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Psalm 140:3-5
New English Translation
Psalm 140:3-5
New English Translation
3 Their tongues wound like a serpent;[a]
a viper’s[b] venom is behind[c] their lips. (Selah)
4 O Lord, shelter me from the power[d] of the wicked.
Protect me from violent men,
who plan to knock me over.[e]
5 Proud men hide a snare for me;
evil men[f] spread a net by the path.
They set traps for me. (Selah)
Footnotes
- Psalm 140:3 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.”
- Psalm 140:3 tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.
- Psalm 140:3 tn Heb “under.”
- Psalm 140:4 tn Heb “hands.”
- Psalm 140:4 tn Heb “to push down my steps.”
- Psalm 140:5 tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khovelim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).
New English Translation (NET)
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