Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.
Put them in fear - literally, Put fear into them. So the Chaldaic. Also one reading х mowraa' (H4172]. Even the other reading [mowraah, since the Hebrew letter he (h) often takes the place of the Hebrew letter 'aleph (')] admits the same rendering; but the latter, which is our Masoretic text, means usually 'a legislator,' or 'ruler.' So the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic. Jerome and Augustine understand Antichrist to be meant. Or, Satan (1 Timothy 1:20). 'Put (another, and an awful) master over them,' since they will not have the Lord to rule over them (Luke 19:14; John 5:43). Compare Psalms 109:6, "Set thou a wicked man over him, and let Lord to rule over them (Luke 19:14; John 5:43). Compare Psalms 109:6, "Set thou a wicked man over him, and let Satan stand at his right hand."
That the nations may know themselves to be but men - Hebrew, 'to be but weak, mortal man,' as in Psalms 9:19. The singular emphatically marks that, however numerous, wealthy, and warlike the God-opposed nations be, the nature remains the same: they are only dying man, not God!