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Poison under the Lips
David asks deliverance from violent plotters whose speech is compared to serpent poison. Romans 3:13 directly incorporates Psalm 140:3 into Paul’s catena describing universal human sin. The inspired NT use broadens language about particular enemies into evidence of humanity’s sinful speech.
James’s description of the tongue as “deadly poison” strongly resonates with the Psalms’ portrayal of venom beneath deceitful lips. The connection deepens James’s warning about destructive speech without requiring a formal quotation.
Romans 3:13 directly reuses Psalm 140:3’s image of asp poison under the lips as part of its scriptural indictment of destructive human speech. Paul combines this Psalm with other texts to show sin’s reach across mouth, tongue, lips, conduct, and fear of God.
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