Psalms

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Psalm 82

1 A psalm of Asaph. God stands in the assembly of El; in the midst of the gods he renders judgment.⁠ 2 He says, “How long will you make unjust legal decisions and show favoritism to the wicked?⁠ (Selah)⁠ 3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless. Vindicate the oppressed and suffering.⁠ 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.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 24:21 and Psalm 82:6

Hebrew Bible

Summary

Psalm 82 and Isaiah 24 share imagery based on ancient Near Eastern traditions of a divine council where patron deities rule the nations. In both, these deities are judged for ruling unjustly, following Canaanite myths of rebellious gods cast from heaven.

Passages

Isaiah 24:21

Hebrew Bible

19 The earth is broken in pieces, the earth is ripped to shreds, the earth shakes violently. 20 The earth will stagger around like a drunk; it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm. Its sin will weigh it down, and it will fall and never get up again. 21 At that time the Lord will punish the heavenly forces in the heavens and the earthly kings on the earth. 22 They will be imprisoned in a pit, locked up in a prison, and after staying there for a long time, they will be punished. 23 The full moon will be covered up, the bright sun will be darkened; for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will rule on Mount Zion in Jerusalem in the presence of his assembly, in majestic splendor.

740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Psalm 82:6

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

References

"... Elyon, princes, gods, are all present in the Ugaritic poem “the Gracious Gods,” and it is quite telling that the notion above in Psalm 82:7 the “falling” like “one of the Shining Ones” is found “in a specific episode of Canaanite mythology, in which the fall of one of the ("sons of the shining ones") of the heavenly congregation was depicted.” Third, the fact that the psalm speaks of rendering justice to the poor and needy does not argue for human judges, since the council terminology from Sumer, Akkad, and Ugarit “referred originally to the political organ of a primitive democracy, a phenomenon which can be discerned in the pantheons of various non-Israelite cultures.” Lastly, verses such as Isaiah 24:21 (“In that day the LORD will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below”) clearly distinguish between the divine beings of Yahweh’s host and earthly rulers ..."

Michael S. Hesier, “Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God,” BSac 158 (2001): 52–74.

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

Psalms150 psalms

Compare Isaiah 24:21 and Psalm 82:6

Summary

Passages

Isaiah 24:21

Psalm 82:6

References

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