Psalm 58:3
“The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.”
KJV
Read in Psalm 58Meaning
The psalm intensifies its accusation through poetic exaggeration. Its purpose is to portray deep-rooted corruption, not to construct a doctrine of infant guilt or biology.
Entrenched resistance pictured
The psalm uses birth and serpent imagery to portray corruption as deep-rooted, dangerous, and resistant to correction.
Read carefully
The verse uses poetic hyperbole about entrenched corruption and should not be converted into biological, ethnic, or pediatric condemnation.
Reflection
Name entrenched patterns honestly while still distinguishing poetic rhetoric from claims about a person’s essence or biology.