“The wicked go astray from the womb.
They err from their birth.
They speak lies.
They have venom
Like the venom of a serpent.
They have venom
Like the deaf adder that stops its ear.
Thus it does not hear
The voice of charmers.
It does not hear
The voice of the cunning enchanter.”
David then went into a diatribe description of the wicked ones. He maintained that the wicked peopple were so from their time in the womb, from their birth. This was the nature of the wicked, since there was no question of nurture. They were snakes with their deadly venom whether it be a serpent or an adder group of snakes. This adder venomous snake seems to be smarter or more cunning since it covers its ears so that the snake charmer cannot influence it. This is odd, but not out of line with the thinking that the snake, the adder, or serpent was evil.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 