Psalm 10 → 140
Reasoning: 5248 Output: 5756 Total: 11004
Argument
Here are ways to argue that Psalm 140 is a deliberate, logical follow‑on from Psalm 10, moving from the general diagnosis of the wicked and a plea for intervention (Ps 10) to a case-specific deliverance prayer against such a wicked man (Ps 140). I group the links by type and point to the most probative Hebrew parallels. I prioritize rarer/shared forms, then roots, then ideas. 1) Direct phrase and lexeme echoes (rare or distinctive) - “Under the tongue/lips”: Ps 10:7 תַּחַת לְשׁוֹנוֹ עָמָל וָאָוֶן (“under his tongue are mischief and iniquity”) // Ps 140:4 חֲמַת עַכְשׁוּב תַּחַת שְׂפָתֵימוֹ (“adder’s venom is under their lips”). The combination of “under” + mouth-part + a concealed evil is a marked and distinctive image shared by the two psalms. - Plotting words, with the same root and near-identical forms: Ps 10:2,4 בִּמְזִמּוֹת … כָּל־מְזִמּוֹתָיו // Ps 140:9 זְמָמוֹ אַל־תָּפֵק. The rare noun “מְזִמָּה” and the cognate זָמַם line up the two poems’ villains as the same type: premeditating plotters. - Trap imagery with the same nouns: Ps 10:9 בְּרִשְׁתּוֹ (“in his net”) // Ps 140:6 פַּח … חֲבָלִים … רֶשֶׁת … מוֹקְשִׁים. Both psalms place the wicked in hidden ambush using snares; “רֶשֶׁת” is identical and central in both. - “Mouth/tongue/lips” cluster: Ps 10:7 פִיהוּ … מִרְמוֹת … לְשׁוֹנוֹ // Ps 140:4–5 לְשׁוֹנָם … שְׂפָתֵימוֹ; Ps 140:12 אִישׁ לָשׁוֹן. Both frame the wicked as weaponizing speech; Ps 140 pushes the motif to “adder’s venom.” - The “not … in the land/earth” closure formula with rare negative particle בַּל: - Ps 10:18 בַּל־יוֹסִיף עוֹד לַעֲרֹץ אֱנוֹשׁ מִן־הָאָרֶץ - Ps 140:12 אִישׁ לָשׁוֹן בַּל־יִכּוֹן בָּאָרֶץ; cf. 140:11 בָּל־יָקוּמוּ The same rare negator בַּל with a “standing/establishing” verb and “earth/land” gives both psalms the same eschatological horizon: the silencing/removal of violent men from the land. - The “shake/stand” antithesis: - Ps 10:6 בַּל־אֶמוֹט (“I shall not be moved”) – the boast of the rasha‘ - Ps 140:11 יִמּוֹטוּ … בָּל־יָקוּמוּ; 140:12 בַּל־יִכּוֹן Psalm 140 answers Psalm 10’s hubris with the same semantic field (מוט/קום/כון) inverted as judgment. - The pair דין/משפט for God’s vindication of the poor: - Ps 10:18 לִשְׁפֹּט יָתוֹם וָדָךְ - Ps 140:13 יַעֲשֶׂה יְהוָה דִּין עָנִי מִשְׁפַּט אֶבְיוֹנִים The same juridical vocabulary delivers the same outcome promised in Ps 10. - Hearing prayer: - Ps 10:17 תַּקְשִׁיב אָזְנֶךָ - Ps 140:7 הַאֲזִינָה … קוֹל תַּחֲנוּנָי Both hinge on God’s “listening,” shifting from Ps 10’s assurance to Ps 140’s concrete plea. 2) Thematic/narrative continuity - From diagnosis to case: Psalm 10 paints the wicked generically: arrogant, godless, predatory, ambushing the poor, sure they won’t be called to account. Psalm 140 narrows that portrait into an immediate threat (“violent man,” war every day, traps in my path), i.e., a lived instance of the type defined in Ps 10. - From “Why are you far?” to “Cover my head”: Psalm 10:1 laments divine distance; Psalm 140:8 answers with a felt protection image: “You covered my head in the day of battle.” The second psalm reads as the experience of aid sought in the first. - From “break the arm of the wicked” (Ps 10:15) to “let coals fall on them … in pits … not rise” (Ps 140:11): both are concrete imprecations converting the moral indictment into retributive disablement of the oppressor. - Social location of victims: Ps 10 centers the עָנִי/יָתוֹם/דַּךְ/חֵלְכָה; Ps 140 concludes that YHWH does the דין/משפט for עָנִי/אֶבְיוֹנִים. Same social actors, same outcome. 3) Shared motif‑sets and images - Ambush hunter vs hunted poor: - Ps 10:8–9 “He lurks in hiding … like a lion … to snatch the poor … drags him in his net” - Ps 140:3,6 “They devise wars all day … the proud have hidden a snare … spread a net by the path” Both draw from the same hunting/warfare repertoire familiar in ancient Israel: ambush, snares, nets, path/march imagery. - Mouth as weapon: - Ps 10:7 deceit, oaths, oppression “under the tongue” - Ps 140:4 “adder’s venom under their lips,” 140:12 “man of tongue” Both reframe malicious speech as venom/violence, a shared wisdom-psalm trope sharpened in 140 with serpentine mythology (נָחָשׁ, עַכְשׁוּב). - Courtroom/kingdom resolution: - Ps 10:16 “YHWH is king forever … nations perish from his land” - Ps 140:14 “Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name; the upright will dwell before Your face” Both resolve in public order restored under YHWH’s rule, with the wicked removed from “the land” and the righteous stabilized in His presence. 4) Stylistic and formal affinities - Second-person petitions with short imperatives: Ps 10:12–15 קוּמָה … נְשָׂא … אַל־תִּשְׁכַּח … שְׁבֹר // Ps 140:2,5,7–9 חַלְּצֵנִי … שָׁמְרֵנִי … הַאֲזִינָה … אַל־תִּתֵּן … אַל־תָּפֵק. The barrage of imperatives is a shared rhetorical engine. - Frequent use of the rare negative particle בַּל for emphatic negation: Ps 10:4,6,11,15,18 // Ps 140:11–12. This is more idiosyncratic than simple לֹא and so is a stylistic fingerprint. - Singular “the wicked” as a type (רָשָׁע) opposed to plural “righteous/poor” as a class. Both poems treat “the wicked man” as an archetype whose traits and fate are programmatic. 5) Root‑level correspondences (beyond exact forms) - ר־ש־ע “wicked”: Ps 10 passim; Ps 140:2,5,9. - ע־נ־ה/ע־נ־י “afflicted/poor”: Ps 10:2,12,17–18; Ps 140:13. - ש־מ־ע/אָזַן “hear”: Ps 10:17; Ps 140:7. - ד־י־ן/מ־ש־פ־ט “judge/justice”: Ps 10:18; Ps 140:13. - מ־ז־מ “plot”: Ps 10:2,4; Ps 140:9. - ל־ש־ן/ש־פ־ת “tongue/lips”: Ps 10:7; Ps 140:4,12. - ר־ש־ת/פּ־ח/מוֹקֵשׁ “net/snare”: Ps 10:9; Ps 140:6. - מ־ו־ט/ק־ו־ם/כ־ו־ן “shake/stand/be established”: Ps 10:6; Ps 140:11–12. 6) A plausible “life-setting” sequence - Psalm 10 fits the communal/liturgical complaint about systemic oppression: a legal-theological plea in the face of arrogant local power. - Psalm 140 fits the royal/individual lament in an actual crisis (Davidic superscription), where the abstract oppressor of Psalm 10 becomes a concrete “violent man” laying literal traps and prosecuting war. In Israelite worship, moving from the general lament (Ps 10) to the specific royal plea (Ps 140) is a natural liturgical progression: diagnosis → petition → deliverance/confidence. Bottom line - Psalm 140 sounds like a worked example of Psalm 10’s thesis. It reuses distinctive vocabulary, images, and even negation/stance formulas (בַּל + מוט/קום/כון; “under the tongue/lips”; “plots”/“nets”) to show the same wicked now attacking the speaker, and it asks God to enact precisely the justice promised at the end of Psalm 10. On stylistic, lexical, and thematic grounds, Psalm 140 reads as a logical continuation and concrete application of Psalm 10.
Evaluation
Score: 7.2
Evaluated at: 2025-12-13T03:43:33 (UTC)
Evaluator model: gpt-5
Evaluator version: v2
Reasoning: 3904 Output: 6598 Total: 10502
Checklist
- Has verse refs: Yes
- Factual error detected: No
- Only generic motifs: No
- Counterargument considered: No
- LXX/MT numbering acknowledged: No
Vocabulary specificity: 7.0 / 10
Multiple precise lexical echoes (“תחת לשונו/שפתימו”, מְזִמֹּת/זְמָמוֹ; בַּל + מוט/קום/כון + בארץ), shared trap lexemes (רֶשֶׁת), and judicial closure align 140 with 10; distance and common lament tropes remain counterpoints.
Prompt
Consider Psalm 10 and Psalm 140 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 140 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 140:
Psalm 140
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ
מִזְמ֥וֹר
לְדָוִֽד׃
2. חַלְּצֵ֣נִי
יְ֭הוָה
מֵאָדָ֣ם
רָ֑ע
מֵאִ֖ישׁ
חֲמָסִ֣ים
תִּנְצְרֵֽנִי׃
3. אֲשֶׁ֤ר
חָשְׁב֣וּ
רָע֣וֹת
בְּלֵ֑ב
כָּל־
י֝֗וֹם
יָג֥וּרוּ
מִלְחָמֽוֹת׃
4. שָֽׁנֲנ֣וּ
לְשׁוֹנָם֮
כְּֽמוֹ
נָ֫חָ֥שׁ
חֲמַ֥ת
עַכְשׁ֑וּב
תַּ֖חַת
שְׂפָתֵ֣ימוֹ
סֶֽלָה׃
5. שָׁמְרֵ֤נִי
יְהוָ֨ה ׀
מִ֘ידֵ֤י
רָשָׁ֗ע
מֵאִ֣ישׁ
חֲמָסִ֣ים
תִּנְצְרֵ֑נִי
אֲשֶׁ֥ר
חָ֝שְׁב֗וּ
לִדְח֥וֹת
פְּעָמָֽי׃
6. טָֽמְנֽוּ־
גֵאִ֨ים ׀
פַּ֡ח
לִ֗י
וַחֲבָלִ֗ים
פָּ֣רְשׂוּ
רֶ֭שֶׁת
לְיַד־
מַעְגָּ֑ל
מֹקְשִׁ֖ים
שָֽׁתוּ־
לִ֣י
סֶֽלָה׃
7. אָמַ֣רְתִּי
לַ֭יהוָה
אֵ֣לִי
אָ֑תָּה
הַאֲזִ֥ינָה
יְ֝הוָ֗ה
ק֣וֹל
תַּחֲנוּנָֽי׃
8. יְהֹוִ֣ה
אֲ֭דֹנָי
עֹ֣ז
יְשׁוּעָתִ֑י
סַכֹּ֥תָה
לְ֝רֹאשִׁ֗י
בְּי֣וֹם
נָֽשֶׁק׃
9. אַל־
תִּתֵּ֣ן
יְ֭הוָה
מַאֲוַיֵּ֣י
רָשָׁ֑ע
זְמָמ֥וֹ
אַל־
תָּ֝פֵ֗ק
יָר֥וּמוּ
סֶֽלָה׃
10. רֹ֥אשׁ
מְסִבָּ֑י
עֲמַ֖ל
שְׂפָתֵ֣ימוֹ
יכסומו
יְכַסֵּֽמוֹ׃
11. ימיטו
יִמּ֥וֹטוּ
עֲלֵיהֶ֗ם
גֶּֽחָ֫לִ֥ים
בָּאֵ֥שׁ
יַפִּלֵ֑ם
בְּ֝מַהֲמֹר֗וֹת
בָּל־
יָקֽוּמוּ׃
12. אִ֥ישׁ
לָשׁוֹן֮
בַּל־
יִכּ֢וֹן
בָּ֫אָ֥רֶץ
אִישׁ־
חָמָ֥ס
רָ֑ע
יְ֝צוּדֶ֗נּוּ
לְמַדְחֵפֹֽת׃
13. ידעת
יָדַ֗עְתִּי
כִּֽי־
יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה
יְ֭הוָה
דִּ֣ין
עָנִ֑י
מִ֝שְׁפַּ֗ט
אֶבְיֹנִֽים׃
14. אַ֣ךְ
צַ֭דִּיקִים
יוֹד֣וּ
לִשְׁמֶ֑ךָ
יֵשְׁב֥וּ
יְ֝שָׁרִ֗ים
אֶת־
פָּנֶֽיךָ׃