The language in this verse is symbolic, the various animals representing enemies and other dangers. The two lines are synonymous; for lion … young lion see Fauna and Flora of the Bible, pages jmp 50-51|fig:ffb_Lion.htmjmp*; for adder … serpent see Fauna and Flora of the Bible, pages jmp 72-73|fig:ffb_Serpent.htmjmp*. It should be noted that the word in verse 13b for serpent is tannin (see its use and meaning in 74.13b). In verse 13b the psalmist has chosen not to parallel line a syntactically. Because there are only two lines in most parallel verses, the result of not paralleling line a produces a form of chiasmus. Therefore, while the meaning of the two lines is nearly the same, the word order makes them different. In some languages the chiastic form will not be possible, and thus the parallel meaning plus the parallel word order may strike the reader as unnecessarily repetitive, and the translator may prefer in such a case to reduce the two lines to one. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “You will be able to walk among lions, among wild animals and snakes.”

New English Bible translates all the animals in verse 13 as snakes: “asp … cobra … snake … serpent.” This is possible, and a translator may choose to do the same, if there are four different words for “snakes” in the receptor language.

In Luke 10.19 there seems to be an allusion to the language of this verse.

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 .