Isaiah 59:5

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 

Psalms 140:3

140:3 Their tongues wound like a serpent; ² 

a viper’s ³  venom is behind ⁴  their lips. (Selah)

[59:5]  ¹ tn Heb “that which is pressed in hatches [as] a snake.”

[140:3]  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.”

[140:3]  ³ tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.

[140:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “under.”