Asps Bible Definition: Snake Wording and Poison Images
The asps Bible definition concerns a venomous snake term in older English editions.
Last updated October 15, 2026
Contents9
- Asps Bible Definition: object and evidence
- Poison language in Deuteronomy and the Psalm
- Isaiah: a child near danger in a peace vision
- Romans: the image serves an argument about speech
- Asp and Asaph are different lookups
- Source passages and edition comparison
- FAQ
- Continue this study
- Verdict: Asps Bible Definition
The asps Bible definition concerns a venomous snake term in older English editions. The selected passages use poison imagery or describe a child near a snake's place. Asp is not the personal name Asaph. Exact modern species identification is uncertain, so the explanation keeps the translation and image in view.
Asp is a snake word, with edition choices such as cobra or adder in the selected passages. Romans uses the poison image in a charge about harmful speech. Isaiah places a child near a snake in a peace scene. These uses are not one universal dream-symbol definition and do not identify every ancient species.
Asps Bible Definition: object and evidence
| Passages | Literal or described use | Interpretation and limit |
|---|---|---|
| Deuteronomy 32:33; Psalm 58:4; Isaiah 11:8; Romans 3:13 | A venomous snake term or comparison; not the name Asaph. | Poison can picture harmful speech in its cited sentence. Isaiah has another scene and purpose. |
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| Term | Entry ID | Historical entry wording | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| pethen | 6620 | […] from an unused root meaning to twist; an asp (from its contortions):--adder. | Strong original Hebrew |
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| Term | Entry ID | Historical entry wording | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| aspis | 785 | […] of uncertain derivation; a buckler (or round shield); used of a serpent (as coiling itself), probably the "asp":--asp. | Strong original Greek |
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Poison language in Deuteronomy and the Psalm
Deuteronomy 32:33 compares wine with serpent poison. Psalm 58:4 compares the wicked with the poison of a snake. The comparisons make venom relevant to the moral charge. They are not instructions for handling an animal or reports of the venom's modern laboratory composition.
Keep the comparison marker and the subject being accused. An explanation that says asp means evil everywhere misses how a concrete animal is used to describe another subject. The figure comes from the sentence, not from a secret property assigned to every snake.
Isaiah: a child near danger in a peace vision
Isaiah 11:8 places a child near a snake's place within a wider scene of changed relations among creatures. The surprising safety is part of the image. This is different from the poison comparisons in Deuteronomy and the Psalm.
The verse should not be treated as permission to approach a venomous snake. It belongs to the passage's vision. A practical safety claim would require a different kind of source, and this reference makes none. Context keeps the image from becoming a dangerous instruction.
Romans: the image serves an argument about speech
Romans 3:13 uses poison under lips as part of a sequence of charges. The body-language images describe wrongdoing. Read the verse within that argument before attaching a free-standing moral meaning to the animal name.
The Greek aspis entry supplies a lexical reference. Hebrew pethen supplies a related lookup for the selected older texts. Those entries help compare wording. They do not prove that every English snake name across the editions denotes one exact modern species.
Asp and Asaph are different lookups
Asaph is a personal name. Asp is the animal word discussed here. Similar spelling in a search result does not establish a shared meaning or a relation between a singer and a snake. Identify whether the question concerns a noun in a verse or a named person.
For the snake, record the edition's term and the passage. If it says cobra or adder, do not silently replace it in quotation. Explain the relation beside the source. That leaves the evidence more precise than forcing every edition into one English animal label.
Source passages and edition comparison
Deuteronomy 32:33
King James Version (eng-kjv2006, standard 1769 text)
33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
World English Bible Classic (eng-web, US spelling)
33 Their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps.
American Standard Version (eng-asv)
33 Their wine is the poison of serpents, And the cruel venom of asps.
Before (WEB Classic): 31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves concede. 32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison grapes. Their clusters are bitter.
After (WEB Classic): 34 “Isn’t this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures? 35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides, for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.”
Psalm 58:4
King James Version (eng-kjv2006, standard 1769 text)
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
World English Bible Classic (eng-web, US spelling)
4 Their poison is like the poison of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
American Standard Version (eng-asv)
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear,
Before (WEB Classic): 2 No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands on the earth. 3 The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
After (WEB Classic): 5 which doesn’t listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful the charmer may be. 6 Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
Isaiah 11:8
King James Version (eng-kjv2006, standard 1769 text)
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
World English Bible Classic (eng-web, US spelling)
8 The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
American Standard Version (eng-asv)
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
Before (WEB Classic): 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow and the bear will graze. Their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox.
After (WEB Classic): 9 They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea. 10 It will happen in that day that the nations will seek the root of Jesse, who stands as a banner of the peoples; and his resting place will be glorious.
Romans 3:13
King James Version (eng-kjv2006, standard 1769 text)
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
World English Bible Classic (eng-web, US spelling)
13 “Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips.”
American Standard Version (eng-asv)
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; With their tongues they have used deceit: The poison of asps is under their lips:
Before (WEB Classic): 11 There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned away. They have together become unprofitable. There is no one who does good, no, not so much as one.”
After (WEB Classic): 14 “Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood.
FAQ
Is an asp the same thing as Asaph?
No. The word here concerns a snake and poison imagery. Asaph is a personal name. The shared opening letters are not evidence that the two references mean the same thing.
Continue this study
Verdict: Asps Bible Definition
The asps Bible definition is a contextual snake-word explanation. Keep poison figures, the peace scene and translation choices separate, with no exact modern species claim beyond the evidence.