LXX Psalms

Septuagint

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Psalm 81

1 A Psalm for Asaph. God stands in the assembly of gods; and in the midst of them will judge gods.⁠ 2 How long will you judge unrighteously, and take the faces of sinners?⁠ Pause. 3 Judge the orphan and poor: do justice to the low and needy. 4 Rescue the needy, and deliver the poor out of the hand of the sinner. 5 They do not know, nor understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth shall be shaken. 6 I have said, You are gods; and all of you children of the Most High.⁠ 7 But you die as men, and fall as one of the princes. 8 Arise, God, judge the earth: for you shall inherit all nations.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 82:8 and LXX Psalm 81:8

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

Summary

Psalm 82 ends by calling on God to judge the earth because the nations already belong to him. The Greek Septuagint reshapes that claim into a future promise, inserting the language of Deuteronomy 32 used for dividing the nations among the gods.

Passages

Psalm 82:8

Hebrew Bible

4 Rescue the poor and needy. Deliver them from the power of the wicked. 5 They neither know nor understand. They stumble around in the dark, while all the foundations of the earth crumble. 6 I thought, ‘You are gods; all of you are sons of the Most High.’ 7 Yet you will die like mortals; you will fall like all the other rulers.” 8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth! For you own all the nations.

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

LXX Psalm 81:8

Septuagint

4 Rescue the needy, and deliver the poor out of the hand of the sinner. 5 They do not know, nor understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth shall be shaken. 6 I have said, You are gods; and all of you children of the Most High. 7 But you die as men, and fall as one of the princes. 8 Arise, God, judge the earth: for you shall inherit all nations.

100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Psalms

References

... 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.” ...

David A. Burnett, A Neglected Deuteronomic Scriptural Matrix for the Nature of the Resurrection Body in 1 Corinthians 15:39–42? (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2019), 194.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

LXX Psalms151 psalms

Compare Psalm 82:8 and LXX Psalm 81:8

Summary

Passages

Psalm 82:8

LXX Psalm 81:8

References

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