Psalms 140:3 BSB — MannaFest

Psalms 140:3

They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent; Adders’ poison is under their lips. [Selah

KJV

They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.

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Commentary

3 voices

Jerome

Homily 50, on Psalm 139 (420)

The venom of asps is under their lips. For they seem to have words of friendship, yet they are full of death-dealing poison.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent,.... Which Kimchi says it does before it bites. Aristotle (i) observes, that the tip or extreme point of a serpent's tongue is as small as a hair, and so exceeding sharp and piercing. Arama interprets this of the sharpness and cunning of the serpent; and particularly the serpent that deceived Eve, and spake cunningly to her.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 7 (1885)

They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. The rapid motion of a viper's tongue gives you the idea of its sharpening it; even thus do the malicious move their tongues at such a rate that one might suppose them to be in the very act of wearing them to a point, or rubbing them to a keen edge. It was a common notion that serpents inserted their poison by their tongues, and the poets used the idea as a poetical expression, although it is certain that the serpent wounds by his fangs and not by his tongue.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

9 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
שָֽׁנֲנ֣וּ	sha.na.Nu	they sharpen	H8150 →
לְשׁוֹנָם֮	le.sho.Nam	tongue their	H3956 →
כְּֽמוֹ־	ke.mov-	like	H3644 →
נָ֫חָ֥שׁ	na.Chash	a snake	H5175 →
חֲמַ֥ת	cha.Mat	[the] venom of	H2534 →
עַכְשׁ֑וּב	'akh.Shuv	a viper	H5919 →
תַּ֖חַת	Ta.chat	[is] under	H8478 →
שְׂפָתֵ֣ימוֹ	se.fa.Tei.mov	lips their	H8193 →
סֶֽלָה׃	Se.lah	Selah	H5542 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
2 Corinthians 11:3
I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
leads to
- Colossians 2:8
  See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.
- Galatians 1:6
  I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—
- Ephesians 4:14
  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.
- 1 John 4:1
  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
- Colossians 2:4
  I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric.
Through
Psalms 58:4
Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,
leads to
- James 3:8
  but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
Through
Jeremiah 9:5
Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.
leads to
- Habakkuk 2:13
  Is it not indeed from the LORD of Hosts that the labor of the people only feeds the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?
- Micah 6:12
  For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.

About Psalms

Saul attempts to kill David (the harpist of Israel) — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Psalms: the study guide →Read chapter 140 →The featured study →

Continue: Psalms 140 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Psalms

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Psalms