Psalm 12 → 116

Reasoning: 2322 Output: 4986 Total: 7308

Argument

You can argue that Psalm 116 is a coherent “next step” after Psalm 12 by reading Psalm 12 as (1) crisis → (2) petition → (3) divine assurance, and Psalm 116 as (4) experienced deliverance → (5) public thanksgiving/vow‑payment. The link becomes stronger when you notice several tight lexical and structural “hooks” (some of them relatively marked), and some deliberate reversals.

## 1) A very common life‑sequence: lament → oracle/assurance → thanksgiving at the temple
**Psalm 12** is basically an *individual/community lament about a corrupt speech‑world* (lying, flattering lips) plus an embedded **divine oracle**:

- Petition: **הוֹשִׁיעָה יְהוָה** “Save, YHWH” (12:2)  
- Crisis description: lying lips/tongues (12:3–5) and the vulnerable being harmed (12:6)  
- Divine response: **עַתָּה אָקוּם יֹאמַר יְהוָה** “Now I will arise, says YHWH” (12:6)  
- Confidence: **אַתָּה יְהוָה תִּשְׁמְרֵם** “You, YHWH, will keep them” (12:8)  
- Yet the world still looks dangerous (12:9).

**Psalm 116** reads naturally as what comes *after* such an oracle: the speaker testifies that YHWH **heard**, **delivered**, and therefore the speaker will **pay vows** and offer **a תודה sacrifice** “in the courts of the house of YHWH” (116:17–19). That is exactly the standard Israelite pattern: distress → call → rescue → thanksgiving offering/vow‑fulfillment in public.

So even at the level of “narrative logic,” 116 can be taken as the liturgical/social completion of what 12 asked for.

## 2) Shared and “answering” vocabulary (strongest when identical forms or same stem)
### (a) The salvation lexeme יש״ע is a direct petition→fulfillment chain
Psalm 12 opens with the imperative **הוֹשִׁיעָה** (12:2). Psalm 116 contains the same root repeatedly in fulfillment/register-shift:

- 12:2 **הוֹשִׁיעָה** (Hifil imperative)  
- 12:6 **בְּיֵשַׁע** “in salvation”  
- 116:6 **וְלִי יְהוֹשִׁיעַ** “and to me he saves” (same Hifil of יש״ע)  
- 116:13 **כּוֹס־יְשׁוּעוֹת** “cup of salvations/deliverances” (explicitly celebratory).

That is a clean “request answered” lexical trajectory.

### (b) חסיד moves from “vanished” to “claimed/protected”
Psalm 12 laments: **גָמַר חָסִיד** “the faithful/loyal one is gone” (12:2).  
Psalm 116 later says: **יָקָר… הַמָּוְתָה לַחֲסִידָיו** “precious… is the death of his loyal ones” (116:15).

So the “חסיד” category that seems endangered/absent in Psalm 12 is reasserted in Psalm 116 as a recognized class that YHWH values and watches over.

### (c) אמן shifts from absence of “faithful people” to the speaker’s renewed faith
Psalm 12: **פַסּוּ אֱמוּנִים** “the faithful are gone” (12:2).  
Psalm 116: **הֶאֱמַנְתִּי** “I believed” (116:10).

Same root (א־מ־ן), and the direction is conceptually neat: from social collapse of “אמונים” to a reconstituted “האמנתי” in a rescued worshiper.

### (d) “Speech vs speech”: דבר / אמר / אמרות recur in a way that flips Psalm 12’s problem
Psalm 12 is dominated by *human* deceptive speech:
- **יְדַבְּרוּ שָׁוְא** “they speak emptiness” (12:3)  
- **לָשׁוֹן מְדַבֶּרֶת גְּדֹלוֹת** “a tongue speaking boastful things” (12:4)  
- **אָמְרוּ…** (12:5)

Then it contrasts that with *divine* speech:
- **אִמֲרוֹת יְהוָה… טְהֹרוֹת** “the words of YHWH are pure” (12:7)

Psalm 116 intentionally re-enters this “speech” field but as a healed response:
- **הֶאֱמַנְתִּי כִּי אֲדַבֵּר** “I believed, for I speak” (116:10)  
- **אֲנִי אָמַרְתִּי… כָּל־הָאָדָם כֹּזֵב** “I said… all humankind is lying” (116:11)

So Psalm 116 sounds like a survivor’s internalization of Psalm 12’s thesis: human speech is unreliable; only YHWH’s hearing/word is trustworthy.

### (e) “Keeping/guarding”: שמ״ר appears in both
- 12:8 **תִּשְׁמְרֵם** “you will keep them”  
- 116:6 **שֹׁמֵר פְּתָאיִם יְהוָה** “YHWH keeps/guards the simple.”

Same root, same protective divine role—Psalm 116 looks like an enacted instance of Psalm 12’s confidence line.

### (f) A particularly nice identical-stem “walking” reversal: יתהלך
Psalm 12 ends with the threat:
- **סָבִיב רְשָׁעִים יִתְהַלָּכוּן** “all around the wicked walk about” (12:9, Hitpael)

Psalm 116 answers with a counter-walk:
- **אֶתְהַלֵּךְ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה** “I will walk before YHWH” (116:9, Hitpael)

Same stem (Hitpael of הל״ך), but the subject and sphere invert: not the wicked roaming “around,” but the rescued worshiper walking “before YHWH… in the lands of the living.”

### (g) “Humankind” framing: בני אדם / כל האדם + the “liar” diagnosis
Psalm 12 frames the collapse as happening **מִבְּנֵי אָדָם** “among the sons of man” (12:2; cf. 12:9).  
Psalm 116 condenses the conclusion: **כָּל־הָאָדָם כֹּזֵב** “all humankind is a liar” (116:11).

That feels like Psalm 116’s distilled “wisdom take” on Psalm 12’s social observation.

## 3) Thematic continuity: oppression of the vulnerable → YHWH arises → an individual testifies
Psalm 12’s turning point is YHWH’s response to the oppressed:
- **מִשֹּׁד עֲנִיִּים… מֵאַנְקַת אֶבְיוֹנִים עַתָּה אָקוּם** (12:6)

Psalm 116 explicitly places the speaker in that same “low” category:
- **דַּלּוֹתִי וְלִי יְהוֹשִׁיעַ** “I was brought low, and he saved me” (116:6)

So Psalm 116 can be read as one concrete voice from the “עניים/אביונים” class for whom Psalm 12 promised divine action.

## 4) A coherent resolution to Psalm 12’s central tension: whose “words” rule?
Psalm 12’s villains say: **לִלְשֹׁנֵנוּ נַגְבִּיר… מִי אָדוֹן לָנוּ** “With our tongue we will prevail… who is lord over us?” (12:5). That is essentially a rebellion of speech against lordship.

Psalm 116 answers with embodied submission:
- **אָנָּה יְהוָה כִּי אֲנִי עַבְדֶּךָ** “Please, YHWH, for I am your servant” (116:16)  
- plus vow‑payment “before all his people” (116:14, 18).

So the “tongue‑lords” of Psalm 12 are implicitly refuted by a worshiper who publicly acknowledges YHWH’s lordship.

## 5) Liturgical closure: from “pure words” (12) to “thanksgiving sacrifice” (116)
Psalm 12 highlights the purity/preciousness of YHWH’s utterances (**אִמֲרוֹת… טְהֹרוֹת**, refined silver imagery, 12:7). Psalm 116 culminates in the worshiper’s public ritual response—**זֶבַח תּוֹדָה** and vows in the temple courts (116:17–19). In Israelite practice, *deliverance* regularly moved toward *public תודה*, so Psalm 116 supplies the “what you do next” after trusting the purity of YHWH’s promise in Psalm 12.

---

### Summary thesis
Psalm 12 sets up a world where human speech has collapsed into deception, the faithful are disappearing, and the vulnerable are being crushed; it includes YHWH’s oracle “Now I will arise” and a confidence that YHWH will “keep” his own. Psalm 116 reads naturally as the next logical stage: a rescued “lowly” faithful person testifies that YHWH heard, saved (יש״ע), guarded (שׁמ״ר), and therefore the speaker will “walk” (Hitpael הל״ך) before YHWH and complete the expected Israelite arc of rescue → vows → thanksgiving sacrifice in the temple—while explicitly reaffirming Psalm 12’s diagnosis that “all humankind is lying.”

If you want, I can also map both psalms into a formal genre template (lament components vs. thanksgiving components) and show point‑by‑point how Psalm 116 supplies the missing “thanksgiving” slots implied by Psalm 12.

Evaluation

Score: 5.6

Evaluated at: 2026-02-14T02:16:47 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5.2

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 980 Output: 5822 Total: 6802

Vocabulary specificity: 4.0 / 10

Multiple accurate verse-anchored lexical echoes (ישע 12:2/116:6,13; חסיד 12:2/116:15; אמן 12:2/116:10; יתהלך 12:9/116:9). But roots are common, no editorial signal, huge gap in Psalter.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 12 and Psalm 116 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 116 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 116:
Psalm 116
1. אָ֭הַבְתִּי
        כִּֽי־
        יִשְׁמַ֥ע ׀
        יְהוָ֑ה
        אֶת־
        ק֝וֹלִ֗י
        תַּחֲנוּנָֽי׃
2. כִּֽי־
        הִטָּ֣ה
        אָזְנ֣וֹ
        לִ֑י
        וּבְיָמַ֥י
        אֶקְרָֽא׃
3. אֲפָפ֤וּנִי ׀
        חֶבְלֵי־
        מָ֗וֶת
        וּמְצָרֵ֣י
        שְׁא֣וֹל
        מְצָא֑וּנִי
        צָרָ֖ה
        וְיָג֣וֹן
        אֶמְצָֽא׃
4. וּבְשֵֽׁם־
        יְהוָ֥ה
        אֶקְרָ֑א
        אָנָּ֥ה
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        מַלְּטָ֥ה
        נַפְשִֽׁי׃
5. חַנּ֣וּן
        יְהֹוָ֣ה
        וְצַדִּ֑יק
        וֵ֖אלֹהֵ֣ינוּ
        מְרַחֵֽם׃
6. שֹׁמֵ֣ר
        פְּתָאיִ֣ם
        יְהֹוָ֑ה
        דַּ֝לּוֹתִ֗י
        וְלִ֣י
        יְהוֹשִֽׁיעַ׃
7. שׁוּבִ֣י
        נַ֭פְשִׁי
        לִמְנוּחָ֑יְכִי
        כִּֽי־
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        גָּמַ֥ל
        עָלָֽיְכִי׃
8. כִּ֤י
        חִלַּ֥צְתָּ
        נַפְשִׁ֗י
        מִ֫מָּ֥וֶת
        אֶת־
        עֵינִ֥י
        מִן־
        דִּמְעָ֑ה
        אֶת־
        רַגְלִ֥י
        מִדֶּֽחִי׃
9. אֶ֭תְהַלֵּךְ
        לִפְנֵ֣י
        יְהוָ֑ה
        בְּ֝אַרְצ֗וֹת
        הַֽחַיִּֽים׃
10. הֶ֭אֱמַנְתִּי
        כִּ֣י
        אֲדַבֵּ֑ר
        אֲ֝נִ֗י
        עָנִ֥יתִי
        מְאֹֽד׃
11. אֲ֭נִי
        אָמַ֣רְתִּי
        בְחָפְזִ֑י
        כָּֽל־
        הָאָדָ֥ם
        כֹּזֵֽב׃
12. מָֽה־
        אָשִׁ֥יב
        לַיהוָ֑ה
        כָּֽל־
        תַּגְמוּל֥וֹהִי
        עָלָֽי׃
13. כּוֹס־
        יְשׁוּע֥וֹת
        אֶשָּׂ֑א
        וּבְשֵׁ֖ם
        יְהוָ֣ה
        אֶקְרָֽא׃
14. נְ֭דָרַי
        לַיהוָ֣ה
        אֲשַׁלֵּ֑ם
        נֶגְדָה־
        נָּ֝֗א
        לְכָל־
        עַמּֽוֹ׃
15. יָ֭קָר
        בְּעֵינֵ֣י
        יְהוָ֑ה
        הַ֝מָּ֗וְתָה
        לַחֲסִידָֽיו׃
16. אָֽנָּ֣ה
        יְהוָה֮
        כִּֽי־
        אֲנִ֢י
        עַ֫בְדֶּ֥ךָ
        אֲ‍ֽנִי־
        עַ֭בְדְּךָ
        בֶּן־
        אֲמָתֶ֑ךָ
        פִּ֝תַּ֗חְתָּ
        לְמוֹסֵרָֽי׃
17. לְֽךָ־
        אֶ֭זְבַּח
        זֶ֣בַח
        תּוֹדָ֑ה
        וּבְשֵׁ֖ם
        יְהוָ֣ה
        אֶקְרָֽא׃
18. נְ֭דָרַי
        לַיהוָ֣ה
        אֲשַׁלֵּ֑ם
        נֶגְדָה־
        נָּ֝֗א
        לְכָל־
        עַמּֽוֹ׃
19. בְּחַצְר֤וֹת ׀
        בֵּ֤ית
        יְהוָ֗ה
        בְּֽת֘וֹכֵ֤כִי
        יְֽרוּשָׁלִָ֗ם
        הַֽלְלוּ־
        יָֽהּ׃