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 

Psalms 7:14

7:14 See the one who is pregnant with wickedness,

who conceives destructive plans,

and gives birth to harmful lies – ⁶ 

Psalms 36:3

36:3 The words he speaks are sinful and deceitful;

he does not care about doing what is wise and right. ⁷ 

Psalms 52:4

52:4 You love to use all the words that destroy, ⁸ 

and the tongue that deceives.

Psalms 55:21

55:21 His words are as smooth as butter, ⁹ 

but he harbors animosity in his heart. ¹⁰ 

His words seem softer than oil,

but they are really like sharp swords. ¹¹ 

Psalms 58:3

58:3 The wicked turn aside from birth; ¹² 

liars go astray as soon as they are born. ¹³ 

Psalms 64:3

64:3 They ¹⁴  sharpen their tongues like a sword;

they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 59:4

59:4 No one is concerned about justice; ¹⁶ 

no one sets forth his case truthfully.

They depend on false words ¹⁷  and tell lies;

they conceive of oppression ¹⁸ 

and give birth to sin.

Jeremiah 9:3

The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them

9:3 The Lord says, ¹⁹ 

“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.

Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. ²⁰ 

They have become powerful in the land,

but they have not done so by honest means. ²¹ 

Indeed, they do one evil thing after another ²² 

and do not pay attention to me. ²³ 

Jeremiah 9:6

9:6 They do one act of violence after another,

and one deceitful thing after another. ²⁴ 

They refuse to pay attention to me,” ²⁵ 

says the Lord.

Romans 3:13

3:13 “Their throats are open graves, ²⁶ 

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.” ²⁷ 

[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.

[7:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he conceives harm and gives birth to a lie.”

[36:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “he ceases to exhibit wisdom to do good.” The Hiphil forms are exhibitive, indicating the outward expression of an inner attitude.

[52:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “you love all the words of swallowing.” Traditionally בַּלַּע (bala’) has been taken to mean “swallowing” in the sense of “devouring” or “destructive” (see BDB 118 s.v. בָּלַע). HALOT 135 s.v. III *בֶּלַע proposes a homonym here, meaning “confusion.” This would fit the immediate context nicely and provide a close parallel to the following line, which refers to deceptive words.

[55:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “the butter-like [words] of his mouth are smooth.” The noun מַחְמָאֹת (makhma’ot, “butter-like [words]”) occurs only here. Many prefer to emend the form to מֵחֶמְאָה (mekhem’ah, from [i.e., “than”] butter”), cf. NEB, NRSV “smoother than butter.” However, in this case “his mouth” does not agree in number with the plural verb חָלְקוּ (kholqu, “they are smooth”). Therefore some further propose an emendation of פִּיו (piv, “his mouth”) to פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”). In any case, the point seems to that the psalmist’s former friend spoke kindly to him and gave the outward indications of friendship.

[55:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and war [is in] his heart.”

[55:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords.”

[58:3]  ¹² tn Heb “from the womb.”

[58:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “speakers of a lie go astray from the womb.”

[64:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[64:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a bitter word.”

[59:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”

[59:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”

[59:4]  ¹⁸ tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”

[9:3]  ¹⁹ tn The words “The Lord says” have been moved up from the end of the verse to make clear that a change in speaker has occurred.

[9:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”

[9:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “but not through honesty.”

[9:3]  ²² tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”

[9:3]  ²³ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” BASOR 181 [1966]: 31-37).

[9:6]  ²⁴ tc An alternate reading for vv. 5d-6b is: “They wear themselves out doing wrong. Jeremiah, you live in the midst of deceitful people. They deceitfully refuse to take any thought of/acknowledge me.” The translation which has been adopted is based on a redivision of the lines, a redivision of some of the words, and a revocalization of some of the consonants. The MT reads literally “doing wrong they weary themselves. Your sitting in the midst of deceit; in deceit they refuse to know me” (הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ׃ שִׁבְתְּךָ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְמָה בְּמִרְמָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת־אוֹתִי). The Greek version reads literally “they do wrong and they do not cease to turn themselves around. Usury upon usury and deceit upon deceit. They do not want to know me.” This suggests that one should read the Hebrew text as שֻׁב׃ תֹּךְ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְ־מָה בְּמִרְ־מָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת אוֹתִי הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ, which translated literally yields “doing evil [= “they do evil” using the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ff)] they are not able [cf. KBL 468 s.v. לָאָה Niph.3 and see Exod 7:18 for parallel use] to repent. Oppression on oppression [cf. BDB 1067 s.v. תֹּךְ, II תּוֹךְ]; deceit on deceit. They refuse to know me.” This reading has ancient support and avoids the introduction of an unexpected second masculine suffix into the context. It has been adopted here along with a number of modern commentaries (cf., e.g., W. McKane, Jeremiah [ICC], 1:201) and English versions as the more likely reading.

[9:6]  ²⁵ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” See the note on the phrase “do not take any thought of me” in 9:3.

[3:13]  ²⁶ tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”

[3:13]  ²⁷ sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.