Psalms 5:9

5:9 For ¹  they do not speak the truth; ² 

their stomachs are like the place of destruction, ³ 

their throats like an open grave, ⁴ 

their tongues like a steep slope leading into it. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 5:16

5:16 All of its soldiers are strong and mighty. ⁶ 

Their arrows will send you to your grave. ⁷ 

Matthew 23:27-28

23:27 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁸  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. ⁹  23:28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

[5:9]  ¹ tn Or “certainly.”

[5:9]  ² tn Heb “for there is not in his mouth truthfulness.” The singular pronoun (“his”) probably refers back to the “man of bloodshed and deceit” mentioned in v. 6. The singular is collective or representative, as the plural in the next line indicates, and so has been translated “they.”

[5:9]  ³ tn Heb “their inward part[s] [is] destruction.” For a discussion of the extended metaphor in v. 9b, see the note on the word “it” at the end of the verse.

[5:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “their throat is an open grave.” For a discussion of the extended metaphor in v. 9b, see the note on the word “it” at the end of the verse. The metaphor is suggested by the physical resemblance of the human throat to a deeply dug grave; both are dark chasms.

[5:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “they make smooth their tongue.” Flattering, deceitful words are in view. See Ps 12:2. The psalmist’s deceitful enemies are compared to the realm of death/Sheol in v. 9b. Sheol was envisioned as a dark region within the earth, the entrance to which was the grave with its steep slopes (cf. Ps 88:4-6). The enemies’ victims are pictured here as slipping down a steep slope (the enemies’ tongues) and falling into an open grave (their throat) that terminates in destruction in the inner recesses of Sheol (their stomach). The enemies’ קרב (“inward part”) refers here to their thoughts and motives, which are destructive in their intent. The throat is where these destructive thoughts are transformed into words, and their tongue is what they use to speak the deceitful words that lead their innocent victims to their demise.

[5:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “All of them are mighty warriors.”

[5:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “his quiver [is] an open grave.” The order of the lines has been reversed to make the transition from “nation” to “their arrows” easier.

[23:27]  ⁸ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ⁹ sn This was an idiom for hypocrisy – just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (for discussion of a similar metaphor, see L&N 88.234; BDAG 1010 s.v. τοῖχος). See Deut 28:22; Ezek 13:10-16; Acts 23:3.