Psalm 12 → 110
Reasoning: 4158 Output: 3939 Total: 8097
Argument
Here are several ways to argue that **Psalm 110 “logically follows” Psalm 12** (as if placed after it), using the kinds of links you asked for (form, diction, roots, ideas, Israelite social/royal logic). I’ll flag especially strong links where there is **identical form** or an unusually pointed correspondence. --- ## 1) Same Davidic framing: the “David story” can move from crisis → enthronement Both are explicitly Davidic: - Ps 12:1 **מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד** - Ps 110:1 **לְדָוִד מִזְמוֹר** So one can read Ps 12 as a Davidic complaint from within a corrupt “generation,” and Ps 110 as the **royal/enthronement oracle** that answers that complaint historically (David’s rise) or dynastically (David’s line). This is a common narrative arc in Israelite memory: **social breakdown / treacherous speech / oppression** → YHWH raises and installs a ruler to restore order. --- ## 2) Direct-speech structure: Psalm 12 sets up “whose words win?”; Psalm 110 answers with a divine oracle + oath Psalm 12 is unusually focused on competing speech: - humans speak falsehood: **שָׁוְא יְדַבְּרוּ** (12:3) - arrogant claims: **אָמְרוּ… מִי אָדוֹן לָנוּ** (12:5) - YHWH speaks in response: **עַתָּה אָקוּם יֹאמַר יְהוָה** (12:6) - and the psalm explicitly evaluates YHWH’s speech as pure: **אִמֲרוֹת יְהוָה… טְהֹרוֹת** (12:7) Psalm 110 is, in effect, an extended *demonstration* of that theme: it opens with the prophetic-style speech formula and continues with a second divine speech-act: - **נְאֻם יְהוָה** (“oracle of YHWH…”, 110:1) - **נִשְׁבַּע יְהוָה…** (“YHWH has sworn…”, 110:4) So: Ps 12 contrasts corrupt human talk with YHWH’s trustworthy words; Ps 110 follows naturally as **the content of the trustworthy word**—an oracle installing and empowering the (Davidic) lord/king/priest. --- ## 3) Very strong lexical hook: identical verb form אָשִׁית (“I will set/place…”) This is one of the best “hard” links because it’s an **identical form**: - Ps 12:6 **אָשִׁית בְּיֵשַׁע** (“I will set [him] in salvation…”) - Ps 110:1 **עַד־אָשִׁית אֹיְבֶיךָ הֲדֹם** (“until I set your enemies as a footstool…”) Same speaker (YHWH), same 1cs Hiphil form **אָשִׁית**, and both are about YHWH *placing/establishing* a decisive new situation: - Ps 12: placing the oppressed into **deliverance** - Ps 110: placing the enemy into **subjugation** That’s a clean “promise → enactment/extension” progression. --- ## 4) “Who is lord over us?” (Ps 12) is answered by “my lord” enthroned by YHWH (Ps 110) Psalm 12 reports the arrogant slogan: - Ps 12:5 **מִי אָד֣וֹן לָֽנוּ** (“Who is lord over us?”) Psalm 110 begins: - Ps 110:1 **נְאֻם יְהוָה לַאדֹנִי** (“Oracle of YHWH to **my lord**…”) Even though **אָדוֹן** is not rare, the rhetorical link is sharp: Psalm 12 dramatizes a world where people deny any master; Psalm 110 replies with YHWH publicly affirming *his* appointed “lord,” seated at YHWH’s right hand. It’s a thematic reversal: the boast “no one rules us” is met by a divine decree of rule. --- ## 5) “Surrounded by the wicked” → “rule in the midst of your enemies” Psalm 12 ends with the felt social geometry of threat: - Ps 12:9 **סָבִיב רְשָׁעִים יִתְהַלָּכוּן** (“All around, the wicked prowl…”) Psalm 110 contains the matching counter-image: - Ps 110:2 **רְדֵה בְּקֶרֶב אֹיְבֶיךָ** (“Rule **in the midst of** your enemies.”) So if Ps 12 ends with “we are encircled,” Ps 110 begins by asserting that the encirclement will be turned inside-out: the anointed ruler will exercise dominion *within* that hostile space, not flee from it. --- ## 6) Justice for the oppressed (Ps 12) naturally leads to royal/judicial action (Ps 110) YHWH’s motive for intervention in Ps 12 is explicitly social-ethical: - Ps 12:6 **מִשֹּׁד עֲנִיִּים… מֵאַנְקַת אֶבְיוֹנִים** (“Because of the plundering of the poor… the groaning of the needy…”) Psalm 110 then portrays the installed figure as the instrument of that intervention in political/judicial terms: - Ps 110:6 **יָדִין בַּגּוֹיִם** (“He will judge among the nations…”) Ancient Israelite ideology strongly pairs these: when the poor are exploited and speech is corrupt, the remedy is not only moral correction but the reassertion of **right rule** (a king who “judges” and suppresses oppressors). Psalm 110 reads like the macro-political answer to Psalm 12’s micro-social crisis. --- ## 7) “Forever” continuity: protection from a corrupt generation → an eternal priest-king settlement Both use **לְעוֹלָם**: - Ps 12:8 **מִן־הַדּוֹר זוּ לְעוֹלָם** (“…from this generation forever.”) - Ps 110:4 **כֹהֵן לְעוֹלָם** (“a priest forever…”) So the sequence can be read as: 1) Ps 12: “Guard us from this pervasive corruption—permanently.” 2) Ps 110: “Here is the permanent arrangement that secures that: an enduring priest-king order.” That “forever” link helps the move from immediate rescue to institutionalized, ongoing protection. --- ## 8) Escalation of “cutting off” the evil: from silencing lips to crushing kings Psalm 12 asks YHWH to neutralize the instruments of deceit: - Ps 12:4 **יַכְרֵת יְהוָה כָּל־שִׂפְתֵי חֲלָקוֹת** (“May YHWH cut off all flattering lips…”) Psalm 110 shows the same divine hostility to evil, intensified into divine-war/royal-war imagery: - Ps 110:5 **מָחַץ… מְלָכִים** (“He crushes kings…”) - Ps 110:6 **מָחַץ רֹאשׁ** (“He crushes the head…”) So one can argue a logical progression in scope: - Ps 12 targets the *social* weapons (lying speech). - Ps 110 targets the *political/military* sources that sustain that social corruption (hostile rulers, “kings,” enemies). --- ## 9) Zion as the implicit “where the answer comes from” Psalm 12 is “society-wide” (faithful vanish “from the sons of man”), but it doesn’t specify a geopolitical center. Psalm 110 supplies it: - Ps 110:2 **מִצִּיּוֹן** (“from Zion…”) In an Israelite logic of restoration, Zion/Jerusalem is where YHWH’s kingship is enacted through the Davidic house. So Ps 110 can follow Ps 12 as the concrete specification of the *mechanism and location* by which YHWH’s “Now I will arise” (12:6) is worked out in history. --- ### If you wanted to make the tightest “philological” case The three most “mechanically convincing” link-points (by your criteria) are: 1) **אָשִׁית** (identical form, YHWH speaking) — Ps 12:6 ↔ Ps 110:1 2) **אָדוֹן / אֲדֹנִי** (same noun class, strong rhetorical reversal) — Ps 12:5 ↔ Ps 110:1 3) **סָבִיב** (encirclement) ↔ **בְּקֶרֶב** (in the midst) (tight conceptual inversion) — Ps 12:9 ↔ Ps 110:2 --- If you want, I can also: - do a **systematic shared-root scan** (including less obvious morphological matches), - compare **parallelism patterns/line lengths** more formally, - or frame this as a **canonical-theological move** (lament → enthronement oracle) with supporting examples elsewhere in the Psalter.
Evaluation
Score: 5.6
Evaluated at: 2026-02-08T02:17:44 (UTC)
Evaluator model: gpt-5.2
Evaluator version: v2
Reasoning: 1438 Output: 4771 Total: 6209
Checklist
- Has verse refs: Yes
- Factual error detected: No
- Only generic motifs: No
- Counterargument considered: No
- LXX/MT numbering acknowledged: Yes
Vocabulary specificity: 4.0 / 10
Flags: generic
Multiple correct text-anchored links (esp. shared אָשִׁית 12:6/110:1; speech-vs-oracle; אדון 12:5/110:1), but most motifs are widespread and no editorial signal or countercase; sequence claim remains weak.
Prompt
Consider Psalm 12 and Psalm 110 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 110 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 110:
Psalm 110
1. לְדָוִ֗ד
מִ֫זְמ֥וֹר
נְאֻ֤ם
יְהוָ֨ה ׀
לַֽאדֹנִ֗י
שֵׁ֥ב
לִֽימִינִ֑י
עַד־
אָשִׁ֥ית
אֹ֝יְבֶ֗יךָ
הֲדֹ֣ם
לְרַגְלֶֽיךָ׃
2. מַטֵּֽה־
עֻזְּךָ֗
יִשְׁלַ֣ח
יְ֭הוָה
מִצִיּ֑וֹן
רְ֝דֵ֗ה
בְּקֶ֣רֶב
אֹיְבֶֽיךָ׃
3. עַמְּךָ֣
נְדָבֹת֮
בְּי֢וֹם
חֵ֫ילֶ֥ךָ
בְּֽהַדְרֵי־
קֹ֭דֶשׁ
מֵרֶ֣חֶם
מִשְׁחָ֑ר
לְ֝ךָ֗
טַ֣ל
יַלְדֻתֶֽיךָ׃
4. נִשְׁבַּ֤ע
יְהוָ֨ה ׀
וְלֹ֥א
יִנָּחֵ֗ם
אַתָּֽה־
כֹהֵ֥ן
לְעוֹלָ֑ם
עַל־
דִּ֝בְרָתִ֗י
מַלְכִּי־
צֶֽדֶק׃
5. אֲדֹנָ֥י
עַל־
יְמִֽינְךָ֑
מָחַ֖ץ
בְּיוֹם־
אַפּ֣וֹ
מְלָכִֽים׃
6. יָדִ֣ין
בַּ֭גּוֹיִם
מָלֵ֣א
גְוִיּ֑וֹת
מָ֥חַץ
רֹ֝֗אשׁ
עַל־
אֶ֥רֶץ
רַבָּֽה׃
7. מִ֭נַּחַל
בַּדֶּ֣רֶךְ
יִשְׁתֶּ֑ה
עַל־
כֵּ֝֗ן
יָרִ֥ים
רֹֽאשׁ׃