Psalm 90 v3 - Honey mixed with bile and the snares of the devil

Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.

For he has delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.

Verse 3 of Psalm 90 promises us protection from the traps and harsh words set by those who hate us for pursuing the good.

Understanding the Latin

The key vocabulary for verse 3 of Psalm 90 is:

libero, avi, atum, are (liber), to free, set free, deliver
laqueus, ei, m., a noose for capturing animals; a snare, trap, net
venor, atus sum, ari, to hunt; venatium = part pl pres
verbum, i, n.,word, command, edict, also a promise; saying, speech; Law, the Eternal Son.
asper, era, erum, rough. Of speech, harsh, bitter, abusive.

A literal, word by word rendition of it is:

Quóniam (or) ipse (he, himself) liberávit (he has freed) me (me) de (from) láqueo (the trap) venántium (of the hunters), et (and) a (from) verbo (the word) áspero (abusive, harsh).

St Jerome and the Neo-vulgate make the verb (liberare, to free), future tense rather than perfect though, so the Collegeville translators of the Monastic Diurnal translated it as:

For He will rescue thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the sharp word.

The phrase verbo aspero  - harsh or abusive word, slander or calumny - is a rare case where the twentieth experts agreed that the Septuagint Greek is to be preferred to the Masoretic Text’s Hebrew literalism which translates as ‘from the destroying pestilence’, though the Pian translation, true to form, followed the Hebrew Masoretic Text, making it instead 'A peste perniciosa'.

Hunters of souls

St Jerome pointed out that hunters are pretty much never portrayed positively in Scripture:

There are many hunters in this world that go about setting traps for our soul.  Nemrod the giant was a 'mighty hunter before the Lord.' Esau, too, was a hunter, for he was a sinner. In all of Holy Writ, never do we find a hunter that is a faithful servant; we do find faithful fishermen...the devil is the hunter, eager to lure our souls unto perdition. The devil is master of many snares, deceptions of all kinds. Avarice is one of his pitfalls, detraction is his noose, fornication is his bait. 

St Augustine's advice in the face of this, more important than ever in this age when hurt feelings are deemed more serious than physical injuries, is that we should not let mere words hurt us, or worse, turn us aside from the right path:

The devil has entrapped many by a harsh word: for instance, those who profess Christianity among Pagans suffer insult from the heathen: they blush when they hear reproach, and shrinking out of their path in consequence, fall into the hunter's snares. And yet what will a harsh word do to you? Nothing. Can the snares with which the enemy entraps you by means of reproaches, do nothing to you? Nets are usually spread for birds at the end of a hedge, and stones are thrown into the hedge: those stones will not harm the birds. When did any one ever hit a bird by throwing a stone into a hedge? But the bird, frightened at the harmless noise, falls into the nets; and thus men who fear the vain reproaches of their calumniators, and who blush at unprovoked insults, fall into the snares of the hunters, and are taken captive by the devil...

The gift of grace

In order to do this, we must, of course, trust in God's gift of grace, as St Robert Bellarmine explains:

...he alludes to two favors conferred on him, one temporal, the other spiritual. The temporal blessing consists in immunity from snares, stratagems, and frauds of the wicked, the source of much temporal injury; the frauds being designat­ed by the "snares of the hunters," and the "sharp word" implies the injuries consequent on the frauds. And, as frauds and strat­agems are generally effected through the tongue, Ecclus says, "Thou hast preserved me from the snare of an unjust tongue." God, then, in his singular providence, has caused, and always will cause, the frauds and schemes of the wicked to do no harm to the just, who confide in the aid of the Most High. Another favor, and a much greater one, is an exemption from the temptations of the evil spirits; for such is their craft, that men, however prudent they may be, when compared with them, may be looked upon as half fools. 

Honey mixed with bile

What then are the harsh or abusive words we should be on the look out for?

Some are obvious, but St Cassiodorus' commentary warns of some particularly modern sounding dangers, that take the form of crafty ambushes:

The sharp word is every statement uttered against the divine commands and served like a lethal drink. It is true that we are diverted from goodly purposes by sustain­ing injuries or derision, but it is the word which is especially sharp and wholly harsh in its bitterness. Then again if we hear fawning words seasoned with honey but mixed with bile, we must regard them with hostility for they are known to be against the divine commands. Often statements uttered in the softest words are more deceitful. 

So the Lord delivers us from this most grievous sharpness and bitter sweetness when we advance along His path without branching off to left or right, where we know that the devil has laid snares; he has not dared to set them on the path, that is, in Christ Himself, for he cannot wound the faithful there.

Psalm 90: Qui habitat 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici David.	The praise of a canticle for David
Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.	He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
2  Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.	He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
3 Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.	For he has delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
4  Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperábis.	He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
5  Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.	His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
6  A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.	Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
7  Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.	A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
8  Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
9  Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.	Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.
10  Non accédet ad te malum: * et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.	There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
11  Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.	For he has given his angels charge over you; to keep you in all your ways.
12  In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.	In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13  Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis: * et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.	You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
14  Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.	Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name.
15  Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum : * cum ipso sum in tribulatióne : erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.	He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.
16  Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi salutáre meum.	I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

You can find the next part of this series here.