Verse 3 is characterized by onomatopoeia or sound-imitation. The purpose of imitating sounds in nature through selected vowels or consonants is to increase the realism of the imagery. In this verse the Hebrew letter shin (pronounced as “sh” in English), imitating the hissing of a snake, occurs in each of the following words in Hebrew: sharp, tongue, serpent, vipers; and the letter sin (pronounced as “s” in English) occurs in the final word, which in Hebrew is the word for lips. The net affect is “SH-SH-SH-SH-S.” Translators should be aware of this device as used in this verse, but should not sacrifice meaning trying to imitate it.

In line a the Hebrew is “they make sharp their tongues like (that of) a snake”–a figure of the deadly power of the snake’s bite. And line b reads “viper’s poison (is) on (or, under) their lips.” Good News Translation turns the metaphors into similes and uses language more in keeping with modern idiom, “like deadly snakes … like a cobra’s poison.” The word translated “cobra” (Revised Standard Version viper) appears only here in the Old Testament; some think that it means “spider” (New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). Verse 3b is quoted in Romans 3.13. Many translators will want to follow Good News Translation‘s lead in adjusting to a simile. It may be necessary to adjust the second simile to say, for example, “the words they speak kill just as snake poison kills.” If no variety of the cobra is known, it is possible to use the generic “snake,” or even “spider.”

For Selah see 3.2.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .