“A man of Belial.” The Hebrew for “Belial” is beliya`al (#01100 בְּלִיַּ֫עַל).

[For more on men of Belial, see commentary on 1 Samuel 2:12.]

“digs up evil.” The Hebrew reads “digs evil,” but we would say, “digs up evil.” Some have suggested that this refers to digging a pit for others to fall into, but that meaning does not fit the second stanza of the verse well. Although people of Belial certainly dig traps to catch people, the idea of the verse more clearly seems to be that those wicked people “dig up” stuff on people, using “dig” for “search for” as in Job 3:21, and then they spread it around and their words burn and destroy like fire.