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Psalms 64:3

Context

64:3 They 1  sharpen their tongues like a sword;

they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, 2 

Psalms 140:3

Context

140:3 Their tongues wound like a serpent; 3 

a viper’s 4  venom is behind 5  their lips. (Selah)

1 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

2 tn Heb “a bitter word.”

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.”

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

5 tn Heb “under.”



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