Romans 3:14

"“Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips.”"

Key Reflection

In Romans 3:14, Paul employs vivid imagery from Psalm 5:9 to describe the wickedness of his Jewish opponents. By likening their throat to an open tomb and their tongue to the venomous bite of a viper, he portrays their speech as deadly and corrupt. The original audience would have recognized these metaphors as drawing from traditional prophetic language, emphasizing that such deceitful and destructive speech was characteristic of those who rejected God’s righteousness, much like the rebellious nations described in other prophetic texts.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Verse 14. Whose mouth. Ps 10:7. The apostle has not quoted this literally, but has given the sense. David in the psalm is describing his bitter enemies. Cursing. Reproachful and opprobrious language, such as Shimei used in relation to David, 2 Sa 16:5,7,8. Bitterness. In the psalm, deceits. The word bitterness is used to denote severity, harshness, cruelty; reproachful and malicious words. {u} "whose mouth is full" Ps 10:7 __________________________________________________________________

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