Six Feet Under

For there is nothing trustworthy in their mouth; their inward part is destruction itself.  Their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.  Psalm 5:9  NASB

Open grave – Remember “enemies” from the previous verse?  When we read Psalm 5:8, we might have thought that David described those who brandished the sword, who wanted to kill him.  But this verse clarifies what “enemies” he really had in mind.  Not slings and arrows, but words.  Words that flatter but are really harbingers of death.  Nothing trustworthy.  In Hebrew, nothing reliable, nothing fixed, nothing right.  These words bring destruction—calamity, disaster.  They are like a hole in the ground, ready to receive a coffin.

The Hebrew expression for “open grave” consists of the words qeber and pātuaḥ.  pātuaḥ is simply “opening” or “entrance.”  But qeber is quite rare in the Psalms.

This word also is mostly used just for the literal tomb. It is used only three times in Pss (out of sixty-seven) and not often in poetry elsewhere. It is used for the cave of Machpelah, the graves of Egypt and the sepulchers of the kings as mentioned in Chr. The phrase “open qeber” is applied to the throat of a wicked man in Ps 5:9 [H 10]. Its usage in Ps 88 is interesting. The Ps concerns those approaching šĕʾôl (q.v.) (v. 3 [H 4]), those who go down to the pit bôr (q.v.) (v. 4 [H 5]), the dead mētîm (v. 5 [H 6]), the pit beneath bôr taḥtiyyôt (v. 6 [H 7]), the dead rĕpāʾîm(v. 10 [H 11]), destruction ʾăbaddôn (v. 11 [H 12]), the place of darkness and the land of oblivion (v. 12 [H 13]). It seems that qeber is used both in v. 5 and v. 11 [H 6 and 12] as a synonym needed to give a parallel to the other words more often used in poetry. It serves, however, to suggest the meaning of the other words. A similar usage with these same synonyms is found in Ezk 32 (given in some detail under šĕʾôl). Isa 14:19, like Ezk has šĕʾôl in parallel with bôr which is parallel with qeber and qĕbûrâ. qeber appears to be the prose equivalent of these other words, which are used more in poetry.^[1]

The impact of these words makes it quite clear that the actions of the enemies are incredibly dangerous.  Death lurks behind them.  The only problem is seeing what’s really there.  Unfortunately, most of the time we don’t have the proper vision.  Why not?  Because we are susceptible to the words we want to hear.  That’s what flattery is—speaking something you know the other person wants to believe.  Making the words smooth and slippery.  In fact, the root is a verb which means “to give a portion, to allot, to assign.”  We’re back in the Garden listening to the walking, talking serpent telling us precisely what we really wanted permission to do.  The real enemy isn’t the one we see with the gun in his hand.  The real enemy is the one who bolsters our own yetzer ha’ra, convincing us that our desires are the right desires.  So go ahead.  Take a bite.  Who’s going to stop you?  One foot in the grave.

Topical Index: qeber, pātuaḥ, grave, flattery, enemy, Psalm 5:9

^[1] Harris, R. L. (1999). 1984 קָבַר. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 784). Moody Press.