59:5 They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
a poisonous snake is hatched. 1
140:3 Their tongues wound like a serpent; 2
a viper’s 3 venom is behind 4 their lips. (Selah)
1 tn Heb “that which is pressed in hatches [as] a snake.”
2 tn Heb “they sharpen their tongue like a serpent.” Ps 64:3 reads, “they sharpen their tongues like sword.” Perhaps Ps 140:3 uses a mixed metaphor, the point being that “they sharpen their tongues [like a sword],” as it were, so that when they speak, their words wound like a serpent’s bite. Another option is that the language refers to the pointed or forked nature of a serpent’s tongue, which is viewed metaphorically as “sharpened.”
3 tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.
4 tn Heb “under.”