Set thou a wicked man over him. — This rendering is abundantly confirmed by Leviticus 26:16; Numbers 4:27; Numbers 27:16; Jeremiah 15:3; Jeremiah 51:27, against Hitzig’s proposed “Pronounce against him — guilty,” which also would only anticipate Psalms 109:7. (Comp., too, the noun “office” in Psalms 109:8, from the same verb.) The wish expressed is that the persons indicated may fall into the hands of an unscrupulous judge. If, however, we are to think of the divine judgment, then this clause must be taken as exactly parallel to the next: “Appoint a wicked man against him.” Here the imprecatory part of the psalm begins, and it has been ingeniously argued that the whole of it (Psalms 109:6-20) is a quotation, giving, not the psalmist’s curse on his foes, but theirs on him. Such quotations, without any introductory words, are common, and the theory is tenable, but improbable.
Satan. — By no means here a proper name, though the LXX. and Vulg. have diabolus. The use of the same word in Psalms 109:4; Psalms 109:20; Psalms 109:29 is decisive on giving it the general meaning, “adversary” (as in margin) here; even though without the article. Satan is used for the tempting angel in 1 Chronicles 21:1, and in Zechariah 3:1 we find the same post, “at the right hand,” assigned to the accuser. An unscrupulous judge and an adversary as accuser, these are the substance of this imprecation.