Psalm 12 → 123

Reasoning: 2256 Output: 3634 Total: 5890

Argument

You can make a reasonably tight “canonical/logical sequel” case by reading Psalm 123 as what comes *after* Psalm 12’s diagnosis and oracle: Psalm 12 exposes a world where human speech and power have become corrupt and the arrogant deny any master; Psalm 123 is the faithful community’s posture *within that same world*—no longer arguing with human words, but looking upward like servants, waiting “until” YHWH acts with mercy.

Below are several arguments (with heavier weight on identical/rarer items).

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## 1) A direct lexical/thematic *reversal* around **אָדוֹן** (lord/master) [אדנ]

**Psalm 12’s boast (human autonomy):**  
- **מִי אָדוֹן לָנוּ** (“Who is lord over us?”) (12:5)

**Psalm 123’s posture (human servanthood):**  
- **אֶל־יַד אֲדוֹנֵיהֶם** (“to the hand of their masters”) (123:2)  
- plus the whole slave/master image: **עֲבָדִים / שִׁפְחָה / גְּבִרְתָּהּ**

This is more than a shared root: it’s the same *word class* noun **אָדוֹן** in 12:5 and 123:2 (plural construct). Psalm 123 functions like an answer to Psalm 12’s proud slogan:

- Psalm 12: the wicked say, “No one rules us.”  
- Psalm 123: the faithful say (by metaphor and by address), “We are servants; we look to our Master—**יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ**.”

So Psalm 123 “logically follows” as the community’s counter-confession to the ideology of Psalm 12’s oppressors.

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## 2) Shared sequence markers create a narrative bridge: **עַתָּה** → **עַד** (“now” → “until”)

**Psalm 12 contains a divine turning point:**  
- **עַתָּה אָקוּם יֹאמַר יְהוָה** (“*Now* I will arise, says YHWH”) (12:6)

**Psalm 123 lives in the in-between time:**  
- **עַד שֶׁיְּחָנֵּנוּ** (“*until* he shows us favor/mercy”) (123:2)

Read consecutively, the logic is: God has promised “Now I arise” (12:6), but the faithful still inhabit the period of waiting and endurance—eyes fixed upward “until” the mercy arrives (123:2–3). Psalm 123 is a plausible “waiting room psalm” after Psalm 12’s oracle.

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## 3) A rare/marked root link: **שׂבע** (“to be sated/full”) connects purity vs. contempt

This is not a common throwaway overlap; it’s relatively marked because Psalm 12 uses the numeral-adverbial form in a striking poetic line, and Psalm 123 uses the verb repeatedly and emphatically.

**Psalm 12 (intensified purity):**  
- **מְזֻקָּק שִׁבְעָתָיִם** (“refined *sevenfold*”) (12:7)

**Psalm 123 (overfilled with humiliation):**  
- **רַב שָׂבַעְנוּ בוּז** (“we have been greatly *sated* with contempt”) (123:3)  
- **רַבַּת שָׂבְעָה־לָּהּ נַפְשֵׁנוּ** (“our soul has been greatly *sated*”) (123:4)

The “fullness” imagery shifts:

- Psalm 12: YHWH’s words are *maximally purified* (sevenfold).  
- Psalm 123: the faithful are *maximally filled* with scorn.

That makes Psalm 123 feel like a lived experience following Psalm 12’s contrast between (a) corrupt human speech and (b) utterly reliable divine speech: even after trusting God’s “pure words,” the community is still “sated” with the world’s contempt while waiting for the promise to materialize.

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## 4) Speech-war in Psalm 12 → ridicule/insult in Psalm 123 (same battlefield, later moment)

Psalm 12 is dominated by mouth-language:

- **שָׂפָה / שְׂפָתַיִם / לָשׁוֹן / יְדַבְּרוּ / אָמְרוּ** (12:3–5)

Psalm 123 doesn’t reuse those exact lexemes, but it does depict what such “tongue-power” feels like from below:

- **הַלַּעַג** (“mockery”) (123:4)  
- **הַבּוּז** (“contempt”) (123:3–4)

So the enemy’s weapon in Psalm 12 (dominating by speech, boasting, manipulation) becomes the faithful’s daily experience in Psalm 123 (being mocked and despised). That’s a coherent psychological and social continuation: corrupt “great-speaking” tongues (12:4) lead to an environment where the humble are drowned in contempt (123:3–4).

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## 5) End-of-psalm social setting aligns: righteous beleaguered among the exalted wicked/proud

**Psalm 12 closes with the wicked pervading the scene:**
- **סָבִיב רְשָׁעִים יִתְהַלָּכוּן** (“The wicked prowl all around”) (12:9)  
- when **זֻלּוּת** (vileness) is “exalted” among humans.

**Psalm 123 closes with the faithful overwhelmed by the social “upper layer”:**
- **הַשַּׁאֲנַנִּים** (“the self-secure/at-ease”) (123:4)  
- **לִגְאֵיוֹנִים** (“the proud”) (123:4)

Different terms, same situation: an upside-down society where the arrogant dominate public life and the faithful are socially pressed down. Psalm 123 reads naturally as the prayer of the “poor/lowly” class that Psalm 12 says YHWH will arise to protect (12:6).

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## 6) Form and style: both are compact laments built around (a) address + (b) complaint + (c) resolution/stance

**Shared features:**
- Direct address to YHWH with imperatives:
  - Psalm 12: **הוֹשִׁיעָה יְהוָה** (12:2)
  - Psalm 123: **חָנֵּנוּ יְהוָה** (123:3)
- Motivating **כִּי** clauses (reason for appeal):
  - Psalm 12: **כִּי־גָמַר חָסִיד... כִּי־פַסּוּ אֱמוּנִים** (12:2)
  - Psalm 123: **כִּי־רַב שָׂבַעְנוּ בוּז** (123:3)
- Strong parallelism and repetition:
  - Psalm 12: paired “lip/tongue” lines; “בְּלֵב וָלֵב”
  - Psalm 123: “כְעֵינֵי… / כְעֵינֵי… / כֵּן עֵינֵינוּ”; “חָנֵּנוּ… חָנֵּנוּ”

So even though their superscriptions differ (Davidic mizmor vs. Song of Ascents), they “fit” as consecutive prayers: short, sharp pleas from the faithful minority under social assault.

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## 7) A plausible lived-history progression: internal moral collapse → subjection/servanthood → pilgrimage prayer

If you allow a broader Israelite-life storyline:

1. **Psalm 12**: depicts internal covenant breakdown—faithful disappearing, truth failing, elites boasting (“who is lord over us?”).  
2. Such arrogance and injustice are precisely the kind of conditions prophets connect with national humiliation.  
3. **Psalm 123**: speaks from a posture of *servanthood* and public shame (contempt from the “at-ease” and the “proud”), a very plausible social setting under foreign pressure or post-disaster recovery—exactly the kind of setting in which “Songs of Ascents” could function as communal prayers.

On that reading, Psalm 123 is what the faithful pray when Psalm 12’s world has borne bitter fruit: they have learned not to look to human words/power, but to “the one enthroned in the heavens” (123:1).

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### Compressed logical-throughline

- **Psalm 12:** Human speech corrupt; arrogant deny any lord; YHWH promises to arise for the oppressed.  
- **Psalm 123:** The oppressed (servants) look to their true Lord in heaven, enduring contempt, waiting *until* YHWH’s promised action becomes experienced mercy.

If you want, I can tabulate every shared/echoed lexeme/root (including near-misses) and rank them by “strength” using your criteria (rarity, identical form, same word class, identical root).

Evaluation

Score: 2.0

Evaluated at: 2026-02-21T02:16:52 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5.2

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 400 Output: 4468 Total: 4868

Vocabulary specificity: 4.0 / 10

Flags: hallucination

Cap at 2: key claim that Ps 12:7 שִׁבְעָתָיִם links to Ps 123 שָׂבַעְנוּ is false (seven≠sated). Remaining אדון/now-until echoes are plausible but common; collections differ.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 12 and Psalm 123 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 123 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 123:
Psalm 123
1. שִׁ֗יר
        הַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת
        אֵ֭לֶיךָ
        נָשָׂ֣אתִי
        אֶת־
        עֵינַ֑י
        הַ֝יֹּשְׁבִ֗י
        בַּשָּׁמָֽיִם׃
2. הִנֵּ֨ה
        כְעֵינֵ֪י
        עֲבָדִ֡ים
        אֶל־
        יַ֤ד
        אֲ‍ֽדוֹנֵיהֶ֗ם
        כְּעֵינֵ֣י
        שִׁפְחָה֮
        אֶל־
        יַ֢ד
        גְּבִ֫רְתָּ֥הּ
        כֵּ֣ן
        עֵ֭ינֵינוּ
        אֶל־
        יְהוָ֣ה
        אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ
        עַ֝֗ד
        שֶׁיְּחָנֵּֽנוּ׃
3. חָנֵּ֣נוּ
        יְהוָ֣ה
        חָנֵּ֑נוּ
        כִּֽי־
        רַ֝֗ב
        שָׂבַ֥עְנוּ
        בֽוּז׃
4. רַבַּת֮
        שָֽׂבְעָה־
        לָּ֢הּ
        נַ֫פְשֵׁ֥נוּ
        הַלַּ֥עַג
        הַשַּׁאֲנַנִּ֑ים
        הַ֝בּ֗וּז
        לִגְאֵ֥יוֹנִֽים׃