Albert Barnes Commentary Romans 3:13

"Their throat is an open sepulchre; With their tongues they have used deceit: The poison of asps is under their lips:" — Romans 3:13 (ASV)

Their throat, etc. This expression is taken from Psalm 5:9, literally from the Septuagint. The design of the psalm is to reprove those who were false, traitorous, slanderous, and so on (Psalms 5:6). The psalmist has the sin of deceit, falsehood, and slander particularly in view. The expressions here are to be interpreted in accordance with that. The sentiment here may be that, just as the grave is always open to receive everyone into it (that is, into destruction), so the mouth or the throat of the slanderer is always open to swallow up the peace and happiness of all. Or it may mean that, just as an offensive and pestilential vapor comes from an open tomb, so from the mouths of slanderous persons come harmful and ruinous words. (Stuart.) I think the connection demands the former interpretation.

With their tongues, etc. In their conversation, their promises, and similar interactions, they have been false, treacherous, and unfaithful.

The poison of asps. This is taken literally from the Septuagint of Psalm 140:3. The asp, or adder, is a species of serpent whose poison is so potent that it kills almost instantly upon penetration, and without remedy. It is small and commonly lies concealed, often in the sand on a road, and strikes the traveler before he sees it. It is found chiefly in Egypt and Libya.

Ancient writers say that the celebrated Cleopatra, rather than be carried captive to Rome by Augustus, allowed an asp to bite her arm, by which she soon died. The precise species of serpent the psalmist meant here, however, cannot be determined. All that is necessary to understand the passage is that it refers to a serpent whose bite was deadly and rapid in its effect.

Is under their lips. The poison of the serpent is contained in a small bag concealed at the root of the tooth. When the tooth is struck into the flesh, the poison is pressed out through a small hole in the tooth into the wound. Whether the psalmist was acquainted with that fact, or referred to it, cannot be known; his words do not necessarily imply it.

The sentiment is that just as the poison of the asp is rapid, certain, spreads quickly through the system, and produces death, so the words of the slanderer are deadly, pernicious, quickly destroying the reputation and happiness of people. They are as subtle, as insinuating, and as deadly to reputation as the poison of the adder is to the body. Wicked people, in the Bible, are often compared to serpents (Matthew 23:33; Genesis 49:17).