The psalmist begins the long list of misfortunes he calls down upon his enemy by praying that the man will be brought to trial before a corrupt judge. It is to be noticed that the singular “enemy” is used throughout (see introduction to this psalm); Dahood believes that the setting of the psalm is a court where the psalmist is standing trial, and that his prayer is directed against the judge and the false witnesses, who are bent on his destruction.

In verse 6a Good News Translation “corrupt judge” translates “an evil man” (New International Version); the rest of the line in Hebrew may be translated either “over him” (New Jerusalem Bible), which indicates a judge (so Kirkpatrick, Briggs, Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), or against him (Revised Standard Version), which indicates an accuser, parallel with line b (so Revised Standard Version, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). If the translator follows Good News Translation “corrupt judge,” it will be necessary in some languages to say, for example, “a judge whose eyes are closed with money.”

Verse 6b is literally “and make an accuser stand at his right,” the Hebrew word for “accuser” being satan, which King James Version translates “Satan.” Dahood does the same, taking “the Evil One” in line a to be parallel to “Satan” in line b; Dahood believes that the trial takes place after death. Most commentators believe that the Hebrew noun satan in the Old Testament refers to a nonhuman being only in 1 Chronicles 21.1; Job 1.6-12; 2.1-7; Zechariah 3.1, 2. It appears that the accuser stood at the right of the person on trial (see Zech 3.1; but see verse 31, below). Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates “May his own lawyer condemn him” (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

Verse 7b is difficult to understand; the Masoretic text appears to mean “and let his prayer be for sin.” Some take the word translated “prayer” to mean the plea to the judge (see New American Bible “may his plea be in vain”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “may his defense result in his condemnation”); but nowhere else in the Old Testament does the Hebrew word for prayer mean anything other than prayer addressed to God. The general sense can be that the man’s protestations of innocence, in which he would invoke the name of God, would only add to his guilt, since they would obviously be false. In some languages the two requests in English beginning in Good News Translation with “May he … may even his…” must be shifted to imperatives, in which case God will have to be introduced as the primary or secondary agent who will perform the requested action; for example, “God, try him and declare him guilty, consider even his prayer a crime!” or “I ask God to try him and find him guilty, to consider even his prayer a crime.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .