Psalm 11 → 140

Reasoning: 7744 Output: 4180 Total: 11924

Argument

Here are the strongest ways to argue that Psalm 140 is a deliberate “follow‑on” to Psalm 11, moving from the same thematic starting point to an applied prayer and outcome, with multiple rare and specific lexical links.

1) Matching climactic line built from the same three key lexemes (tzaddiq / yashar / panim)
- Psalm 11:7: כי־צדיק יהוה צדקות אהב ישר יחזו פנימו “For YHWH is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright will behold his face.”
- Psalm 140:14: אך צדיקים יודו לשמך; ישבו ישרים את־פניך “Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name; the upright will dwell before your face.”
- Significance:
  - Identical roots and word classes (צדיק/צדיקים; ישר/ישרים; פנים/פניך/פנימו).
  - Theologically identical outcome: the upright come into the presence of God’s face. This is a rare collocation in the Psalter; Psalm 140 seems to restate and expand the promise of Psalm 11:7. If one psalm “follows” the other logically, it makes strong sense for 140 to conclude by echoing 11’s final line.

2) The rare, judgment-by-fire motif descends on the wicked in both
- Psalm 11:6: ימטיר על־רשעים פחים אש וגפרית ורוח זלעפות מנת כוסם “He will rain on the wicked snares, fire and brimstone, and a scorching wind will be the portion of their cup.”
- Psalm 140:11: גחלים באש יפילם; במהמורת בל־יקומו “May coals fall upon them; may he make them fall into the fire; into deep pits, never to rise.”
- Significance:
  - “Fire and brimstone” (אש וגפרית) is a rare, Sodom‑judgment image. Psalm 140 doesn’t repeat גפרית but intensifies the same picture with גחלים … באש … יפילם (“coals … into the fire … make them fall”)—same judgment vector (from above, downward into consuming fire).
  - The downward, meteorological action is parallel: ימטיר “he will rain [down]” (Ps 11) vs. יפילם “he will cause them to fall” into fire (Ps 140).
  - Mythic-historical resonance: both invoke the Sodom/Sinai‑theophany repertoire (divine fire/coals), marking divine retribution for violence.

3) The “snare/trap” lexeme: rare and identically shared
- Psalm 11:6: פחים “snares” (notably unusual as something God “rains”).
- Psalm 140:6: פח לי … רשת … מוקשים “a snare for me … a net … traps.”
- Significance:
  - פח/פחים is relatively rare; appearing in both psalms is notable. Psalm 11 envisions God turning the trap back (He “rains snares” on the wicked), and Psalm 140 narrates the wicked actually setting those snares (פח … רשת … מוקשים) for the righteous. Psalm 140 thus reads like the situational development that Psalm 11 anticipates.

4) The same moral polarities and key vocabulary: רשע/צדיק/חמס
- Psalm 11:5–6: יהוה … רשע וְאֹהֵב חמס שנאה נפשו; ימטיר על־רשעים … “YHWH … the wicked and the lover of violence his soul hates; He will rain on the wicked …”
- Psalm 140:2, 5, 12: מאיש חמסים תנצירני … מאיש חמסים תנצירני … איש־חמס רע “from the man of violences guard me … the violent man, evil …”
- Psalm 140:14: אך צדיקים … ישרים “the righteous … the upright.”
- Significance:
  - Identical roots across the same opposing classes (רשע/צדיק; חמס). Psalm 140 fills in the narrative between the moral judgment (Ps 11) and its enactment: what the wicked (חמס/רשע) do and what the righteous (צדיק/ישר) must pray.

5) A tight narrative progression: what the righteous do “when the foundations are destroyed”
- Psalm 11:1–3: Counsel to flee (“נודו הרכם צפור”) because the wicked have bent the bow to shoot “בְמו־אפל” at the “ישרי־לב.” The crisis is systemic: “כי השׁתות יהרסון; צדיק מה־פעל” (“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”).
- Psalm 140 answers that question:
  - The righteous pray and ask for protection: חלצני … תנצירני … שמרני … האזינה (vv. 2, 5, 7).
  - The threat details match and escalate the ambush imagery of Ps 11: archers in the dark become conspirators—“חָשְׁבוּ רָעוֹת בלב; כל־יום יגורו מלחמות” (v. 3)—who set snares (פח … רשת … מוקשים) and weaponize the tongue as a serpent (vv. 4–6).
  - God is invoked as battlefield protector: “סכותה לראשי ביום נשק” (v. 8), answering the martial threat in Ps 11:2 (bow/arrow).
  - The same divine justice promised in Ps 11 is then imprecated in concrete terms (coals/fire/pits), and the same outcome is affirmed: the upright come before God’s face (vv. 11, 14).

6) Structural and stylistic congruence
- Both are Davidic lamnatzeach psalms (למנצח … לדוד), a shared editorial/musical frame.
- Both move through the same arc:
  - Address/stance toward YHWH (Ps 11:1 “ביהוה חסיתי”; Ps 140:2, 7 “חלצני … אמרתי ליהוה אלי אתה”).
  - Description of the wicked’s covert aggression (Ps 11:2; Ps 140:3–6).
  - Appeal/assurance regarding God’s just governance from his heavenly/holy locus (Ps 11:4–5; Ps 140:7–9, 13).
  - Judgment images falling on the wicked (Ps 11:6; Ps 140:10–12).
  - The righteous before God’s face (Ps 11:7; Ps 140:14).

7) Additional root/lexeme correspondences (second-order, but cumulative)
- כון “to set/establish”: Ps 11:2 כוננו חצם (“they have set/prepared their arrow”); Ps 140:12 בל־יכּון בארץ (“will not be established in the land”). Same root, different stems, same semantic field of what “stands.”
- לב/לבב uprightness: Ps 11:2 לישרי־לב; Ps 140:14 ישָרים (the class-name abstracted from the same uprightness ideal).
- Divine adjudication vocabulary: Ps 11’s בחן (“examine/test”) and hatred of חמס anticipates Ps 140:13’s explicit דין/משפט (“justice/judgment”) for the afflicted, i.e., the promised evaluation becomes enacted verdict.

8) Shared myth-history horizon
- Both psalms draw on storm-theophany/judgment motifs: divine fire/coals (Sodom-like), downward destructive force (rain/falling), pits from which one does not rise—stock images of YHWH’s cosmic justice in Israel’s memory. Psalm 140 translates Psalm 11’s programmatic assurance into an imprecatory prayer that invokes the same repertoire.

In sum
- The most probative links (by your criteria) are: the nearly identical, climactic “upright before [God’s] face” line (11:7 ~ 140:14); the rare snare/fire judgment cluster (פח/פחים; אש; גחלים; the downward/rained destruction); and the repeated triad צדיק/רשע/חמס. Formally, Psalm 140 reads like the situational outworking of Psalm 11’s question and promise: when the wicked ambush the upright, the righteous pray for deliverance; God’s fiery judgment falls; and the upright enter God’s presence—exactly as Psalm 11 said they would.

Evaluation

Score: 6.0

Evaluated at: 2026-01-01T02:29:49 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 3520 Output: 5002 Total: 8522

Vocabulary specificity: 6.0 / 10

Strong end-line echo (צדיק/ישר/פנים) and shared fire/snare motifs are textually real. But such traps/fire/‘face’ imagery recur widely; no counterarguments or editorial-order (Book I vs V) issues addressed. Solid, not decisive.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 11 and Psalm 140 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 140 logically follows on from Psalm 11? 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 11:
Psalm 11
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ
        לְדָ֫וִ֥ד
        בַּֽיהוָ֨ה ׀
        חָסִ֗יתִי
        אֵ֭יךְ
        תֹּאמְר֣וּ
        לְנַפְשִׁ֑י
        נודו
        נ֝֗וּדִי
        הַרְכֶ֥ם
        צִפּֽוֹר׃
2. כִּ֤י
        הִנֵּ֪ה
        הָרְשָׁעִ֡ים
        יִדְרְכ֬וּן
        קֶ֗שֶׁת
        כּוֹנְנ֣וּ
        חִצָּ֣ם
        עַל־
        יֶ֑תֶר
        לִיר֥וֹת
        בְּמוֹ־
        אֹ֝֗פֶל
        לְיִשְׁרֵי־
        לֵֽב׃
3. כִּ֣י
        הַ֭שָּׁתוֹת
        יֵֽהָרֵס֑וּן
        צַ֝דִּ֗יק
        מַה־
        פָּעָֽל׃
4. יְהוָ֤ה ׀
        בְּֽהֵ֘יכַ֤ל
        קָדְשׁ֗וֹ
        יְהוָה֮
        בַּשָּׁמַ֢יִם
        כִּ֫סְא֥וֹ
        עֵינָ֥יו
        יֶחֱז֑וּ
        עַפְעַפָּ֥יו
        יִ֝בְחֲנ֗וּ
        בְּנֵ֣י
        אָדָֽם׃
5. יְהוָה֮
        צַדִּ֢יק
        יִ֫בְחָ֥ן
        וְ֭רָשָׁע
        וְאֹהֵ֣ב
        חָמָ֑ס
        שָֽׂנְאָ֥ה
        נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃
6. יַמְטֵ֥ר
        עַל־
        רְשָׁעִ֗ים
        פַּ֫חִ֥ים
        אֵ֣שׁ
        וְ֭גָפְרִית
        וְר֥וּחַ
        זִלְעָפ֗וֹת
        מְנָ֣ת
        כּוֹסָֽם׃
7. כִּֽי־
        צַדִּ֣יק
        יְ֭הוָה
        צְדָק֣וֹת
        אָהֵ֑ב
        יָ֝שָׁ֗ר
        יֶחֱז֥וּ
        פָנֵֽימוֹ׃

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׃