cobra

There is general agreement among modern scholars that the word pethen refers to the cobra, since the word is closely associated with snake charming, which requires a snake that can raise the front part of its body vertically, something a viper cannot do. The words tsif‘oni and tsefa‘ are also probably references to a type of cobra. This can be well supported by the contexts in which the word occurs, in which reference is made to the fact that it lives in holes and lays eggs. These contexts would rule out any of the vipers.

There is some evidence that pethen was the earlier name for the cobra, and tsefa‘ and tsif‘oni were later names. Something similar is the case with English, where “cobra” has been in use only for the last one hundred years, and previously “asp” was used.

“Adder” is used as the name for some of the subspecies of viper and is probably not the best word to translate these three Hebrew words.

Cobras are characterized by their ability to spread the ribs in their neck area, so as to form a broad flat profile called the hood. This makes the snake look much thicker than it really is. Cobras also have short fixed fangs in the front of their mouths. The cobra that is found in the land of Israel is the Desert Cobra or Walter Innes’s snake (Walterinnesia aegyptia), while the cobra found in Egypt is the Egyptian Cobra Naja haje. The cobra is a large snake, reaching 2 meters (6 feet) in length, and about 50 millimeters (2 inches) in diameter. It is dark brown with a yellowish underside. In some areas where it is found it has broad yellowish bands, which give it its alternative English name, banded cobra. When it rears up and spreads its hood, the hood has a yellowish background, but displays a broad dark brown horizontal stripe.

Its bite is very poisonous, and it takes quick effect, acting on the nervous system. The cobra feeds on mice, gerbils, birds, bird’s eggs, lizards, frogs, and other snakes. It hunts by following scent trails, which it senses with its tongue. When within range of its prey, it raises its head slowly vertically, and suddenly strikes at the unsuspecting victim. It lives mainly in grassland and where the vegetation is fairly thick. It takes cover in rat holes, holes in eroded banks, hollow trees, under logs, and among exposed roots. It may lay its eggs in any of these sheltered places. In cold weather it coils itself up to preserve its body heat.

The cobra, besides being a symbol of lurking danger, was also closely associated with Egypt. In some poetic passages, therefore, it is a metaphor for the enemies of Israel, Egypt in particular.

The Egyptian cobra is found all over Africa, and a local word should not be difficult to find. In South and Southeast Asia a word for the King Cobra Naja hannah or one of the other cobras would be a good equivalent. In areas where these cobras are symbols of good luck and the presence of a deity, the Hebrew symbolism might need to be explained in a footnote. In other parts of the world, if cobras are unknown, the name of a local long poisonous snake of a type different from vipers and adders is a possible choice.

In passages where snakes are referred to as “stinging”, it is not necessary to use a verb meaning literally “to sting”. This is just the Hebrew way of referring to the bite of a snake. In many languages the verb used for a snake’s bite is different from the one used to refer to the bite of something else, such as a dog.

Desert cobra, Wikimedia Commons
Egyptian cobra, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

See also flying fiery serpent, adder / serpent / asp / viper, and serpent.

complete verse (Romans 3:13)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 3:13:

  • Uma: “‘Their words are dirty and shameful, Deceiving words appear on their lips.’ ‘Their words hurt the hearts of others, like the bite of a dalimoo’ [small poisonous snake].'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Their words are not good, like figuratively a grave not covered having a rotten odor. They always lie. Their words when they slander their companions are very venomous like a snake’s venom when it strikes, because their words really destroy.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “What they talk about is very ugly and filthy. It’s like the stink from a grave that has not been covered up. They are liars, and what they say is like the sting of a snake, because it causes their companion’s breath to be very painful (it hurts the feelings of their companions).” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Their mouths are like stinking graves, because the words they utter (lit. cause-to-come-out) are filthy. They use their words to deceive their fellows and what they say is destructive like the poison of a snake.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When people speak, it is like there has been opened up where a corpse is placed. Like this is the badness of the word they speak. All is lies they speak. Death accompanies their words, like a poisonous snake when it bites a person has poison where it bites.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Hopi: “Their throat is like an open grave. Dirty words come therefrom. By their tongue they deceive people. Their words are like the poison of rattlesnakes.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

For the Old Testament quote, see Psalm 140:3.

Translation commentary on Romans 3:13

The first two lines of this verse come from Psalm 5.9 (v. 10 in some versions, e.g. New American Bible). The first line is transformed from a metaphor (literally “their throat is an open grave”) to a simile, their mouths are like an open grave. The last line of this verse comes from Psalm 140.3 and is connected in the Good News Translation with the preceding line. Wicked lies roll off their tongues is literally “with their tongues they deceive”; while and deadly words, like snake’s poison, from their lips goes back to “the poison of snakes is under their lips.” The Psalmist is comparing the words of his enemies to the poison of snakes, and the Good News Translation makes this comparison clear for its readers.

The figures of speech in this verse are difficult to translate in such a way as to make them meaningful. Their mouths are like an open grave can be understood in the sense that “their breath is so bad that it smells like a rotting corpse,” but that is not the meaning of the passage. The focus here is rather upon the death which is caused by what men say. Accordingly, in some languages, the first line of verse 13 may be rendered as “by their words they cause death.” One may, of course, employ in some languages an idiom such as “their mouths kill,” but it must be perfectly clear in a receptor language that the mouth is to be regarded as the organ of speech and therefore it is by speech that men are killed or destroyed. The same type of problem exists in the second line of verse 13, since in some languages one does not speak of the tongue as being the instrument of speech. Some receptor languages identify speech with the lips, others with the mouth, still others with the throat, while some do use the tongue in this figurative sense. It may be necessary, therefore, to say “with the throat men speak wicked lies” or “with their lips men utter wicked words.”

Deadly words are “words which cause death” or “… cause people to be killed.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Romans 3:13

3:13–15

Here Paul used verses from the Old Testament which talk about body parts: throats, tongues, lips, mouths, feet. Each of these is a figure of speech. The throat, tongue, lips, and mouth refers to speaking. The feet refers to doing. In each case consider whether the figure of speech is clear. Also consider how to make these verses poetic.

3:13a

Their throats are open graves: This clause is a figure of speech. Looking down someone’s throat is to see a deep hole. An open grave is also a deep hole. It indicates that what people say is like a dead body, full of rottenness or bad things.

In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Make it a simile. For example:

Their throats are ⌊like⌋ an open grave

• Explain the connection in the text. For example:

Their throats are ⌊full of rottenness like⌋ an open grave

• Explain the meaning of throats and the connection in the text. For example:

⌊The words coming out of⌋ their ⌊open⌋ throats are ⌊full of rottenness like⌋ an open grave
-or-
Their words are ⌊full of rottenness like⌋ an open grave

• Translate the literal meaning and explain it in a footnote. Here is an example footnote:

This saying indicates that what people say is like a dead body, full of rottenness or bad things.

open graves: This phrase refers to a hole with a dead body in it. The hole has not been filled with dirt.

3:13b

their tongues practice deceit: The Greek is literally “with their tongues they were deceiving.” It indicates that the people spoke words that deceived others. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

they use their tongue to deceive (English Standard Version)
-or-
they use their tongues for telling lies (New Century Version)

In some languages it is not natural to refer to tongues deceiving. If that is true in your language, translate in a natural way. For example:

They use their words to deceive their fellows
-or-
They are liars

General Comment on 3:13a–b

This quote is from Psalm 5:9. If you indicate the location of quotes from the Old Testament with cross-references, you may want to do so here.

3:13c

The venom of vipers is on their lips: This clause is a figure of speech. These people’s words are hurtful like venom of vipers. Evil talk can hurt people greatly.

In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Make it a simile. For example:

⌊It is as if⌋ they have the venom of vipers on their lips
-or-
Their words are like snake poison (New Century Version)

• Explain the connection in the text. For example:

Their lips ⌊speak hurtful words⌋ ⌊like⌋ the venom of vipers ⌊hurts people⌋

• Translate the literal meaning and explain it in a footnote. Here is an example footnote:

This saying indicates that what people say is very hurtful, like the venom of vipers.

The venom of vipers: The word vipers refers to several kinds of snakes, including the Egyptian cobra, the European asp, and various vipers. Their bite and venom can kill a person.

Some languages do not have a word for vipers. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Use the name of a kind of poisonous snake in your area. For example:

The venom of asps (English Standard Version)

• Use the general word for snake and indicate that it is poisonous. For example:

The liquid/essence of venomous snakes

• Use the general word for snake and allow the context to indicate that it is poisonous. For example:

the venomous of snakes

venom: This word refers to the liquid in some snakes that is poisonous to other animals and people.

on their lips: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as on their lips is literally “under the lips” (as in the English Standard Version). It refers to the fangs containing the venom lying in the lower part of the mouth. They are concealed by the lips. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

from their lips (Good News Translation)
-or-
behind their lips (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-

Their lips hide the venom of poisonous snakes (God’s Word)

General Comment on 3:13c

This quote is from Psalm 140:3. If you indicate the location of quotes from the Old Testament with cross-references, you may want to do so here.

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Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
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BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

Commentaire sur la traduction de la lettre aux Romains 3.13

Il s’agit encore une fois de deux lignes parallèles, provenant des Ps 5.10 et Ps 140.4).

de leur langue ils sèment la tromperie : dans ce deuxième vers, le poète passe du gosier à la langue. Il dit litt. « de leurs langues ils usent de ruse ». La langue est mis en relief au début de cette phrase. Notez que la Traduction œcuménique de la Bible essaie de maintenir un langage poétique en disant qu’ils sèment la tromperie. La Parole de Vie offre un bon modèle en français courant : « Avec leur langue, ils trompent les autres ».

un venin d’aspic est sous leurs lèvres : le verbe être ne figure pas en grec, mais dans la majorité des langues, il va falloir l’insérer. Le venin d’aspic désigne la morsure d’un serpent qui est mortelle. Ce vers renforce donc le premier. Dans certaines langues, on parlera de « poison » (Parole de Vie). L’aspic est une espèce de serpent dont la morsure tue. Les traducteurs peuvent utiliser un mot générique comme la Bible en français courant qui parle du « venin de serpent », mais le vers devient plus puissant si l’on identifie un serpent dangereux, comme dans la Parole de Vie, « la vipère ». Il faut éviter cependant de mentionner un serpent qui n’existe pas en Israël.

sous leurs lèvres est une expression hébraïque qui sera difficile à rendre dans plusieurs langues. La Bible en français courant propose « c’est du venin de serpent qui sort de leurs lèvres ». Certaines versions essaient d’expliciter ce vers poétique, en parlant de « dangereuses menaces venant de leurs lèvres ». Les traducteurs devront travailler ces lignes pour rendre le sens et garder la poésie de l’original.

Source: Margot, Jean-Claude & Zogbo, Lynell. La lettre aux Romains – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2021.