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God speaks in the plural in Genesis 1, proposing to make humankind in a divine image. Psalm 82 echoes the same divine council, an assembly of gods in which God judges them for acting unjustly.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 1:26
Hebrew Bible
25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the cattle according to their kinds, and all the creatures that creep along the ground according to their kinds. God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.” 27 God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.
Psalm 82:1
Hebrew Bible
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.
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Notes and References
"... Several passages in the Old Testament seem to indicate that Yhwh has adopted El’s position as father of the gods, head of the pantheon and head of the assembly of the gods. Thus, at the beginning of Psalm 29 (already quoted above), the benê ‘ilîm “Sons of Gods” are addressed: “Give to Yhwh, Sons of Gods, give to Yhwh glory and might!” Similarly, the “divine” frame story of the book of Job opens with the arrival of the benê hā-’ælōhîm “Sons of God” (among them Satan), presumably in the heavenly court or assembly (Job 1:6). The two expressions, usually understood in the sense of “angels,” could well go back to the sons of El, attested as a general designation for the gods in Ugarit, and refer to the gods taking part in the assembly. An assembly of the gods, in which the creation of man is decided, could be postulated as the former background of Genesis 1:26, where “Let us make man in our image” is commonly interpreted as a pluralis maiestatis. The most explicit passage is Psalm 82:1: “God (Elohim) has arisen in the divine assembly (or: the assembly of El), he is judging among the gods.” ..."
Krebernik, Manfred
"The Beginnings of Yahwism from an Assyriological Perspective" in van Oorschot, Jürgen and Markus Witte (eds.) The Origins of Yahwism
(pp. 52-53) De Gruyter, 2017
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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