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.

Targum Psalm 82:6

Targum

4 Save the poor and needy, from the hands of the wicked deliver them. 5 They do not know how to do good, and they do not understand the Torah, they walk in darkness; because of this, the pillars of the earth’s foundations shake. 6 I said, “You are reckoned as angels, and all of you are like angels of the height.” 7 But truly you will die like the sons of men; and like one of the leaders you will fall. 8 Arise, O Lord, judge all the inhabitants of the earth; for you will possess all the Gentiles.

 Notes and References

"... In Targum Psalm 82:6 the clause 'you are Gods' is indeed translated with 'behold: you are conceived of as angels.' But this interpretation is a palliation as well, because earlier Psalm 82:6 served as a proof-text for deification, as in a fragment of the War Scroll: 'I am reckoned with the gods and my dwelling is among the holy assembly ... I am reckon(ed] with the gods [and] my glory is with the sons of the King.' These changes in the targumic tradition are comprehensible only if there was a real danger of a literal interpretation ..."

Smelik, Willem F. On Mystical Transformation of the Righteous into Light in Judaism (pp. 122-144) Journal for the Study of Judaism, Vol. 26, 1995

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