Psalms 51:5(v3)Behold, I was born in iniquity. My mother conceived me in sin.
Isaiah 48:8(v3)Yes, you didn’t hear. Yes, you didn’t know. Yes, from of old your ear was not opened, for I knew that you dealt very treacherously, and…
Jeremiah 8:17(vv4–5)“For, behold, I will send serpents, adders among you, which will not be charmed; and they will bite you,” says Yahweh.
Proverbs 22:15(v3)Folly is bound up in the heart of a child: the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
Job 15:14(v3)What is man, that he should be clean? What is he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Show all 20 cross-references
Psalms 140:3(v4)They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Viper’s poison is under their lips.
Ephesians 2:3(v3)We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of…
James 3:8(v4)but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
Psalms 22:10(v3)I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.
Ecclesiastes 10:11(v4)If the snake bites before it is charmed, then is there no profit for the charmer’s tongue.
Romans 3:13(v4)“Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips.”
Deuteronomy 18:11(v5)or a charmer, or someone who consults with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
Deuteronomy 32:33(v4)Their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps.
Job 20:14(v4)yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is cobra venom within him.
Job 20:16(v4)He will suck cobra venom. The viper’s tongue will kill him.
Isaiah 11:8(v4)The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
Isaiah 19:3(v5)The spirit of Egypt will fail within it. I will destroy its counsel. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar…
Isaiah 46:3(v3)“Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been carried from their birth, that have been carried…
Matthew 3:7(v4)But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to…
Matthew 23:33(v4)You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
20 distinct cross-references across this passage (21 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv3–43. They are estranged, being wicked from the womb.…
3. They are estranged, being wicked from the womb. He adduces, in aggravation of their character, the circumstance, that they were not sinners of recent date, but persons born to commit sin. We see some men, otherwise not so depraved in disposition, who are drawn into evil courses through levity of mind, or bad example, or the solicitation of appetite, or other occasions of a similar kind; but David accuses his enemies of being leavened with wickedness from the womb, alleging that their treachery and cruelty were born with them. We all come into the world stained with sin, possessed, as Adam’s posterity, of a nature essentially depraved, and incapable, in ourselves, of aiming at anything which is good; but there is a secret restraint upon most men which prevents them from proceeding all lengths in iniquity. The stain of original sin cleaves to the whole humanity without exception; but experience proves that some are characterised by modesty and decency of outward deportment; that others are wicked, yet, at the same time, within bounds of moderation; while a third class are so depraved in disposition as to be intolerable members of society. Now, it is this excessive wickedness — too marked to escape detestation even amidst the general corruption of mankind — which David ascribes to his enemies. He stigmatises them as monsters of iniquity.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv3–4That is, enemies to the people of God even…
That is, enemies to the people of God even from their birth.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Psa 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb:…
Psa 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
Ver. 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb] q.d. These enemies of mine are old sinners; hardened and habituated in wickedness from the very womb; it hath also grown up with them, and quite turned away their hearts from God and goodness, whereunto they stand utterly across, and have an innate antipathy; they are not only averse thereto, but adverse also; yea, to their sinews of iron they have added brows of brass, Isa 48:4. Sinful, indeed, we are all by nature, and a birth blot we bring into the world with us, making us strangers to and strayers from God. But some God sanctifieth even from the womb, as he did Jeremiah; and some by the light of nature, not altogether extinct, and by God’s restraining grace, are reined in from notorious outrage in sin. Whereas others, cast off by God, and suffered to walk after their own heart’s lusts, in pesus indies proficiunt, wax every day worse and worse, as the apostle speaketh, till their iniquity be full, and so wrath come upon them to the utmost. But as young nettles sting straight, and young crab fish go backward, and young urchins are rough; so naughty nature soon appeareth in little ones. Valezatha, the youngest of Haman’s sons, is by the Hebrews said to be the most malicious; and hath therefore one letter å in his name bigger than the rest. {Hebrew Text Note}
Read full note →
They go astray as soon as they be born] Heb. from the belly; Partus sequitur ventrem, no sooner could they do anything but they were doing evil, lisping out lies and slanders very early.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Estranged, to wit, from God, Eph 4:18, and from…
Estranged, to wit, from God, Eph 4:18, and from all goodness.
From the womb; either,
Read full note →
1. Hyperbolically; even from their tender years. Or,
2. Strictly and properly. So the sense is, No wonder they act so unrighteously, for their very natures and principles are corrupt, even from their birth; they are the wicked offspring of sinful parents. And this hereditary and native corruption, though too common to all men, he particularly ascribes to these men; either because their immediate parents were such as did not only convey a corrupt nature to them, but greatly improved it by wicked counsel and example; or because they themselves had improved that stock of original corruption, and instead of mortifying it, had made it their great design and constant business to gratify and obey it.
They go astray, by actual sins, the fruit of their original sin, as soon as they be born; from their childhood, as soon as ever they were capable of the exercise of reason, and the practice of sinning.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv3–5The wicked are estranged from the womb,.... Which original…
The wicked are estranged from the womb,.... Which original corruption of nature accounts for all the wickedness done by men: they are conceived in sin, shapen in iniquity, and are transgressors from the womb; they are alienated from God, and from that godly life which is agreeable to him, and he requires; and from the knowledge and fear of him, and love to him; and they desire not the knowledge of him nor his ways; they are far from his law, and averse to it; and still more so to the Gospel of Christ; the doctrines of which, as well as the great things written in the law, are strange things to them; and they are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, estranged from the people of God, know nothing of them, neither of their joys, nor of their sorrows;
they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies; they are wicked from their infancy, from their youth upward; and sin, which is meant by "going astray", as soon as they are capable of it, and which is very early. Sin soon appears in the temper and actions of then; they go out of God's way, and turn everyone to their own way, and walk in the broad road which leads to destruction: and particularly they are very early guilty of lying; as soon as they can speak, and before they can speak plain, they lisp out lies, which they learn from their father the devil, who is the father of lies; and so they continue all their days strangers to divine things, going astray from God, the God of truth, continually doing abominations and speaking lies; which continuance in these things makes the difference between reprobate men and God's elect; for though the latter are the same by nature as the former, yet their natures are restrained, before conversion, from going into all the sins they are inclined to; and if not, yet at conversion a stop is put to their progress in iniquity.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Estranged - From God, and from all goodness. Their…
Estranged - From God, and from all goodness. Their very natures are corrupt, even from their birth: they are the wicked offspring of sinful parents. Astray - By actual sins, from their childhood, as soon as ever they were capable of the exercise of reason.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Verse 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb]…
Verse 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb] "This," says Dr. Kennicott, "and the next two verses, I take to be the answer of Jehovah to the question in the two first verses, as the 6th, 7th, and 8th, are the answer of the psalmist, and the remainder contains the decree of Jehovah." He calls these wicked men, men who had been always wicked, originally and naturally bad, and brought up in falsehood, flattery, and lying. The part they acted now was quite in character.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv3–4Psa 58:3. The wicked are estranged — From God,…
Psa 58:3. The wicked are estranged — From God, and from all goodness; from the womb — From their tender years, or, rather, strictly and properly, from their birth: their very natures and principles are corrupt even from their infancy: they are the wicked offspring of sinful parents. They go astray by actual sins, the fruit of their original corruption; as soon as they are born — As soon as ever they are capable of the exercise of reason, and the practice of sinning.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv3–5The wicked are estranged from the womb - The…
The wicked are estranged from the womb - The allusion here undoubtedly is to the persons principally referred to in the psalm - the enemies of David. But their conduct toward him suggests a more general reflection in regard to “all” the wicked as having the same characteristics. The psalmist, therefore, instead of confining his remarks to them, makes his observations general, on the principle that all wicked men have essentially the same character, and especially in respect to the thing here affirmed, that they go astray early; that they are apostate and alienated from God from their very birth. The words, “the wicked,” here do not necessarily refer to the whole human family (though what is thus affirmed is true of all the human race), but to people who in their lives develop a wicked character; and the affirmation in regard to them is that they go astray early in life - from their very infancy.
Strictly speaking, therefore, it cannot be shown that the psalmist in this declaration had reference to the whole human race, or that he meant to make a universal declaration in regard to man as being early estranged or alienated from God; and the passage, therefore, cannot directly, and with exact propriety, be adduced to prove the doctrine that “original sin” pertains to all the race - whatever may be true on that point. If, however, it is demonstrated from “other” passages, and from facts, that all men “are” “wicked” or depraved, then the assertion here becomes a proof that this is from the womb - from their very birth - that they begin life with a propensity to evil - and that all their subsequent acts are but developments of the depravity or corruption with which they are born. It is only, therefore, after it is proved that people “are” depraved or “wicked,” that this passage can be cited in favor of the doctrine of original sin.
Read full note →
The word rendered are “estranged” - זרוּ zorû - means properly, “to go off, to turn aside,” or “away, to depart;” and then it comes to mean “to be strange,” or “a stranger.” The proper idea in the word is that one is a stranger, or a foreigner, and the word would be properly applied to one of another tribe or nation, like the Latin “hostis,” and the Greek ξείνος xeinos. Exo 30:33; Isa 1:7; Isa 25:2; Isa 29:5; Psa 44:20. The meaning of the term as thus explained is, that, from earliest childhood, they are “as if” they belonged to another people than the people of God; they manifest another spirit; they are governed by other principles than those which pertain to the righteous. Compare Eph 2:19. Their first indications of character are not those of the children of God, but are “alien, strange, hostile” to him. The phrase “from the womb,” refers, undoubtedly, to their birth; and the idea is, that as soon as they begin to act they act wrong; they show that they are strangers to God. Strictly speaking, this passage does not affirm anything directly of what exists in the heart “before” people begin to act, for it is by their “speaking lies” that they show their estrangement; yet it is proper to “infer” that where this is universal, there “is” something lying back of this which makes it certain that they “will” act thus - just as when a tree always bears the same kind of fruit, we infer that there is something “in” the tree, back of the actual “bearing” of the fruit, which makes it certain that it “will” bear such fruit and no other. This “something” in the heart of a child is what is commonly meant by “original sin.”
They go astray - The Hebrew word used here means to go astray, to wander, to err. It is used in reference to drunken persons who reel, Isa 28:7; and to the soul, as erring or wandering from the paths of truth and piety, Eze 48:11; Psa 95:10; Psa 119:110; Pro 21:16. The “manner” in which the persons here referred to did this, is indicated here by their “speaking lies.”
As soon as they be born - Margin, as in Hebrew, “from the belly.” The meaning is, not that they speak lies “as soon as” they are born, which could not be literally true, but that this is the “first act.” The first thing “done” is not an act of holiness, but an act of sin - showing what is in the heart.
Speaking lies - They are false in their statements; false in their promises; false in their general character. This is one of the forms of sin, indicating original depravity; and it is undoubtedly selected here because this was particularly manifested by the enemies of David. They were false, perfidious, and could not be trusted. If it be proved, therefore, that all people are wicked, then “this” passage becomes a proper and an important text to demonstrate that this wickedness is not the result of temptation or example, but that it is the expression of the depravity of the heart by nature; that the tendency of man by nature is not to goodness, but to sin; that the first developments of character are sinful; that there is something lying of sinful acts in people which makes it certain that they will act as they do; and that this always manifests itself in the first acts which they perform.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv3–4describe the wicked generally, who sin naturally, easily, malignantly,…
describe the wicked generally, who sin naturally, easily, malignantly, and stubbornly.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv3–53. Estranged from the womb—Alienated from God and his…
3. Estranged from the womb—Alienated from God and his righteousness from birth. The same doctrine of original or birth sinfulness is taught in the next member. Sin thus springs from the depth of our nature, and is the fruit of the unregenerate heart. See on Psa_51:5; Isa_48:8.Speaking lies—Falsehood is here put down as the characteristic of all sin, as truth is for the genus of piety, Psa_51:6
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv3–43. are estranged] From God and His laws. Cp.…
3. are estranged] From God and His laws. Cp. Eph_4:18, “alienated from the life of God”: Col_1:21, “alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works,” where St Paul uses the word (ἀπῃλλοτριωμένοι) employed by the LXX here.
“The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen_8:21); but these men have shewn a more than ordinary aptitude for wickedness. It has become to them a second nature.
Read full note →
3–5. A description of the class to which these wicked judges belong; the deliberately wicked, who are deaf to remonstrance and incapable of reformation.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv3–5(3) The Wicked.—The poet passes from his indignant challenge…
(3) The Wicked.—The poet passes from his indignant challenge to the unjust judges to speak of the wicked generally. He finds that such maturity of vice points to very early depravity. Such hardened sinners must have been cradled in wickedness.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv3–5The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go…
The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. This is the language of hyperbole, and is certainly not the profession of the doctrine of original sin. What the psalmist means is that those who ultimately become heinous sinners, for the most part show, even from their early childhood, a strong tendency towards evil. He implies that with others the case is different. Though there may be in them a corruption of nature, (Psa_51:6) yet, on the whole, they have good dispositions, and present a contrast to the ungodly ones whom he is describing.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon1885 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Ver. 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb.…
Ver. 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb. It is small wonder that some men persecute the righteous seed of the woman, since all of them are of the serpent's brood, and enmity is set between them. No sooner born than alienated from God--what a condition to be found in! Do we so early leave the right track? Do we at the same moment begin to be men and commence to be sinners?
They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Every observer may see how very soon infants act lies. Before they can speak they practise little deceptive arts. This is especially the case in those who grow up to be adept in slander, they begin their evil trade early, and there is no marvel that they become adept in it. He who starts early in the morning will go far before night. To be untruthful is one of the surest proofs of a fallen state, and since falsehood is universal, so also is human depravity.
Read full note →
Ver. 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb, etc. How early men do sin! How late they do repent! As soon as they are born "they go astray, "but if left to themselves they will not return till they die; they will never return. Children can neither go nor speak as soon as born, but as soon as born they can "go astray" and "speak lies; "that is, their first speaking is lying, and their first going is straying; yea, when they cannot go naturally, they can go astray morally or metaphorically: the first step they are able to take is a step out of the way. Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 3. They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Of all sins, no sin can call Satan father like to lying. All the corruption that is in us came from Satan, but yet this sin of forging and lying is from the devil more than any; tastes of the devil more than any. Hence every man is a liar (Ro 3:4), and so every man is every sinner else; but in a special manner every man is a liar; for that the very first depravation of our nature came in by lying, and our nature doth taste much still of this old block to be given to lying, the devil also breathing into us a strong breath to stir us up to lying. Hence no sooner do we speak but we lie. As we are in body, subject to all diseases, but yet, some to one sickness rather than to another: so in the soul, all are apt enough to all sin, and some rather to one vice than to another; but all are much inclined to lying. A liar then is as like the devil as ever he can look: as unlike to God as ever he can be. Richard Capel, 1586-1656, in "Tentations, their Nature, Danger, Cure."
Ver. 3. The figure of the wicked going astray as soon as they are born, seems to be taken from the disposition and power of a young serpent soon after its birth. The youngest serpent can convey poison to anything which it bites; and the suffering in all cases is great, though the bite is seldom fatal. Place a stick near the reptile whose age does not amount to many days, and he will immediately snap at it. The offspring of the tiger and of the alligator are equally fierce in their earliest habits. Joseph Roberts, in "Oriental Illustrations of the Sacred Scriptures, "1844.
Ver. 3.
I. The natural effects of original sin are seen in early
suffering and death.
II. Its moral effects are seen in the early commission of
actual sin.
III. Early depravity is evinced in the conscious guilt of
telling lies. G. R.
Ver. 3. (first clause). The inner pandemonium, or the calendar of the heart's crime.
Psalms 58:4*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v4Their poison is like the poison of a serpent:…
Psa_58:4
Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear.
Read full note →
A generation of serpents
This verse spends itself on a double comparison; of persons and conditions. The persons compared are men and serpents; the conditions or qualities upon which the similitude stands are poison and deafness. The former whereof is indefinite: Their poison is as the poison of a serpent, any serpent. The latter is restrictive: Their deafness is like the adder, one kind of serpents.
I. Poison--there is such a thing as poison; but where to be found? Wheresoever it is, in man who would look for it? God made mans body of the dust; he mingled no poison with it. He inspired his soul from heaven; he breathes no poison with it. He feeds him with bread; he conveys no poison with it. Whence is this poison? (Mat_13:27). That great serpent, the red dragon, hath poured into wicked hearts this poison. In this poison there is a double pestilent effect. It is to themselves death; to others a contagious sickness.
1. To themselves. It is an epidemical corruption, dispersing the venom over all parts of body and soul. It poisons the heart with falsehood, the head with lightness, the eyes with adultery, the tongue with blasphemy, the hands with oppression, the whole body with intemperance. It poisons beauty with wantonness, strength with violence, wit with wilfulness, learning with dissension, devotion with superstition. And in all this observe the effect of this poison in themselves. For it doth not only annoy others, but mostly destroy themselves. But the poison of the wicked, whilst it infects others, kills themselves. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself (Pro_5:22). Their own wickedness, like poison, hath in themselves these three direful effects.
(1) It makes them swell with pride, and blows up the heart as a bladder with a quill. Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? (1Sa_25:10). Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? (Job_21:15). Thus the spider, the poisonous vermin, climbs up to the roof of the kings palace (Pro_30:28).
(2) It makes them swill; the poison of sin is such a burning heat within them, that they must still be drinking.
(3) It makes them burst (Act_1:18). This is the catastrophe of a wicked life. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (Jam_1:15).
2. To others. You see how fatal the poison of the wicked is to themselves. The hurt it doth to others consists in outward harming, in inward defiling them. Outwardly.
Their poison breaks forth in the injuries of all about them. They spare neither foreigner nor neighhour. There be little snakes in Babylon, that bite only foreigners, and not inhabitants. Pliny writes of scorpions in the hill Carla, that when they sting only wound the natural-born people of the country; but bite strangers gently or not at all. These, like fools, not only strike them that are nearest, but beteem their poison to the overthrow of all. Such a one cannot sleep except he have done mischief; nay, he dies, if others do not die by him. Inwardly.--Their poison doth most hurt by infection. Their poison is got by touching--he that toucheth pitch shall be defiled: by companying with them (Pro_1:14); by confederacy; by sight--the very beholding of their wickedness causes it in others.
II. Their persons--We have spoken of their poison. They are said to be as serpents (Mat_23:33; Eze_2:6).
1. There are mystical serpents.
2. There are the dart-like serpents (Act_28:1-31.). He is the angry man, the hasty, furious one, who flies upon another with a sudden blow.
3. The great serpent of all, the devil (Rev_12:3). Faith in Christ can alone put him to flight. For the remedy of this poison (see Joh_3:14), and further let there be repentance. (Thomas Adams.)
The deafness of sinners
We do not know what revelations have been made. We do not know but the air is full of messengers and messages. If a million bands were playing near a man and he was stone deaf, he would not hear the music. A blind man might stand amidst uncounted myriads of flowers on the Grand Prairie in Illinois, and not know that there was a flower there. And you may be utterly blind and deaf to the messengers and messages of the higher life, because you are not in that state of development by which you may perceive them. (Henry Ward Beecher.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v3The wicked go astray even when they are in…
The wicked go astray even when they are in the womb ... they go astray from birth
This is the same idea expressed in two different ways. (See: Parallelism)
Read full note →
they go astray
Doing wrong things is spoken of as if people are walking on a road, and they turn off and go the wrong way. AT: "they do wrong things" (See: Metaphor)
Their poison is like a snake's poison
The wicked things people say are spoken of as if they were poison. AT: "Their wicked words cause trouble as a snake's poison harms people" (See: Metaphor and Simile)
they are like a deaf adder that stops up its ears
Wicked people who do not listen to advice or rebukes are spoken of as if they were snakes that do not respond to a charmer's music. AT: "they refuse to listen like a deaf adder that stops up its ears" (See: Simile)
a deaf adder that stops up its ears
An adder that does not respond to a charmer's music is spoken of as as if it could put something in its ears so that it will not hear. AT: "an adder that does not listen" (See: Personification)
adder
a kind of poisonous snake
charmers
people who play or sing music in order to control snakes
no matter how skillful they are
What the snake charmers were skillful at can be stated clearly. AT: "no matter how skillful the charmers are at controlling snakes" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv3–458:3 All human beings are born sinners (see 51:5);…
58:3 All human beings are born sinners (see 51:5); however, whereas the wicked indulge their sinful nature, the godly fight against it (Rom 7:19-23; Jas 4:1-10).
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv3–4 3. They are estranged, being wicked from the womb.…
3. They are estranged, being wicked from the womb. He adduces, in aggravation of their character, the circumstance, that they were not sinners of recent date, but persons born to commit sin. We see some men, otherwise not so depraved in disposition, who are drawn into evil courses through levity of mind, or bad example, or the solicitation of appetite, or other occasions of a similar kind; but David accuses his enemies of being leavened with wickedness from the womb, alleging that their treachery and cruelty were born with them. We all come into the world stained with sin, possessed, as Adam’s posterity, of a nature essentially depraved, and incapable, in ourselves, of aiming at anything which is good; but there is a secret restraint upon most men which prevents them from proceeding all lengths in iniquity. The stain of original sin cleaves to the whole humanity without exception; but experience proves that some are characterised by modesty and decency of outward deportment; that others are wicked, yet, at the same time, within bounds of moderation; while a third class are so depraved in disposition as to be intolerable members of society. Now, it is this excessive wickedness — too marked to escape detestation even amidst the general corruption of mankind — which David ascribes to his enemies. He stigmatises them as monsters of iniquity.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3–4 That is, enemies to the people of God even…
That is, enemies to the people of God even from their birth.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Psa 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb:…
Psa 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
Ver. 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb] q.d. These enemies of mine are old sinners; hardened and habituated in wickedness from the very womb; it hath also grown up with them, and quite turned away their hearts from God and goodness, whereunto they stand utterly across, and have an innate antipathy; they are not only averse thereto, but adverse also; yea, to their sinews of iron they have added brows of brass, Isa 48:4. Sinful, indeed, we are all by nature, and a birth blot we bring into the world with us, making us strangers to and strayers from God. But some God sanctifieth even from the womb, as he did Jeremiah; and some by the light of nature, not altogether extinct, and by God’s restraining grace, are reined in from notorious outrage in sin. Whereas others, cast off by God, and suffered to walk after their own heart’s lusts, in pesus indies proficiunt, wax every day worse and worse, as the apostle speaketh, till their iniquity be full, and so wrath come upon them to the utmost. But as young nettles sting straight, and young crab fish go backward, and young urchins are rough; so naughty nature soon appeareth in little ones. Valezatha, the youngest of Haman’s sons, is by the Hebrews said to be the most malicious; and hath therefore one letter å in his name bigger than the rest. {Hebrew Text Note}
Read full note →
They go astray as soon as they be born] Heb. from the belly; Partus sequitur ventrem, no sooner could they do anything but they were doing evil, lisping out lies and slanders very early.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Estranged, to wit, from God, Eph 4:18, and from…
Estranged, to wit, from God, Eph 4:18, and from all goodness.
From the womb; either,
Read full note →
1. Hyperbolically; even from their tender years. Or,
2. Strictly and properly. So the sense is, No wonder they act so unrighteously, for their very natures and principles are corrupt, even from their birth; they are the wicked offspring of sinful parents. And this hereditary and native corruption, though too common to all men, he particularly ascribes to these men; either because their immediate parents were such as did not only convey a corrupt nature to them, but greatly improved it by wicked counsel and example; or because they themselves had improved that stock of original corruption, and instead of mortifying it, had made it their great design and constant business to gratify and obey it.
They go astray, by actual sins, the fruit of their original sin, as soon as they be born; from their childhood, as soon as ever they were capable of the exercise of reason, and the practice of sinning.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–5 The wicked are estranged from the womb,.... Which original…
The wicked are estranged from the womb,.... Which original corruption of nature accounts for all the wickedness done by men: they are conceived in sin, shapen in iniquity, and are transgressors from the womb; they are alienated from God, and from that godly life which is agreeable to him, and he requires; and from the knowledge and fear of him, and love to him; and they desire not the knowledge of him nor his ways; they are far from his law, and averse to it; and still more so to the Gospel of Christ; the doctrines of which, as well as the great things written in the law, are strange things to them; and they are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, estranged from the people of God, know nothing of them, neither of their joys, nor of their sorrows;
they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies; they are wicked from their infancy, from their youth upward; and sin, which is meant by "going astray", as soon as they are capable of it, and which is very early. Sin soon appears in the temper and actions of then; they go out of God's way, and turn everyone to their own way, and walk in the broad road which leads to destruction: and particularly they are very early guilty of lying; as soon as they can speak, and before they can speak plain, they lisp out lies, which they learn from their father the devil, who is the father of lies; and so they continue all their days strangers to divine things, going astray from God, the God of truth, continually doing abominations and speaking lies; which continuance in these things makes the difference between reprobate men and God's elect; for though the latter are the same by nature as the former, yet their natures are restrained, before conversion, from going into all the sins they are inclined to; and if not, yet at conversion a stop is put to their progress in iniquity.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Estranged - From God, and from all goodness. Their…
Estranged - From God, and from all goodness. Their very natures are corrupt, even from their birth: they are the wicked offspring of sinful parents. Astray - By actual sins, from their childhood, as soon as ever they were capable of the exercise of reason.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Verse 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb]…
Verse 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb] "This," says Dr. Kennicott, "and the next two verses, I take to be the answer of Jehovah to the question in the two first verses, as the 6th, 7th, and 8th, are the answer of the psalmist, and the remainder contains the decree of Jehovah." He calls these wicked men, men who had been always wicked, originally and naturally bad, and brought up in falsehood, flattery, and lying. The part they acted now was quite in character.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Psa 58:3. The wicked are estranged — From God,…
Psa 58:3. The wicked are estranged — From God, and from all goodness; from the womb — From their tender years, or, rather, strictly and properly, from their birth: their very natures and principles are corrupt even from their infancy: they are the wicked offspring of sinful parents. They go astray by actual sins, the fruit of their original corruption; as soon as they are born — As soon as ever they are capable of the exercise of reason, and the practice of sinning.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv3–5 The wicked are estranged from the womb - The…
The wicked are estranged from the womb - The allusion here undoubtedly is to the persons principally referred to in the psalm - the enemies of David. But their conduct toward him suggests a more general reflection in regard to “all” the wicked as having the same characteristics. The psalmist, therefore, instead of confining his remarks to them, makes his observations general, on the principle that all wicked men have essentially the same character, and especially in respect to the thing here affirmed, that they go astray early; that they are apostate and alienated from God from their very birth. The words, “the wicked,” here do not necessarily refer to the whole human family (though what is thus affirmed is true of all the human race), but to people who in their lives develop a wicked character; and the affirmation in regard to them is that they go astray early in life - from their very infancy.
Strictly speaking, therefore, it cannot be shown that the psalmist in this declaration had reference to the whole human race, or that he meant to make a universal declaration in regard to man as being early estranged or alienated from God; and the passage, therefore, cannot directly, and with exact propriety, be adduced to prove the doctrine that “original sin” pertains to all the race - whatever may be true on that point. If, however, it is demonstrated from “other” passages, and from facts, that all men “are” “wicked” or depraved, then the assertion here becomes a proof that this is from the womb - from their very birth - that they begin life with a propensity to evil - and that all their subsequent acts are but developments of the depravity or corruption with which they are born. It is only, therefore, after it is proved that people “are” depraved or “wicked,” that this passage can be cited in favor of the doctrine of original sin.
Read full note →
The word rendered are “estranged” - זרוּ zorû - means properly, “to go off, to turn aside,” or “away, to depart;” and then it comes to mean “to be strange,” or “a stranger.” The proper idea in the word is that one is a stranger, or a foreigner, and the word would be properly applied to one of another tribe or nation, like the Latin “hostis,” and the Greek ξείνος xeinos. Exo 30:33; Isa 1:7; Isa 25:2; Isa 29:5; Psa 44:20. The meaning of the term as thus explained is, that, from earliest childhood, they are “as if” they belonged to another people than the people of God; they manifest another spirit; they are governed by other principles than those which pertain to the righteous. Compare Eph 2:19. Their first indications of character are not those of the children of God, but are “alien, strange, hostile” to him. The phrase “from the womb,” refers, undoubtedly, to their birth; and the idea is, that as soon as they begin to act they act wrong; they show that they are strangers to God. Strictly speaking, this passage does not affirm anything directly of what exists in the heart “before” people begin to act, for it is by their “speaking lies” that they show their estrangement; yet it is proper to “infer” that where this is universal, there “is” something lying back of this which makes it certain that they “will” act thus - just as when a tree always bears the same kind of fruit, we infer that there is something “in” the tree, back of the actual “bearing” of the fruit, which makes it certain that it “will” bear such fruit and no other. This “something” in the heart of a child is what is commonly meant by “original sin.”
They go astray - The Hebrew word used here means to go astray, to wander, to err. It is used in reference to drunken persons who reel, Isa 28:7; and to the soul, as erring or wandering from the paths of truth and piety, Eze 48:11; Psa 95:10; Psa 119:110; Pro 21:16. The “manner” in which the persons here referred to did this, is indicated here by their “speaking lies.”
As soon as they be born - Margin, as in Hebrew, “from the belly.” The meaning is, not that they speak lies “as soon as” they are born, which could not be literally true, but that this is the “first act.” The first thing “done” is not an act of holiness, but an act of sin - showing what is in the heart.
Speaking lies - They are false in their statements; false in their promises; false in their general character. This is one of the forms of sin, indicating original depravity; and it is undoubtedly selected here because this was particularly manifested by the enemies of David. They were false, perfidious, and could not be trusted. If it be proved, therefore, that all people are wicked, then “this” passage becomes a proper and an important text to demonstrate that this wickedness is not the result of temptation or example, but that it is the expression of the depravity of the heart by nature; that the tendency of man by nature is not to goodness, but to sin; that the first developments of character are sinful; that there is something lying of sinful acts in people which makes it certain that they will act as they do; and that this always manifests itself in the first acts which they perform.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3–4 describe the wicked generally, who sin naturally, easily, malignantly,…
describe the wicked generally, who sin naturally, easily, malignantly, and stubbornly.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3–5 3. Estranged from the womb—Alienated from God and his…
3. Estranged from the womb—Alienated from God and his righteousness from birth. The same doctrine of original or birth sinfulness is taught in the next member. Sin thus springs from the depth of our nature, and is the fruit of the unregenerate heart. See on Psa_51:5; Isa_48:8.Speaking lies—Falsehood is here put down as the characteristic of all sin, as truth is for the genus of piety, Psa_51:6
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–4 3. are estranged] From God and His laws. Cp.…
3. are estranged] From God and His laws. Cp. Eph_4:18, “alienated from the life of God”: Col_1:21, “alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works,” where St Paul uses the word (ἀπῃλλοτριωμένοι) employed by the LXX here.
“The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen_8:21); but these men have shewn a more than ordinary aptitude for wickedness. It has become to them a second nature.
Read full note →
3–5. A description of the class to which these wicked judges belong; the deliberately wicked, who are deaf to remonstrance and incapable of reformation.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–5 (3) The Wicked.—The poet passes from his indignant challenge…
(3) The Wicked.—The poet passes from his indignant challenge to the unjust judges to speak of the wicked generally. He finds that such maturity of vice points to very early depravity. Such hardened sinners must have been cradled in wickedness.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3–5 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go…
The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. This is the language of hyperbole, and is certainly not the profession of the doctrine of original sin. What the psalmist means is that those who ultimately become heinous sinners, for the most part show, even from their early childhood, a strong tendency towards evil. He implies that with others the case is different. Though there may be in them a corruption of nature, (Psa_51:6) yet, on the whole, they have good dispositions, and present a contrast to the ungodly ones whom he is describing.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Ver. 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb.…
Ver. 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb. It is small wonder that some men persecute the righteous seed of the woman, since all of them are of the serpent's brood, and enmity is set between them. No sooner born than alienated from God--what a condition to be found in! Do we so early leave the right track? Do we at the same moment begin to be men and commence to be sinners?
They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Every observer may see how very soon infants act lies. Before they can speak they practise little deceptive arts. This is especially the case in those who grow up to be adept in slander, they begin their evil trade early, and there is no marvel that they become adept in it. He who starts early in the morning will go far before night. To be untruthful is one of the surest proofs of a fallen state, and since falsehood is universal, so also is human depravity.
Read full note →
Ver. 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb, etc. How early men do sin! How late they do repent! As soon as they are born "they go astray, "but if left to themselves they will not return till they die; they will never return. Children can neither go nor speak as soon as born, but as soon as born they can "go astray" and "speak lies; "that is, their first speaking is lying, and their first going is straying; yea, when they cannot go naturally, they can go astray morally or metaphorically: the first step they are able to take is a step out of the way. Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 3. They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Of all sins, no sin can call Satan father like to lying. All the corruption that is in us came from Satan, but yet this sin of forging and lying is from the devil more than any; tastes of the devil more than any. Hence every man is a liar (Ro 3:4), and so every man is every sinner else; but in a special manner every man is a liar; for that the very first depravation of our nature came in by lying, and our nature doth taste much still of this old block to be given to lying, the devil also breathing into us a strong breath to stir us up to lying. Hence no sooner do we speak but we lie. As we are in body, subject to all diseases, but yet, some to one sickness rather than to another: so in the soul, all are apt enough to all sin, and some rather to one vice than to another; but all are much inclined to lying. A liar then is as like the devil as ever he can look: as unlike to God as ever he can be. Richard Capel, 1586-1656, in "Tentations, their Nature, Danger, Cure."
Ver. 3. The figure of the wicked going astray as soon as they are born, seems to be taken from the disposition and power of a young serpent soon after its birth. The youngest serpent can convey poison to anything which it bites; and the suffering in all cases is great, though the bite is seldom fatal. Place a stick near the reptile whose age does not amount to many days, and he will immediately snap at it. The offspring of the tiger and of the alligator are equally fierce in their earliest habits. Joseph Roberts, in "Oriental Illustrations of the Sacred Scriptures, "1844.
Ver. 3.
I. The natural effects of original sin are seen in early
suffering and death.
II. Its moral effects are seen in the early commission of
actual sin.
III. Early depravity is evinced in the conscious guilt of
telling lies. G. R.
Ver. 3. (first clause). The inner pandemonium, or the calendar of the heart's crime.
Psalms 58:4*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent:…
Psa_58:4
Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear.
Read full note →
A generation of serpents
This verse spends itself on a double comparison; of persons and conditions. The persons compared are men and serpents; the conditions or qualities upon which the similitude stands are poison and deafness. The former whereof is indefinite: Their poison is as the poison of a serpent, any serpent. The latter is restrictive: Their deafness is like the adder, one kind of serpents.
I. Poison--there is such a thing as poison; but where to be found? Wheresoever it is, in man who would look for it? God made mans body of the dust; he mingled no poison with it. He inspired his soul from heaven; he breathes no poison with it. He feeds him with bread; he conveys no poison with it. Whence is this poison? (Mat_13:27). That great serpent, the red dragon, hath poured into wicked hearts this poison. In this poison there is a double pestilent effect. It is to themselves death; to others a contagious sickness.
1. To themselves. It is an epidemical corruption, dispersing the venom over all parts of body and soul. It poisons the heart with falsehood, the head with lightness, the eyes with adultery, the tongue with blasphemy, the hands with oppression, the whole body with intemperance. It poisons beauty with wantonness, strength with violence, wit with wilfulness, learning with dissension, devotion with superstition. And in all this observe the effect of this poison in themselves. For it doth not only annoy others, but mostly destroy themselves. But the poison of the wicked, whilst it infects others, kills themselves. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself (Pro_5:22). Their own wickedness, like poison, hath in themselves these three direful effects.
(1) It makes them swell with pride, and blows up the heart as a bladder with a quill. Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? (1Sa_25:10). Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? (Job_21:15). Thus the spider, the poisonous vermin, climbs up to the roof of the kings palace (Pro_30:28).
(2) It makes them swill; the poison of sin is such a burning heat within them, that they must still be drinking.
(3) It makes them burst (Act_1:18). This is the catastrophe of a wicked life. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (Jam_1:15).
2. To others. You see how fatal the poison of the wicked is to themselves. The hurt it doth to others consists in outward harming, in inward defiling them. Outwardly.
Their poison breaks forth in the injuries of all about them. They spare neither foreigner nor neighhour. There be little snakes in Babylon, that bite only foreigners, and not inhabitants. Pliny writes of scorpions in the hill Carla, that when they sting only wound the natural-born people of the country; but bite strangers gently or not at all. These, like fools, not only strike them that are nearest, but beteem their poison to the overthrow of all. Such a one cannot sleep except he have done mischief; nay, he dies, if others do not die by him. Inwardly.--Their poison doth most hurt by infection. Their poison is got by touching--he that toucheth pitch shall be defiled: by companying with them (Pro_1:14); by confederacy; by sight--the very beholding of their wickedness causes it in others.
II. Their persons--We have spoken of their poison. They are said to be as serpents (Mat_23:33; Eze_2:6).
1. There are mystical serpents.
2. There are the dart-like serpents (Act_28:1-31.). He is the angry man, the hasty, furious one, who flies upon another with a sudden blow.
3. The great serpent of all, the devil (Rev_12:3). Faith in Christ can alone put him to flight. For the remedy of this poison (see Joh_3:14), and further let there be repentance. (Thomas Adams.)
The deafness of sinners
We do not know what revelations have been made. We do not know but the air is full of messengers and messages. If a million bands were playing near a man and he was stone deaf, he would not hear the music. A blind man might stand amidst uncounted myriads of flowers on the Grand Prairie in Illinois, and not know that there was a flower there. And you may be utterly blind and deaf to the messengers and messages of the higher life, because you are not in that state of development by which you may perceive them. (Henry Ward Beecher.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v3 The wicked go astray even when they are in…
The wicked go astray even when they are in the womb ... they go astray from birth
This is the same idea expressed in two different ways. (See: Parallelism)
Read full note →
they go astray
Doing wrong things is spoken of as if people are walking on a road, and they turn off and go the wrong way. AT: "they do wrong things" (See: Metaphor)
Their poison is like a snake's poison
The wicked things people say are spoken of as if they were poison. AT: "Their wicked words cause trouble as a snake's poison harms people" (See: Metaphor and Simile)
they are like a deaf adder that stops up its ears
Wicked people who do not listen to advice or rebukes are spoken of as if they were snakes that do not respond to a charmer's music. AT: "they refuse to listen like a deaf adder that stops up its ears" (See: Simile)
a deaf adder that stops up its ears
An adder that does not respond to a charmer's music is spoken of as as if it could put something in its ears so that it will not hear. AT: "an adder that does not listen" (See: Personification)
adder
a kind of poisonous snake
charmers
people who play or sing music in order to control snakes
no matter how skillful they are
What the snake charmers were skillful at can be stated clearly. AT: "no matter how skillful the charmers are at controlling snakes" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
evil
womb
astray
serpent
voice
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3–4 58:3 All human beings are born sinners (see 51:5);…
58:3 All human beings are born sinners (see 51:5); however, whereas the wicked indulge their sinful nature, the godly fight against it (Rom 7:19-23; Jas 4:1-10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.