Psalm 12 → 86

Reasoning: 7872 Output: 4652 Total: 12524

Argument

Short thesis: Psalm 86 reads like a deliberate answer to the crisis and oracle of Psalm 12. Psalm 12 laments a generation marked by duplicitous speech and the disappearance of the faithful, and contains God’s promise to arise for the “poor and needy.” Psalm 86 presents exactly such a remaining “poor and needy” chasid who appropriates that promise, asks God to guard and save him, replaces double‐heartedness with a unified heart, and publicly reasserts who the true Lord is.

Key lexical and root links (rarer and/or exact forms first)
- חסיד “pious/faithful one”: Ps 12:2 גמר חסיד “the chasid is finished/vanishing”; Ps 86:2 כי־חסיד אני “for I am a chasid.” Identical form; Psalm 86 self-identifies as exactly the endangered figure of Psalm 12.
- עני / אביון “poor/needy”: Ps 12:6 משֹּׁד עניים … מאנקת אביונים; Ps 86:1 כי־עני ואביון אני. Same two nouns, now singularized in 86, making the communal plight of 12 personal.
- הושׁיע “save”: Ps 12:2 הושׁיעה יהוה (Hifil imperative with paragogic ה); Ps 86:2 הושׁע עבדך and 86:16 והושׁיעה (Hifil imperatives). Same root, same speech-act: the cry for salvation.
- שׁמר “guard/keep”: Ps 12:8 אתה־יהוה תשׁמרם; Ps 86:2 שׁמרה נפשׁי. Same root; 86 turns the promise of 12 into a prayer claim.
- אמן root (faith/true): Ps 12:2 פַסּוּ אֱמוּנִים “the faithful have vanished”; Ps 86:11 באמיתך “in your truth,” 86:15 אמת “truth.” Same root; 86 requests to walk in God’s truth in a world where “the faithful” have disappeared.
- לב “heart”: Ps 12:3 בלב ולב “with a double heart”; Ps 86:11 יחד לבבי “unite my heart,” 86:12 בכל־לבבי “with all my heart.” Exact noun recurs; 86 supplies the antidote to 12’s duplicity.
- הלך “walk”: Ps 12:9 יתהלכון “they walk about/strut” (Hitpael, the wicked); Ps 86:11 אהלך “I will walk” (Qal) “in your truth.” Same root; wicked strutting vs faithful walking.
- אדון/אדני “lord/Lord”: Ps 12:5 “מי אדון לנו?”—the braggarts say “Who is lord over us?”; Ps 86 counters by addressing God repeatedly as אֲדֹנָי (vv. 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 15). Notably, “Adonai” occurs seven times in Ps 86, which pointedly answers 12:7’s “refined sevenfold” (שׁבעתים) purity of YHWH’s words—an elegant numerological echo.
- לעולם “forever”: Ps 12:8 … לעולם; Ps 86:12 … לשׁמך לעולם. Same adverb; both look to durable divine action.

Thematic and rhetorical “answers”
- From double speech to pure truth:
  - Ps 12: duplicitous speech (שׂפת חלקות; בלב ולב) versus the pure speech of YHWH (אמרות … טהרות … מזקק שבעתים).
  - Ps 86: the petitioner asks to “walk in your truth” (באמיתך) with a “unified heart” (יחד לבבי), internalizing the purity of God’s word as the remedy to societal duplicity.
- From “Who is lord over us?” to “Adonai”:
  - Ps 12:5 boasts “מי אדון לנו?”
  - Ps 86 repeatedly confesses “אדני,” climaxing in “אין כמוך באלהים אדני” (86:8). The arrogant claim of 12 is refuted by the liturgical address of 86.
- From God’s oracle to a prayed-for sign:
  - Ps 12:6 “עתה אקום יאמר יהוה … אשׁית בישׁע”—a divine promise to arise for the oppressed.
  - Ps 86:17 “עשה־עמי אות לטובה … כי־אתה יהוה עזרתני ונחמתני”—a request for a visible “sign for good” that God has in fact risen to help, so enemies are shamed. The oracle of 12 generates the petition for confirmation in 86.
- From communal crisis to individual appropriation:
  - Ps 12 laments the generation (הדור), the “sons of man” (מבני אדם), and the pervasive wicked.
  - Ps 86 is an individual’s prayer (תפלה): the endangered chasid, poor and needy, who trusts (הבוטח אליך) and praises with “all my heart,” modelling the faithful remnant implied in 12.

Form and structure
- Both are Davidic titles (Ps 12: מזמור לדוד; Ps 86: תפלה לדוד). Psalm 12 is a communal lament with an embedded oracle; Psalm 86 is an individual lament with praise/confidence sections. The movement “communal lament → divine promise → individual appropriation and praise” is a common liturgical/life sequence in Israelite worship.
- Shared lament elements:
  - Invocation: Ps 12:2; Ps 86:1, 6.
  - Complaint about oppressors: Ps 12:3–5, 9; Ps 86:14.
  - Petition for protection and salvation: Ps 12:4, 8; Ps 86:2, 7, 16.
  - Confidence/praise: Ps 12:7–8 (trust in YHWH’s pure words and guarding); Ps 86:5, 10–13, 15 (God’s goodness, compassion, chesed ve’emet, vow of thanks).

Oppressor profile carried over
- Ps 12: “tongue speaking great things” (לשון מדברת גדלות), flattering lips, strutting wicked.
- Ps 86: “the arrogant” (זדים) and “the ruthless” (עריצים) “seek my life” and “do not set you before them” (ולא שמוך לנגדם)—a moral description that matches Ps 12’s godless arrogance.

Mythic-historic arc
- Ps 12 ends bleakly: the wicked still “walk around” when baseness is exalted. God has promised to arise for the needy.
- Ps 86 shows what that arising looks like for the remnant chasid and projects the outcome outward: “All nations … will come and worship before you” (86:9–10). That universal vision is the ultimate reversal of 12’s corrupted “sons of man,” moving from failed human faithfulness (אמונים) to God-centered truth (אמת) embraced by the nations.

Why these links are strong
- Multiple exact lexemes recur in significant, not generic, ways: חסיד; עני/אביון; הושׁיע; שׁמר; לב; הלך; אמן/אמת.
- Theologically pointed inversions (“מי אדון לנו?” → a psalm saturated with “אדני”; “בלב ולב” → “יחד לבבי”) argue intentional sequencing.
- The sevenfold motif (שבעתים in Ps 12; sevenfold “אדני” in Ps 86) is a striking editorial signal.

In sum: Psalm 86 reads as the lived, prayed response to Psalm 12’s crisis and oracle. The same endangered chasid who is “poor and needy” now pleads to be saved and guarded, pledges to walk in God’s truth with a unified heart, and publicly reasserts the true Lordship of Adonai—precisely answering the social collapse and boasts of Psalm 12.

Evaluation

Score: 7.0

Evaluated at: 2026-01-22T02:34:20 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 3840 Output: 5496 Total: 9336

Vocabulary specificity: 5.0 / 10

Strong, specific links: חסיד (12:2 ↔ 86:2), עני/אביון (12:6 ↔ 86:1), “double heart” vs “unite my heart” (12:3 ↔ 86:11), plus 7× אדני echoing שבעתים. But vocabulary is common; numerology speculative.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 12 and Psalm 86 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 86 logically follows on from Psalm 12? 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 12:
Psalm 12
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ
        עַֽל־
        הַשְּׁמִינִ֗ית
        מִזְמ֥וֹר
        לְדָוִֽד׃
2. הוֹשִׁ֣יעָה
        יְ֭הוָה
        כִּי־
        גָמַ֣ר
        חָסִ֑יד
        כִּי־
        פַ֥סּוּ
        אֱ֝מוּנִ֗ים
        מִבְּנֵ֥י
        אָדָֽם׃
3. שָׁ֤וְא ׀
        יְֽדַבְּרוּ֮
        אִ֤ישׁ
        אֶת־
        רֵ֫עֵ֥הוּ
        שְׂפַ֥ת
        חֲלָק֑וֹת
        בְּלֵ֖ב
        וָלֵ֣ב
        יְדַבֵּֽרוּ׃
4. יַכְרֵ֣ת
        יְ֭הוָה
        כָּל־
        שִׂפְתֵ֣י
        חֲלָק֑וֹת
        לָ֝שׁ֗וֹן
        מְדַבֶּ֥רֶת
        גְּדֹלֽוֹת׃
5. אֲשֶׁ֤ר
        אָֽמְר֨וּ ׀
        לִלְשֹׁנֵ֣נוּ
        נַ֭גְבִּיר
        שְׂפָתֵ֣ינוּ
        אִתָּ֑נוּ
        מִ֖י
        אָד֣וֹן
        לָֽנוּ׃
6. מִשֹּׁ֥ד
        עֲנִיִּים֮
        מֵאַנְקַ֢ת
        אֶבְי֫וֹנִ֥ים
        עַתָּ֣ה
        אָ֭קוּם
        יֹאמַ֣ר
        יְהוָ֑ה
        אָשִׁ֥ית
        בְּ֝יֵ֗שַׁע
        יָפִ֥יחַֽ
        לֽוֹ׃
7. אִֽמֲר֣וֹת
        יְהוָה֮
        אֲמָר֢וֹת
        טְהֹ֫ר֥וֹת
        כֶּ֣סֶף
        צָ֭רוּף
        בַּעֲלִ֣יל
        לָאָ֑רֶץ
        מְ֝זֻקָּ֗ק
        שִׁבְעָתָֽיִם׃
8. אַתָּֽה־
        יְהוָ֥ה
        תִּשְׁמְרֵ֑ם
        תִּצְּרֶ֓נּוּ ׀
        מִן־
        הַדּ֖וֹר
        ז֣וּ
        לְעוֹלָֽם׃
9. סָבִ֗יב
        רְשָׁעִ֥ים
        יִתְהַלָּכ֑וּן
        כְּרֻ֥ם
        זֻ֝לּ֗וּת
        לִבְנֵ֥י
        אָדָֽם׃

Psalm 86:
Psalm 86
1. תְּפִלָּ֗ה
        לְדָ֫וִ֥ד
        הַטֵּֽה־
        יְהוָ֣ה
        אָזְנְךָ֣
        עֲנֵ֑נִי
        כִּֽי־
        עָנִ֖י
        וְאֶבְי֣וֹן
        אָֽנִי׃
2. שָֽׁמְרָ֣ה
        נַפְשִׁי֮
        כִּֽי־
        חָסִ֢יד
        אָ֥נִי
        הוֹשַׁ֣ע
        עַ֭בְדְּךָ
        אַתָּ֣ה
        אֱלֹהַ֑י
        הַבּוֹטֵ֥חַ
        אֵלֶֽיךָ׃
3. חָנֵּ֥נִי
        אֲדֹנָ֑י
        כִּ֥י
        אֵלֶ֥יךָ
        אֶ֝קְרָ֗א
        כָּל־
        הַיּֽוֹם׃
4. שַׂ֭מֵּחַ
        נֶ֣פֶשׁ
        עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ
        כִּ֥י
        אֵלֶ֥יךָ
        אֲ֝דֹנָ֗י
        נַפְשִׁ֥י
        אֶשָּֽׂא׃
5. כִּֽי־
        אַתָּ֣ה
        אֲ֭דֹנָי
        ט֣וֹב
        וְסַלָּ֑ח
        וְרַב־
        חֶ֝֗סֶד
        לְכָל־
        קֹרְאֶֽיךָ׃
6. הַאֲזִ֣ינָה
        יְ֭הוָה
        תְּפִלָּתִ֑י
        וְ֝הַקְשִׁ֗יבָה
        בְּק֣וֹל
        תַּחֲנוּנוֹתָֽי׃
7. בְּי֣וֹם
        צָ֭רָתִ֥י
        אֶקְרָאֶ֗ךָּ
        כִּ֣י
        תַעֲנֵֽנִי׃
8. אֵין־
        כָּמ֖וֹךָ
        בָאֱלֹהִ֥ים ׀
        אֲדֹנָ֗י
        וְאֵ֣ין
        כְּֽמַעֲשֶֽׂיךָ׃
9. כָּל־
        גּוֹיִ֤ם ׀
        אֲשֶׁ֥ר
        עָשִׂ֗יתָ
        יָב֤וֹאוּ ׀
        וְיִשְׁתַּחֲו֣וּ
        לְפָנֶ֣יךָ
        אֲדֹנָ֑י
        וִֽיכַבְּד֣וּ
        לִשְׁמֶֽךָ׃
10. כִּֽי־
        גָד֣וֹל
        אַ֭תָּה
        וְעֹשֵׂ֣ה
        נִפְלָא֑וֹת
        אַתָּ֖ה
        אֱלֹהִ֣ים
        לְבַדֶּֽךָ׃
11. ה֘וֹרֵ֤נִי
        יְהוָ֨ה ׀
        דַּרְכֶּ֗ךָ
        אֲהַלֵּ֥ךְ
        בַּאֲמִתֶּ֑ךָ
        יַחֵ֥ד
        לְ֝בָבִ֗י
        לְיִרְאָ֥ה
        שְׁמֶֽךָ׃
12. אוֹדְךָ֤ ׀
        אֲדֹנָ֣י
        אֱ֭לֹהַי
        בְּכָל־
        לְבָבִ֑י
        וַאֲכַבְּדָ֖ה
        שִׁמְךָ֣
        לְעוֹלָֽם׃
13. כִּֽי־
        חַ֭סְדְּךָ
        גָּד֣וֹל
        עָלָ֑י
        וְהִצַּ֥לְתָּ
        נַ֝פְשִׁ֗י
        מִשְּׁא֥וֹל
        תַּחְתִּיָּֽה׃
14. אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀
        זֵ֘דִ֤ים
        קָֽמוּ־
        עָלַ֗י
        וַעֲדַ֣ת
        עָ֭רִיצִים
        בִּקְשׁ֣וּ
        נַפְשִׁ֑י
        וְלֹ֖א
        שָׂמ֣וּךָ
        לְנֶגְדָּֽם׃
15. וְאַתָּ֣ה
        אֲ֭דֹנָי
        אֵל־
        רַח֣וּם
        וְחַנּ֑וּן
        אֶ֥רֶךְ
        אַ֝פַּ֗יִם
        וְרַב־
        חֶ֥סֶד
        וֶאֱמֶֽת׃
16. פְּנֵ֥ה
        אֵלַ֗י
        וְחָ֫נֵּ֥נִי
        תְּנָֽה־
        עֻזְּךָ֥
        לְעַבְדֶּ֑ךָ
        וְ֝הוֹשִׁ֗יעָה
        לְבֶן־
        אֲמָתֶֽךָ׃
17. עֲשֵֽׂה־
        עִמִּ֥י
        א֗וֹת
        לְט֫וֹבָ֥ה
        וְיִרְא֣וּ
        שֹׂנְאַ֣י
        וְיֵבֹ֑שׁוּ
        כִּֽי־
        אַתָּ֥ה
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        עֲזַרְתַּ֥נִי
        וְנִחַמְתָּֽנִי׃