ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Psalms 82.7
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Passage

Psalms 82.7

Book: Psalms · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

5. They know not, neither do they understand; They walk to and fro in darkness: All the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6. I said, Ye are gods, And all of you sons of the Most High.

7. Nevertheless ye shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes.

  1. Arise, O God, judge the earth; For thou shalt inherit all the nations. (Psalms 82:5-8, ASV)
WEB

5. They don’t know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6. I said, “You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High.

7. Nevertheless you shall die like men, and fall like one of the rulers.”

  1. Arise, God, judge the earth, for you inherit all of the nations. (Psalms 82:5-8, WEB)
KJV

5. They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. out: Heb. moved 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.

  1. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. (Psalms 82:5-8, KJV)
YLT

5. They knew not, nor do they understand, In darkness they walk habitually, Moved are all the foundations of earth. 6. I, I have said, 'Gods ye [are], And sons of the Most High, all of you,

7. But as man ye die, and as one of the heads ye fall,

  1. Rise, O God, judge the earth, For Thou hast inheritance among all the nations! (Psalms 82:5-8, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Asaph (title, 82:1); in verses 2-7 God himself speaks to the "gods" he is judging, and the psalmist answers in verse 8
  • Audience: the "gods" of the assembly in which God stands (82:1), overheard by Israel at worship
  • Location: Israel; the Asaph psalms are linked with the Levitical singers of the temple, whose chief under David was Asaph (1 Chronicles 16:5)
  • Time period: uncertain. Asaph served in David's day (tenth century BC), and the "sons of Asaph" continued as a guild of temple singers; some Asaph psalms clearly come from much later, such as Psalm 79, which laments that Jerusalem has been laid "in heaps."

Theological reading

"Nevertheless ye shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes." God has just told those he is judging, "I said, Ye are gods, And all of you sons of the Most High" (82:6). Verse 7 is the sentence passed on them.

Who the "gods" are. Two main readings are held. On the older view, common in both Jewish and Christian interpretation, the "gods" are human judges, called elohim because they judged in God's name; the KJV renders elohim as "judges" in Exodus 21:6 and 22:8. On a view widespread among modern scholars, represented in the codex by Michael Heiser, they are heavenly beings to whom God had given authority over the nations, now condemned for injustice (82:2-4). The verse fits both readings: the judges will die like any man (Strong's H120, adam), or the heavenly rulers will die as mortals do.

"Nevertheless." The Hebrew particle (H403) marks a sharp turn: high title, low end. Whatever dignity "Ye are gods" conferred, those who bore it "shall die" (H4191) and "fall (H5307) like one of the princes (H8269)." The psalm then asks God to do what they failed to do: "Arise, O God, judge the earth; For thou shalt inherit all the nations" (82:8).

Jesus and the Latter-day Saint reading. Jesus quoted verse 6 in John 10:34-36, arguing from the lesser to the greater: if Scripture called "gods" those "unto whom the word of God came," he could not be charged with blasphemy for calling himself "the Son of God." Latter-day Saint teaching has cited "Ye are gods" in support of the belief that human beings can become gods. Verse 7 stands against that use. The "gods" of the psalm are judged, condemned and mortal, not beings rising toward godhood. See Mormonism vs the Christian God.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.