Psalms 114:1

Psalm 114

114:1 When Israel left Egypt,

when the family of Jacob left a foreign nation behind,

Psalms 139:5

139:5 You squeeze me in from behind and in front;

you place your hand on me.

Psalms 140:3

140:3 Their tongues wound like a serpent;

a viper’s venom is behind their lips. (Selah)


sn Psalm 114. The psalmist recalls the events of the exodus and conquest and celebrates God’s kingship over his covenant people.

tn Heb “the house of Jacob from a nation speaking a foreign language.” The Hebrew verb לָעַז (laat, “to speak a foreign language”) occurs only here in the OT.

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.”

tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.

tn Heb “under.”