... In Psalm 81[82]:1, the figure identified as “God” (elohim in the Masoretic Text, theos in the Septuagint) judges the celestial gods of the divine council because they have judged “unjustly”, failing in their intended role in which the celestial rulers (Deuteronomy 4:19; 32:8-9) were to exercise their rule “in law and justice”. Because of this, the immortal gods will “die like men” and will fall like one the “rulers” (archonton, Psalm 81[82]:7; compare the celestial bodies of Deuteronomy 4:19 in Philo, On the Special Laws 1.13-19). The psalmist closes the psalm with a plea, “arise, oh God”, which, for the author, is intended to result in the “judgment of the earth” and to inherit the nations that were once apparently oppressively ruled by the gods/rulers (katakleronomeseis en pasin tois ethnesin, compare Deuteronomy 32:8-9). Hence, for Psalm 81[82], the ultimate eschatological event within the context of the Deuteronomic vision of the cosmos consists of three things: (1) the “arising of God”; (2) the destruction of the gods or rulers; and (3) divine judgment and inheritance: “God” is called upon to “judge the earth” and “inherit the nations.” ...