Psalm 82

Psalm 82 is the 82nd psalm in the biblical Book of Psalms, subtitled "A Psalm of Asaph". The New King James Version describes it as "a plea for justice";[1] Alexander Kirkpatrick sees it as "a vision of God as the Judge of judges".[2] In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 81.

This article is about Psalm 82 in Hebrew (Masoretic) numbering. For Psalm 82 in Greek Septuagint or Latin Vulgate numbering, see Psalm 83.
Psalm 82
BookBook of Psalms
Hebrew Bible partKetuvim
Order in the Hebrew part1
CategorySifrei Emet
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part19

Text

Hebrew

The following is the Hebrew text of the Psalm:

א מִזְמ֗וֹר לְאָ֫סָ֥ף אֱלֹהִ֗ים נִצָּ֥ב בַּֽעֲדַת־אֵ֑ל בְּקֶ֖רֶב אֱלֹהִ֣ים יִשְׁפֹּֽט

ב עַד־מָתַ֣י תִּשְׁפְּטוּ־עָ֑וֶל וּפְנֵ֥י רְ֜שָׁעִ֗ים תִּשְׂאוּ־סֶֽלָה

ג שִׁפְטוּ־דָ֥ל וְיָת֑וֹם עָנִ֖י וָרָ֣שׁ הַצְדִּֽיקוּ

ד פַּלְּטוּ־דַ֣ל וְאֶבְי֑וֹן מִיַּ֖ד רְשָׁעִ֣ים הַצִּֽילוּ

ה לֹ֚א יָֽדְע֨וּ | וְלֹ֬א יָבִ֗ינוּ בַּֽחֲשֵׁכָ֥ה יִתְהַלָּ֑כוּ יִ֜מּ֗וֹטוּ כָּל־מ֥וֹסְדֵי אָֽרֶץ

ו אֲֽנִ֣י אָ֖מַרְתִּי אֱלֹהִ֣ים אַתֶּ֑ם וּבְנֵ֖י עֶלְי֣וֹן כֻּלְּכֶֽם

ז אָכֵ֥ן כְּאָדָ֣ם תְּמוּת֑וּן וּכְאַחַ֖ד הַשָּׂרִ֣ים תִּפֹּֽלוּ

ח קוּמָ֣ה אֱ֖לֹהִים שָׁפְטָ֣ה הָאָ֑רֶץ כִּֽי־אַתָּ֥ה תִ֜נְחַ֗ל בְּכָל־הַגּוֹיִֽם [3]

King James Version

The following is the English text of the psalm from the King James Bible:

1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.[4]

Contextual interpretation

This psalm originates in the context of the ancient Hebrews, and their Ancient Near Eastern environment.[5] Kirkpatrick observes how it "sets forth, in a highly poetical and imaginative form, the responsibility of earthly judges to the Supreme Judge."[2] The final verse of the Psalm, verse 8, has God in the future tense "inheriting the nations", where elsewhere in the psalms, "the Son" inherited the nations in Psalm 2, and the believing community inherits the nations in Psalms 25 and 37. God already possesses the nations but in some sense inherits them as well.

Uses

Judaism

Christianity

Jesus quotes verse 6 in John 10:34: "I said, 'You are gods.'"[10] Jesus uses this text to assert that he is not blaspheming when he calls himself the Son of God. The second part of verse 6, "All of you are sons of the Most High", does not appear in the text quoted by John. Quoting Bishop Westcott, Kirkpatrick says of this text: "The fact that it was possible for men so to represent God as to be called gods or divine was a foreshadowing of the Incarnation. 'There lay already in the Law the germ of the truth which Christ announced, the union of God and man.'"[11]

Jesus alludes directly to Psalm 82, where the elohim (gods) receive the word of God in the form of judgment and condemnation. Against his accusers, Jesus was appealing to the precedent already established in the Torah, which referred to God's holy ones, or his divine council, as "gods" (elohim).[12] In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read in the evening of the 16th day of the month.[13]

References
  1. Psalm 82: NKJV
  2. Kirkpatrick, A. F. (1906), Cambridge Bible for Schools on Psalm 82, accessed 9 March 2022
  3. "Tehillim - Psalms - Chapter 82". Chabad. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  4. "Psalm 82, King James Version". Bible Gateway. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  5. Heiser 2015, pp. 23–38.
  6. The Complete Artscroll Siddur, page 164
  7. The Artscroll Tehillim, page 329
  8. The Complete Artscroll Siddur, page 479
  9. The Complete Artscroll Siddur, page 559
  10. Kirkpatrick, A. F. (1901). The Book of Psalms: with Introduction and Notes. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. Vol. Book IV and V: Psalms XC-CL. Cambridge: At the University Press. p. 839. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  11. Quoted in Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Psalm 82, accessed 23 May 2016
  12. Heiser 2015, pp. 163–171.
  13. Church of England, Book of Common Prayer: The Psalter as printed by John Baskerville in 1762, pp. 196ff

Bibliography
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  • Psalm 82 in Hebrew and English - Mechon-mamre
  • Psalm 82 King James Bible - Wikisource
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