140:3 Their tongues wound like a serpent; 1
a viper’s 2 venom is behind 3 their lips. (Selah)
140:4 O Lord, shelter me from the power 4 of the wicked!
Protect me from violent men,
who plan to knock me over. 5
140:5 Proud men hide a snare for me;
evil men 6 spread a net by the path;
they set traps for me. (Selah)
1 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.”
2 tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.
3 tn Heb “under.”
4 tn Heb “hands.”
5 tn Heb “to push down my steps.”
6 tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khovÿlim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).