Psalms 140:3-5

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)

[140:3]  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.”

[140:3]  ² tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.

[140:3]  ³ tn Heb “under.”

[140:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “hands.”

[140:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “to push down my steps.”

[140:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khovÿlim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).