Job 20:14-16

20:14 his food is turned sour ¹  in his stomach; ² 

it becomes the venom of serpents ³  within him.

20:15 The wealth that he consumed ⁴  he vomits up,

God will make him throw it out ⁵  of his stomach.

20:16 He sucks the poison ⁶  of serpents; ⁷ 

the fangs ⁸  of a viper ⁹  kill him.

Psalms 58:4

58:4 Their venom is like that of a snake, ¹⁰ 

like a deaf serpent ¹¹  that does not hear, ¹² 

Psalms 140:3

140:3 Their tongues wound like a serpent; ¹³ 

a viper’s ¹⁴  venom is behind ¹⁵  their lips. (Selah)

Jeremiah 8:14

Jeremiah Laments over the Coming Destruction

8:14 The people say, ¹⁶ 

“Why are we just sitting here?

Let us gather together inside the fortified cities. ¹⁷ 

Let us at least die there fighting, ¹⁸ 

since the Lord our God has condemned us to die.

He has condemned us to drink the poison waters of judgment ¹⁹ 

because we have sinned against him. ²⁰ 

Romans 3:13

3:13 “Their throats are open graves, ²¹ 

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.” ²² 

[20:14]  ¹ tn The perfect verb in the apodosis might express the suddenness of the change (see S. R. Driver, Tenses in Hebrew, 204), or it might be a constative perfect looking at the action as a whole without reference to inception, progress, or completion (see IBHS 480-81 §30.1d). The Niphal perfect simply means “is turned” or “turns”; “sour is supplied in the translation to clarify what is meant.

[20:14]  ² tn The word is “in his loins” or “within him.” Some translate more specifically “bowels.”

[20:14]  ³ sn Some commentators suggest that the ancients believed that serpents secreted poison in the gall bladder, or that the poison came from the gall bladder of serpents. In any case, there is poison (from the root “bitter”) in the system of the wicked person; it may simply be saying it is that type of poison.

[20:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “swallowed.”

[20:15]  ⁵ tn The choice of words is excellent. The verb יָרַשׁ (yarash) means either “to inherit” or “to disinherit; to dispossess.” The context makes the figure clear that God is administering the emetic to make the wicked throw up the wealth (thus, “God will make him throw it out…”); but since wealth is the subject there is a disinheritance meant here.

[20:16]  ⁶ tn The word is a homonym for the word for “head,” which has led to some confusion in the early versions.

[20:16]  ⁷ sn To take the possessions of another person is hereby compared to sucking poison from a serpent – it will kill eventually.

[20:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “tongue.”

[20:16]  ⁹ tn Some have thought this verse is a gloss on v. 14 and should be deleted. But the word for “viper” (אֶפְעֶה, ’ef’eh) is a rare word, occurring only here and in Isa 30:6 and 59:5. It is unlikely that a rarer word would be used in a gloss. But the point is similar to v. 14 – the wealth that was greedily sucked in by the wicked proves to be their undoing. Either this is totally irrelevant to Job’s case, a general discussion, or the man is raising questions about how Job got his wealth.

[58:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[there is] venom to them according to the likeness of venom of a snake.”

[58:4]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps “cobra” (cf. NASB, NIV). Other suggested species of snakes are “asp” (NEB) and “adder” (NRSV).

[58:4]  ¹² tn Heb “[that] stops up its ear.” The apparent Hiphil jussive verbal form should be understood as a Qal imperfect with “i” theme vowel (see GKC 168 §63.n).

[140:3]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.

[140:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “under.”

[8:14]  ¹⁶ tn The words “The people say” are not in the text but are implicit in the shift of speakers between vv. 4-13 and vv. 14-16. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Gather together and let us enter into the fortified cities.”

[8:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Let us die there.” The words “at least” and “fighting” are intended to bring out the contrast of passive surrender to death in the open country and active resistance to the death implicit in the context.

[8:14]  ¹⁹ tn The words “of judgment” are not in the text but are intended to show that “poison water” is not literal but figurative of judgment at the hands of God through the agency of the enemy mentioned in v. 16.

[8:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “against the Lord.” The switch is for the sake of smoothness in English.

[3:13]  ²¹ tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”

[3:13]  ²² sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.