New Living Translation
Psalms 140:3
3Their tongues sting like a snake; the venom of a viper drips from their lips. Interlude
Psalms 140:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.
- New International Version (NIV)They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s; the poison of vipers is on their lips.
- English Standard Version (ESV)They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's, and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah
- New King James Version (NKJV)They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips. Selah
Context of Psalms 140:3
1O Lord, rescue me from evil people. Protect me from those who are violent, 2those who plot evil in their hearts and stir up trouble all day long. Their tongues sting like a snake; the venom of a viper drips from their lips. Interlude 4O Lord, keep me out of the hands of the wicked. Protect me from those who are violent, for they are plotting against me. 5The proud have set a trap to catch me; they have stretched out a net; they have placed traps all along the way. Interlude
Read all of Psalms 140Psalms 140:3 word by word
שָֽׁנֲנ֣וּ לְשׁוֹנָם֮ כְּֽמוֹ־נָ֫חָ֥שׁ חֲמַ֥ת עַכְשׁ֑וּב תַּ֖חַת שְׂפָתֵ֣ימוֹ סֶֽלָה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 140:3
- Psalms 52:2All day long you plot destruction. Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor; you’re an expert at telling lies.
- Psalms 57:4I am surrounded by fierce lions who greedily devour human prey— whose teeth pierce like spears and arrows, and whose tongues cut like swords.
- Psalms 59:7Listen to the filth that comes from their mouths; their words cut like swords. “After all, who can hear us?” they sneer.
- Psalms 64:3They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows.
- Proverbs 12:18Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.
- Isaiah 59:3Your hands are the hands of murderers, and your fingers are filthy with sin. Your lips are full of lies, and your mouth spews corruption.
- Jeremiah 9:3“My people bend their tongues like bows to shoot out lies. They refuse to stand up for the truth. They only go from bad to worse. They do not know me,” says the Lord.
- James 3:6And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
- Genesis 3:13Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
- Proverbs 23:32For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper.
- Matthew 12:34You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.
- 2 Corinthians 11:3But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.
- Psalms 58:4They spit venom like deadly snakes; they are like cobras that refuse to listen,
- Romans 3:13“Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.”
Commentaries on Psalms 140:3
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent - Compare the notes at Psalm 64:3. The idea here is, that since the tongue of the serpent “seems” to be sharp, pointed, adapted to penetrate (and probably the original reference in the image was derived from that idea), the wound inflicted is by the serpent‘s tongue - “as if” with a hard, penetrating point. It is now known, however, that it is by a tooth - a single tooth, made flexible for the purpose - at…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3snakes … vipers: These creatures portray the wicked as very corrupt people (see Proverbs 23:32; Isaiah 14:29; Romans 3:13).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-52-5. This character of the wicked, and the devices planned against the pious, correspond to Psa 10:7; 31:13; 58:4, &c.Read the comment
- Rashi on Tanakh · v. 3every day they gather to wage war There will be wars in their dwellings and in their settlements.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 140:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 140
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
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