Romans 3:13b → Psalm 140:3

Paul quotes Psalm 140:3 (LXX 139:4) in the second half of Romans 3:13, continuing the catena's focus on destructive speech. The psalmist describes the wicked whose tongues are sharp as serpents, with the poison of asps (ios aspidōn) under their lips. This serpentine imagery connects to the broader biblical trajectory of the seed of the serpent (Genesis 3:15), whose speech is venomous and lethal. Paul pairs this with Psalm 5:9 to create a two-part indictment of the human mouth: the throat that devours like a grave (Ps 5:9) and the lips that poison like a snake (Ps 140:3). The verbal form follows the LXX closely. Within the Romans 3 catena, this quotation reinforces Paul's thesis that "there is no one righteous, not even one" (v. 10), establishing the universal need for the righteousness of God apart from law (v. 21).