of the earth” (10:18), but the earth itself trembling before the Lord (114:7). The echo on אֶרֶץ is striking. 9) Historical frame: the oppressed in Psalm 10 as an inner-Israelite “Egypt” - Psalm 10 sketches the plight of the “עָנִי/דָּךְ/יָתוֹם” (10:2, 10:14, 10:18) under predatory power (“יֵשֵׁב בְּמַאְרָב… יֶאֱרֹב כְאַרְיֵה”, 10:8–9). - Psalm 114 recalls the arch-deliverance from a foreign oppressor, “בְּצֵאת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם… מֵעַם לֹעֵז” (114:1), mapping the poor/orphan of 10 onto Israel in Egypt. The narrative logic: God helped the utterly helpless then; he can answer the plea of 10 now. 10) Request to “lift your hand” answered by Exodus might - Psalm 10 petitions, “נְשָׂא יָדֶךָ” (lift your hand, 10:12). - Psalm 114 (and the Exodus tradition it invokes) is the classic instance of God’s “mighty hand” acting in history (cf. Exod 3–14). While “hand” is not named in 114, the theophanic effects (sea flees, Jordan turns back, rock becomes water) are the stock signs of that lifted hand. 11) From predator imagery to pastoral play - Psalm 10 uses predatory animal imagery: “כְאַרְיֵה” (like a lion), ambush, nets (10:8–9). - Psalm 114 transforms the scene: “הֶהָרִים רָקְדוּ כְאֵילִים; גְּבָעוֹת כִּבְנֵי־צֹאן” (114:4, 6). The violent hunt (10) gives way to playful flock imagery (114)—a fitting poetic sequel: oppression replaced by exuberant freedom. 12) Nations/peoples reconfigured under YHWH’s rule - Psalm 10: “אָבְדוּ גוֹיִם מֵאַרְצוֹ” (10:16): the nations disappear from his land. - Psalm 114: “יְהוּדָה לְקָדְשׁוֹ, יִשְׂרָאֵל מַמְשְׁלוֹתָיו” (114:2): the land is now constituted as sanctuary and dominion. The kingship claim in 10 finds its territorial-social shape in 114. 13) Form-critical complementarity (lament → hymn; forensic → cosmic) - Psalm 10 is forensic (indictment of the רָשָׁע, petitions to judge: “לִשְׁפֹּט יָתוֹם וָדָךְ”, 10:18). - Psalm 114 is cosmic-hymnic: nature personified, rhetorical interrogation of sea/river/mountains, imperative to the earth. The two forms commonly pair in the Psalter: the hymn of YHWH’s past wonders grounds confidence that petitions will be answered. 14) Key lexical knots that “sound” across the two - ראה: 10:14 “רָאִיתָ”; 114:3 “רָאָה.” - פנים/לפני: 10:11 “הִסְתִּיר פָּנָיו”; 114:7 “מִלִּפְנֵי.” - ארץ: 10:18 “מִן־הָאָרֶץ”; 114:7 “אָ֑רֶץ.” - Interrogative מה/למה: 10:1, 10:13; 114:5. Overall logic - Psalm 10 raises the problem: God seems absent; the wicked terrorize the weak. It concludes by asserting divine kingship and asking for judgment. - Psalm 114 supplies the proof and paradigm: when God’s kingship is manifest, creation itself yields; Israel is freed from a foreign-tongued oppressor; his presence is no longer hidden but palpable. The pair thus moves from crisis to memory of salvation, from “Why do you hide?” (10) to “Tremble before him” (114), from “YHWH is king” (10:16) to “Judah his sanctuary, Israel his dominion” (114:2). Given these stylistic, lexical, and thematic bridges—especially the face/presence antithesis, the kingship-to-dominion progression, and the shared “seeing” root—one can plausibly argue that Psalm 114 functions as a logical, even crafted, sequel to Psalm 10.
Evaluation
Score: 6.0
Evaluated at: 2025-12-12T03:39:32 (UTC)
Evaluator model: gpt-5
Evaluator version: v2
Reasoning: 3776 Output: 5716 Total: 9492
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
Specific, accurate links (10:1,11 vs 114:7; 10:14 vs 114:3; 10:1,13 vs 114:5; rare לֹעֵז). But most lexemes/themes are common; no structural marker or adjacency; distance in Psalter weakens sequencing. No errors.
Prompt
Consider Psalm 10 and Psalm 114 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 114 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 114:
Psalm 114
1. בְּצֵ֣את
יִ֭שְׂרָאֵל
מִמִּצְרָ֑יִם
בֵּ֥ית
יַ֝עֲקֹ֗ב
מֵעַ֥ם
לֹעֵֽז׃
2. הָיְתָ֣ה
יְהוּדָ֣ה
לְקָדְשׁ֑וֹ
יִ֝שְׂרָאֵ֗ל
מַמְשְׁלוֹתָֽיו׃
3. הַיָּ֣ם
רָ֭אָה
וַיָּנֹ֑ס
הַ֝יַּרְדֵּ֗ן
יִסֹּ֥ב
לְאָחֽוֹר׃
4. הֶֽ֭הָרִים
רָקְד֣וּ
כְאֵילִ֑ים
גְּ֝בָע֗וֹת
כִּבְנֵי־
צֹֽאן׃
5. מַה־
לְּךָ֣
הַ֭יָּם
כִּ֣י
תָנ֑וּס
הַ֝יַּרְדֵּ֗ן
תִּסֹּ֥ב
לְאָחֽוֹר׃
6. הֶֽ֭הָרִים
תִּרְקְד֣וּ
כְאֵילִ֑ים
גְּ֝בָע֗וֹת
כִּבְנֵי־
צֹֽאן׃
7. מִלִּפְנֵ֣י
אָ֭דוֹן
ח֣וּלִי
אָ֑רֶץ
מִ֝לִּפְנֵ֗י
אֱל֣וֹהַּ
יַעֲקֹֽב׃
8. הַהֹפְכִ֣י
הַצּ֣וּר
אֲגַם־
מָ֑יִם
חַ֝לָּמִ֗ישׁ
לְמַעְיְנוֹ־
מָֽיִם׃