Psalm 82 commentary

PSALM 82 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
A psalm of Asaph.
I TRODUCTIO
SPURGEO , "Title and Subject. A Psalm of Asaph. This poet of the temple here
acts as a preacher to the court and to the magistracy. Men who do one thing well are
generally equal to another; he who writes good verse is not unlikely to be able to
preach. What preaching it would have been had Milton entered the pulpit, or had
Virgil been an apostle.
Asaph's sermon before the judges is now before us. He speaks very plainly, and his
song is rather characterised by strength than by sweetness. We have here a clear
proof that all psalms and hymns need not be direct expressions of praise to God; we
may, according to the example of this psalm, admonish one another in our songs.
Asaph no doubt saw around him much bribery and corruption, and while David
punished it with the sword, he resolved to scourge it with a prophetic psalm. In so
doing, the sweet singer was not forsaking his profession as a musician for the Lord,
but rather was practically carrying it out in another department. He was praising
God when he rebuked the sin which dishonoured him, and if he was not making
music, he was hushing discord when he bade rulers dispense justice with
impartiality.
The Psalm is a whole and needs no formal division.
COKE, "Title. ‫מזמור‬ ‫ףּלאס‬ mizmor leasaph— This psalm is an admonition to justice,
and an upbraiding reproof against the injustice of the Jewish tribunals; with an
appeal to God, the supreme and just judge. The courts of justice in Hezekiah's reign
were very corrupt: see Isaiah 1:23 where the judges and magistrates are called
princes, in respect of their superiority over the common people; and here they are
called gods, in respect to the fountain of their power, which was from the Most
High. In this view the psalm conveys an useful admonition to all ministers of justice;
from the supreme judge of the highest earthly tribunal, down to the most inferior
and petty magistrate.
ELLICOTT, "This psalm represents the conviction which was so profoundly fixed
in the Hebrew mind, that Justice is the fundamental virtue of society, and that its
corruption implies total disorganisation and ruin. The mode in which this conviction
is presented is also distinctively Hebrew. We have here once more a vision of
judgment. But it is not the whole nation of the Jews, or the nations of the world

generally, that are here arraigned before the Divine tribunal; nor are there
introduced any of those elements of grandeur and awe which generally accompany a
theophany. God is not here driving across the heavens on His storm - chariot, and
calling on the mountains to bear evidence of earth’s sin. But with a calm dignity,
which is by contrast the more striking, the Divine arbiter comes to take His place as
presiding Judge among the magistrates themselves, and depose them. In a few
incisive words He pronounces them indifferent to justice, neglectful of their duties,
venal, and unscrupulous, and warns them of the ruin they are bringing on society,
and of their own certain downfall, however secure and inviolable their position
appears.
Then the poet himself, with a wider sweep of view, that takes in not only the
administrators of law, but the political situation of his nation, makes appeal to the
“judge of all the earth,” who in the conviction of Israel must do right.
The date of such a poem, if it could be recovered, would crown its interest; but it is
in vain to discuss the conjectures, which range from the Davidic to the Macedonian
age. The histories do not reveal anything in the early monarchy to indicate such
abuses in the judicature as the psalm describes. The poetical form is irregular.
1 God presides in the great assembly;
he renders judgment among the “gods”:
BAR ES, "God standeth in the congregation of the mighty - In the assembly
of the rulers and judges; among those of most exalted rank and station. He is there to
observe them; to give them law; to direct their decisions; to judge them. He is supreme
over them; and he holds them responsible to himself The word rendered congregation is
that which is commonly applied to the assembly of the people of Israel, considered as an
organized body, or as a body politic. It here, however, refers to magistrates considered as
a body or class of people; as those who have assemblages or meetings, with special
reference to their duties as magistrates. The word rendered “mighty” - ‫אל‬ 'Êl - is in the
singular number, and is one of the names which are given to God; hence, the literal
rendering is, “God standeth in the assembly of God.” The Septuagint renders it, In the
synagogue of the gods. So also the Latin Vulgate. The reference, however, is undoubtedly
to magistrates, and the idea is, that they were to be regarded as representatives of God;
as acting in his name; and as those, therefore, to whom, in a subordinate sense, the
name gods might be given. Compare Psa_82:6. In Exo_21:6; Exo_22:8-9, Exo_22:28,
also, the same word in the plural is applied to magistrates, and is properly translated

judges in our common version. Compare the notes at Joh_10:34-35. The idea is, that
they were the representatives of the divine sovereignty in the administration of justice.
Compare Rom_13:1-2, Rom_13:6. They were, in a sense, gods to other people; but they
were not to forget that God stood among them as their God; that if they were exalted to a
high rank in respect to their fellowmen, they were, nevertheless, subject to One to whom
the name of God belonged in the highest sense.
He judgeth among the gods - As they to whom the name gods is thus given as the
representatives of the divine sovereignty judged among people, so God would judge
among them. If they were, in some sense (in consequence of their representing the
divine majesty, and deriving their power and appointment from God), independent of
people, they were in no sense independent of God himself.
CLARKE, "God standeth in the congregation of the mighty - The Hebrew
should be translated, “God standeth in the assembly of God.” God is among his people;
and he presides especially in those courts of justice which himself has established. The
Court of King’s Bench is properly the place where the king presides, and where he is
supposed to be always present. But the kings of England seldom make their appearance
there. King James I sometimes attended: at such times it might be said, “The king is in
the king’s court.” I believe the case above to be similar. Judges! beware what you do!
God is in his court, and in the midst (of the assembly) God will judge. See Parkhurst
under ‫.אלה‬
GILL, "God standeth in the congregation of the mighty,.... The Syriac version
renders it, "in the congregation of angels"; they are mighty, and excel in strength, and
there is a large company of them, even an innumerable one, and who surround the
throne of the Majesty on high. Christ, who is God over all, was among those on Mount
Sinai, and when he ascended to heaven; and with these he will descend when he comes a
second time, Psa_68:17. The Targum interprets it of the righteous thus,
"God, whose majesty (or Shechinah) dwells in the congregation of the righteous that are
strong in the law.''
It may be better understood of such as are strong in the Lord, in the grace that is in
Christ, and in the exercise of grace upon him; who are gathered out of the world unto
him, and unto distinct societies and congregations; in the midst of which God is, where
he grants his presence, bestows the blessings of his grace, and affords his divine aid and
protection; and where Christ the Son of God is, and will be to the end of the world. The
words may be rendered, "God standeth in the congregation of God" (a): that is, in his
own congregation, his church and people; but it seems best of all to understand the
words of rulers and civil magistrates, of the cabinet councils of princes, of benches of
judges, and courts of judicature; in all which God is present, and observes what is said
and done; perhaps reference may be had to the Jewish sanhedrim, the chief court of
judicature with the Jews, consisting of seventy one persons; in the midst of which Christ,
God manifest in the flesh, God in our nature, stood, and was ill used, and most unjustly
judged by them, of whose unjust judgment complaint is made in the next verse:
he judgeth among the gods: which the Syriac version renders "angels" again; and so

Aben Ezra interprets it of them, who are so called, Psa_8:5, but rather civil magistrates
are meant, the rulers and judges of the people, who go by this name of "elohim", or gods,
in Exo_21:6, and are so called because they are the powers ordained of God, are
representatives of him, are his vicegerents and deputies under him; should act in his
name, according to his law, and for his glory, and are clothed with great power and
authority from and under him; and therefore are before styled the "mighty". Among
these Christ, the Son of God, judges, to whom all judgment is committed; he qualifies
these for the discharge of their office, he directs them how to judge, and all the right
judgment they make and do is from him, "by" whom "kings"
reign, and princes decree justice; by whom princes rule, and nobles, even all
the judges of the earth; and to whom they are all accountable, and will be themselves
judged by him another day, Pro_8:15 so the Targum,
"in the midst of the judges of truth he judges.''
HE RY, "I. God's supreme presidency and power in all councils and courts asserted
and laid down, as a great truth necessary to be believed both by princes and subjects
(Psa_82:1): God stands, as chief director, in the congregation of the mighty, the mighty
One, in coetu fortis - in the councils of the prince, the supreme magistrate, and he judges
among the gods, the inferior magistrates; both the legislative and the executive power of
princes is under his eye and his hand. Observe here, 1. The power and honour of
magistrates; they are the mighty. They are so in authority, for the public good (it is a
great power that they are entrusted with), and they ought to be so in wisdom and
courage. They are, in the Hebrew dialect, called gods; the same word is used for these
subordinate governors that is used for the sovereign ruler of the world. They are elohim.
Angels are so called both because they are great in power and might and because God is
pleased to make use of their service in the government of this lower world; and
magistrates in an inferior capacity are likewise the ministers of his providence in
general, for the keeping up of order and peace in human societies, and particularly of his
justice and goodness in punishing evil-doers and protecting those that do well. Good
magistrates, who answer the ends of magistracy, are as God; some of his honour is put
upon them; they are his viceregents, and great blessings to any people. A divine sentence
is in the lips of the king, Pro_16:10. But, as roaring lions and ranging bears, so are
wicked rulers over the poor people, Pro_28:15. 2. A good form and constitution of
government intimated, and that is a mixed monarchy like ours; here is the might one,
the sovereign, and here is his congregation, his privy-council, his parliament, his bench
of judges, who are called the gods. 3. God's incontestable sovereignty maintained in and
over all the congregations of the mighty. God stands, he judges among them; they have
their power from him and are accountable to him. By him kings reign. He is present at
all their debates, and inspects all they say and do, and what is said and done amiss will
be called over again, and they reckoned with for their mal-administrations. God has
their hearts in his hands, and their tongues too, and he directs them which way soever
he will, Pro_21:1. So that he has a negative voice in all their resolves, and his counsels
shall stand, whatever devices are in men's hearts. He makes what use he pleases of them,
and serves his own purposes and designs by them; though their hearts little think so,
Isa_10:7. Let magistrates consider this and be awed by it; God is with them in the
judgment, 2Ch_19:6; Deu_1:17. Let subjects consider this and be comforted with it; for
good princes and good judges, who mean well, are under a divine direction, and bad
ones, who mean ever so ill, are under a divine restraint.

JAMISO , "Psa_82:1-8. Before the great Judge, the judges of the earth are rebuked,
exhorted, and threatened.
congregation — (Compare Exo_12:3; Exo_16:1).
of the mighty — that is, of God, of His appointment.
the gods — or, “judges” (Exo_21:6; Exo_22:9), God’s representatives.
CALVI , "1God sitteth in the assembly of God. (424) It is unquestionably a very
unbecoming thing for those whom God has been pleased to invest with the
government of mankind for the common good, not to acknowledge the end for
which they have been exalted above others, nor yet by whose blessing they have
been placed in so elevated a station; but instead of doing this, contemning every
principle of equity, to rule just as their own unbridled passions dictate. So
infatuated are they by their own splendor and magnificence, as to imagine that the
whole world was made only for them. Besides, they think that it would derogate
from their elevated rank were they to be governed by moderate counsels; and
although their own folly is more than enough to urge them on in their reckless
career, they, notwithstanding, seek for flatterers to soothe and applaud them in
their vices. To correct this arrogance, the psalm opens by asserting, that although
men occupy thrones and judgment-seats, God nevertheless continues to hold the
office of supreme ruler. God has made even a heathen and licentious poet bear
testimony to this truth in the following lines: —
“ Regum timendorum in proprios greges,
Reges in ipsos imperium est Jovis,
Clari giganteo triumpho,
Cuncta supercilio moventis .”
Horatii, Carm. Liber in Ode i.
Kings rule their subject flocks; great Jove
O’er kings themselves his reign extends,
Who hurl’d the rebel giants from above;
At whose majestic nod all nature bends.”
Boscawen’s Translation.
That the potentates of this world may not arrogate to themselves more than belongs
to them, the prophet here erects a throne for God, from which he judges them all,
and represses their pride; a thing which is highly necessary. They may, indeed,
admit that they owe their elevation to royal power to the favor of God, and they may
worship him by outward ceremonies, but their greatness so infatuates them that
they are chargeable with expelling and casting him to a distance from their
assembly, by their vain imaginations; for they cannot bear to be subject to reason
and laws. Thus the design of the prophet was to deride the madness by which the
princes of this world are bewitched, in leaving God no place in their assembly. The
more effectually to overthrow this irrational self-confidence with which they are

intoxicated, civil order is termed the assembly of God; for although the divine glory
shines forth in every part of the world, yet when lawful government flourishes
among men, it is reflected therefrom with pre-eminent lustre. I indeed grant that it
is quite common for the Hebrews to adorn with the title of God whatever is rare and
excellent. But here it would appear, from the scope of the passage, that this name of
the Divine Being is applied to those who occupy the exalted station of princes, in
which there is afforded a peculiar manifestation of the majesty of God; even as
Solomon, in Proverbs 2:17, calls marriage “the covenant of God,” from the peculiar
sanctity by which that relation is distinguished.
In the second clause of the verse, it is not material whether we read, He will judge in
the midst of the gods, or, He will judge the gods in the midst. The first construction,
however, is the most easy and natural, That however much the rulers of the world
may exalt themselves, they cannot in the least impair the authority of God, by
divesting him of his sovereignty over them and of the government of all things,
which he will ever retain as his inalienable prerogative. But here, as also a little
after, the name gods is to be understood of judges, on whom God has impressed
special marks of his glory. To apply it to angels is a fancy too strained to admit of
serious consideration.
“God standeth in the assembly;
God, in the midst of the gods, giveth sentence.”
On which he has the following note: — “In what assembly? The assembly of his holy
angels. The Psalmist, I think, poetically imagines the celestial court assembled for
the business of this review of the proceedings of the earth’s judges, and God, in the
midst of his angels, taxing their iniquity, and awarding their punishment.”
SPURGEO , "Ver. 1. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty. He is the
overlooker, who, from his own point of view, sees all that is done by the great ones
of the earth. When they sit in state he stands over them, ready to deal with them if
they pervert judgment. Judges shall be judged, and to justices justice shall be meted
out. Our village squires and country magistrates would do well to remember this.
Some of them had need go to school to Asaph till they have mastered this psalm.
Their harsh decisions and strange judgments are made in the presence of him who
will surely visit them for every unseemly act, for he has no respect unto the person
of any, and is the champion of the poor and needy. A higher authority will criticise
the decision of petty sessions, and even the judgments of our most impartial judges
will be revised by the High Court of heaven.
He judgeth among the gods. They are gods to other men, but he is GOD to them. He
lends them his name, and this is their authority for acting as judges, but they must
take care that they do not misuse the power entrusted to them, for the Judge of
judges is in session among them. Our puisne judges are but puny judges, and their
brethren who administer common law will one day be tried by the common law.
This great truth is, upon the whole, well regarded among us in these times, but it
was not so in the earlier days of English history, when Jeffries, and such as he, were
an insult to the name of justice. Oriental judges, even now, are frequently, if not

generally, amenable to bribes, and in past ages it was very hard to find a ruler who
had any notion of justice apart from his own arbitrary will. Such plain teaching as
this psalm contains was needful indeed, and he was a bold good man who, in such
courtly phrases, delivered his own soul.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Whole Psalm. Asaph, who has written so much in the previous Psalms of the coming
of Christ in the flesh, now speaks of his second coming to judgment. Josephus Maria
Thomasius. 1649-1713.
Ver. 1. God standeth. He is said to stand, because of his immutability, his power, his
abiding presence, and also because of his promptness in act, to decide for the right,
and to help the poor, as he did S. Stephen. But one commentator draws a yet deeper
lesson from the word stand. He reminds us that it is for the judge to sit, and for the
litigants or accused to stand; as it is written, Moses sat to judge the people: and the
people stood by Moses from the morning until the evening., Exodus 18:13. It is then
a solemn warning for judges to remember, that whatever cause is before them is
God's cause, since right and wrong are at stake in it, and that by acquitting the
guilty, or condemning the innocent, they pass sentence against God himself.
Albertus Magnus, Le Blanc, and Agellius, quoted by eale and Littledale.
Ver. 1. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty, or, of God. These words are
exegetical, and help to illustrate what he had said before: God standeth in the
congregation of God. What is that? Why he judgeth as supreme amongst the judges
of the world. He stands not as a cipher, or a bare spectator, but he himself makes
one amongst them.
1. He judgeth actively amongst them. We look upon men, and think the judgment is
theirs, but it is God that exerciseth judgment amongst them.
2. Passively, he is so in the midst of these earthly gods, that if they do unjustly he
will execute justice on them, and judge the judges of the world; for though they be
great, yet there is a greater than they, to whom they must shortly give an account.
Thomas Hall. 1659-60.
Ver. 1. In the congregation. Rulers must understand that they are not placed over
stocks and stones, nor over swine and dogs, but over the congregation of God: they
must therefore be afraid of acting against God himself when they act unjustly.
Martin Luther.
ELLICOTT, "(1) Standeth.—In the Hebrew a participle, with an official ring about
it. (See Isaiah 3:13.) It is used to designate departmental officers (1 Kings 4:5; 1
Kings 4:7; 1 Kings 4:27; 1 Kings 9:23. Comp. 1 Samuel 22:9; Ruth 2:5-6). Thus the
psalm opens with the solemn statement that God had taken His official place as
president of the bench of judges.
Congregation of the mighty.—Rather, assembly of God, or divine assembly;
elsewhere, “the congregation of Jehovah” ( umbers 27:17; umbers 31:16; Joshua
22:16-18), i.e., “Israel in its religious character.”
He judgeth among the gods—i.e., He is among the judges as presiding judge. For
“gods,” applied to men delegated with office from God, see Exodus 21:6, and,
possibly, Exodus 22:8-9. (See also ote, Psalms 8:5, and comp. Exodus 4:16; Exodus

7:1.) The custom of designating God’s vicegerents by the Divine name was a very
natural one. The whole point of Psalms 82:6 lies in the double meaning the word can
bear. (See ote.)
BE SO , ". God standeth in the congregation — As a judge, diligently to observe
all that is said or done there, and to give sentence accordingly. The judge sits when
he hears causes, but stands up when he gives sentence. Or standing may here be
intended, not to denote the posture of the person, but only his being present.
Whence this Hebrew word ‫,נצב‬ nitzab, is by some learned interpreters rendered, is
present, and by others, presideth, as this word is used, 1 Samuel 19:20 ; 1 Samuel
22:9. Of the mighty — Or, of the gods, as it is expressed and explained in the next
clause, the singular number, ‫,אל‬ eel, being here, as it is frequently elsewhere, put for
the plural. He judgeth among the gods — Accurately observeth all their conduct,
and passes sentence upon them accordingly. By gods or, the mighty, he understands
kings, or other chief rulers, judges, and magistrates, called gods below, Psalms 82:6
; Exodus 12:12; Exodus 22:28. compared with Psalms 138:1, and John 10:35. They
are called gods, because they have their power and commission from God, and act
as his deputies, in his name and stead, and must give an account to him of their
conduct in their high office and station. And by their congregation he means not a
convention or assembly of such persons who seldom meet together, but either, 1st,
All congregations or assemblies of people in which magistrates sit to execute justice.
Or, 2d, All persons whatsoever of this high and sacred order or number; for the
word here rendered congregation, doth not always signify an assembly of persons
met together in one place, but sometimes denotes all the particular persons of, or
belonging to, such a sort or body of men, though dispersed in divers places: see
Psalms 26:5; Proverbs 21:16. Some render it as it is in the Hebrew, in the
congregation of God; in his own congregation, that is, in the conventions or
tribunals of princes or rulers, which he rightly calls his, because their authority is
wholly derived from him. But the former exposition seems more agreeable, both to
the following words, and to the scope and whole body of the Psalm.
CO STABLE, "1. The Judge of the Judges 82:1
The writer envisioned God sitting as Judge over a gathering of human Judges , the
judges that lived in every town in Israel. The human judges in Israel served as
God"s judicial representatives among His people. The Hebrew word translated
"rulers" ( ASB) or "gods" ( IV) is elohim (lit. strong ones). This word usually
describes God in the Old Testament, but sometimes it refers to the strong ones in
Israel, namely, the human rulers or authorities (cf. Psalm 45:6; Exodus 21:6;
Exodus 22:8-9). It does not refer to angels here (cf. Ephesians 6:12) as the Syriac
translators thought. This is clear from the context. It does not refer to the gods of
the heathen either (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:20).
COFFMA , "A DE U CIATIO OF ISRAEL'S EVIL JUDGES
This psalm is misunderstood by some to be, "A denunciation of the angels whom

God had put in charge of the earth,"[1] a position that was advocated by Professor
Cheyne, who cited Daniel 10:13-21 and Daniel 12:1 as supporting the notion that
angels have charge of earthly affairs. However, in the first reference, Michael the
archangel is called, not a ruler, but "a helper"; and Daniel 12:1 says nothing that is
inconsistent with the statement in Hebrews that all of God's angels are "ministering
spirits," that is, serving spirits, "Sent forth to do service for them that shall inherit
salvation" (Hebrews 1:14).
All authority in heaven and upon earth belongs to Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20);
and that leaves none at all for angels, except in a very limited and secondary sense,
as they are assigned to do many things for the benefit of God's children. Our
commentaries on Daniel and Hebrews, Under the references cited here, carry full
discussions of all the questions raised by these passages.
The verse within this psalm which triggers such speculations as that of Cheyne is
Psalms 82:6:
"I said, Ye are gods,
And all of you sons of the Most High." (Psalms 82:6)
The incorrect notion that "sons of God" is a reference to angels is based upon a
misinterpretation of Genesis 6:2; but there are no less than seven reasons why the
"sons of God," mentioned in Genesis 6:2 cannot possibly be "angels." An
enumeration of these reasons is given in our commentary on Genesis (Vol. I of the
Pentateuchal Series), pp. 98,99.
Could we be wrong about this? Absolutely not! For Christ himself told us who the
"gods" and "sons of God" in Psalms 82:6 really were.
Jesus answered them, Is it not written ... I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods
unto whom the Word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken), how say ye
of him ... whom the Father sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I
am the Son of God? (John 10:34-36)
Christ in this passage quoted the 6th verse of this psalm (Psalms 82:6), identifying
the "gods" and "sons of God" (the Most High) in our passage here as the persons
who had received God's law. They were not angels, but human judges, whose
wickedness is so severely denounced in this psalm.
Like Maclaren, we accept our Lord's reference to Psalms 82:6 in John 10:34ff "As
authoritatively settling both the meaning and the ground of the remarkable name
`gods' for human judges."[2] As McCaw stated it, "`Gods' here means, `you sit in
God's place, exercising judgment.'"[3]
The gross error of some scholars in not catching on to what "gods" in Psalms 82:6
really means is due to only one thing, namely, their lack of knowledge of the ew
Testament. As we have frequently noted, nobody can really understand the Old

Testament without a thorough knowledge of the ew Testament. An apostle said as
much in 2 Corinthians 3:12-16.
There are, to be sure, many suggestions as to the date; but Rawlinson's conclusion is
as dependable as any that we know.
The writer of this psalm may well have been the Asaph of David's time. It consists of
an exordium (Psalms 82:1), denunciations (Psalms 82:2-7), and a conclusion (Psalms
82:8).
Psalms 82:1
THE EXORDIUM
"God standeth in the congregation of God;
He judgeth among the gods."
"The gods" of this verse are the same as those of Psalms 82:6, below; and "God's
standing in the congregation of God" is a reference to God's presence among his
people on earth, that is, the Israelites, the special purpose of his presence among
them being that of warning and denouncing the evil judges, upon whom so much of
the blame for the tragedy of Israel rested.
COKE, "Psalms 82:1. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty— God
presideth in his courts of justice. Hebrew, In the court of justice of God. But the
singular seems to be used here collectively for all the courts of justice in the land.
See Psalms 82:5. The courts of justice were God's, as the judges were his vice-
gerents; the charge given them being, Take heed what ye do; for ye judge not for
man, but for the Lord; who is present with you in the judgment. 2 Chronicles 19:6.
It is plain from umbers 15:33 that the word ‫עדה‬ eidah, rendered congregation,
signifies, properly, a court of justice; to which sense the turn and drift of the psalm
immediately leads. Respecting the word ‫אלהים‬ elohim, or gods, which signifies
judges, in this place, see Green, and Exodus 21:6.
WHEDO , "1. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty—Literally, God is
standing in the congregation of God, not only in the midst of the whole
commonwealth of his people, (as umbers 27:16-17,) but especially in the assizes,
the assemblies he has commanded for justice. This presence of God is the central
idea of this profoundly theocratic psalm, and a favourite doctrine of the Asaphic
compositions. (Psalms 50:1.)
He judgeth among the gods—That is, among the judges, or ruling magistrates. See
Psalms 82:6
EBC, "I Psalms 50:1-23 God is represented as gathering His people together to be
judged; in this psalm He has gathered them together for His judgment on judges.

The former psalm begins at an earlier point of the great Cause than this one does. In
it, unnamed messengers go forth to summons the nation; in this, the first verse
shows us the assembled congregation, the accused, and the Divine Judge standing in
"the midst" in statuesque immobility. An awe-inspiring pause intervenes, and then
the silence is broken by a mighty voice of reproof and admonition (Psalms 82:2-4).
The speaker may be the psalmist, but the grand image of God as judging loses much
of its solemnity and appropriateness, unless these stern rebukes and the following
verses till the end of Psalms 82:7 are regarded as His voice of judgment. Psalms 82:5
follows these rebukes with "an indignant aside from the Judge" (Cheyne), evoked
by obstinate deafness to His words; and Psalms 82:6-7 pronounce the fatal sentence
on the accused, who are condemned by their own refusal to hearken to Divine
remonstrances. Then, in Psalms 82:8, after a pause like that which preceded God’s
voice, the psalmist, who has been a silent spectator, prays that what he has heard in
the inward ear, and seen with the inward eye, may be done before the nations of the
world, since it all belongs to Him by right. The scene pictured in Psalms 82:1 has
been variously interpreted. "The congregation of God" is most naturally
understood according to the parallel in Psalms 50:1-23, and the familiar phrase "the
congregation of Israel" as being the assembled nation. Its interpretation and that of
the "gods" who are judged hang together. If the assembly is the nation, the persons
at the bar can scarcely be other than those who have exercised injustice on the
nation. If, on the other hand, the "gods" are ideal or real angelic beings, the
assembly will necessarily be a heavenly one. The use of the expressions "the
congregation of Jehovah" ( umbers 27:17; umbers 31:16; Joshua 22:16-17) and
"Thy congregation" [Psalms 74:2] makes the former interpretation the more
natural, and therefore exercises some influence in determining the meaning of the
other disputed word. The interpretation of "gods" as angels is maintained by
Hupfeld; and Bleek, followed by Cheyne, goes the full length of regarding them as
patron angels of the nations. But, as Baethgen says, that angels should be punished
with death is a thought which lies utterly beyond the Old Testament sphere of
representation," and the incongruity can hardly be reckoned to be removed by
Cheyne’s remark, that, since angels are in other places represented as punished, "it
is only a step further" to say that they are punished with death. If, however, these
"gods" are earthly rulers, the question still remains whether they are Jewish or
foreign judges? The latter opinion is adopted chiefly on the ground of the reference
in Psalms 82:8 to a world-embracing judicial act, which, however, by no means
compels its acceptance, since it is entirely in accordance with the manner of
psalmists to recognise in partial acts of Divine retribution the operation in miniature
of the same Divine power, which will one day set right all wrongs, and, on occasion
of the smaller manifestation of Divine righteousness, to pray for a universal
judgment. There would be little propriety in summoning the national assembly to
behold judgments wrought on foreign rulers, unless these alien oppressors were
afflicting Israel, of which there is no sure indications in the psalm. The various
expressions for the afflicted in Psalms 82:3-4 are taken, by the supporters of the
view that the judges are foreigners, to mean the whole nation as it groaned under
their oppression, but there is nothing to show that they do not rather refer to the
helpless in Israel.

PULPIT, "Two different explanations have been given of the general bearing and
intention of this psalm—one, recently advocated by Professor Cheyne, that it is a
denunciation of the angels whom God has put in charge of the earth (see Daniel
10:13-21; Daniel 12:1), on account of the violence and injustice which they have
connived at and permitted; the other, that it is a denunciation of the human judges
in Israel, who are corrupt and oppressors of the people. The objection to the former
view is, first, that the angels are nowhere else taxed with wrong doing, or with
anything worse than folly (Job 15:15); and, secondly, that it is inconceivable that
God should entrust the government of the world to such imperfect and peccant
beings Moreover, that God should threaten his angels with death (Psalms 82:7) is
contrary to the whole tone and spirit of the rest of Scripture. The other
interpretation is, therefore, to be preferred. God, standing amid the angelic host in
heaven, denounces the unjust judges who are bearing sway over his people on earth.
The writer of the psalm may well be the Asaph of David's time. It consists of an
exordium (Psalms 82:1); a body, composed of denunciation and threats (Psalms
82:2-7); and a conclusion, calling on God to take immediate action (Psalms 82:8).
Psalms 82:1
God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; or, "in the congregation of
God"—"the Divine assembly" (see Job 1:6; Job 2:1; Isaiah 6:1, Isaiah 6:2, etc.). El,
in the singular, can scarcely mean the "mighty ones of earth." He judgeth among
the gods. He "holds a court of judgment in heaven, surrounded by the Divine
ministers, who will execute his behests" (Canon Cook).
K&D 1-4, "God comes forward and makes Himself heard first of all as censuring and
admonishing. The “congregation of God” is, as in Num_27:17; Num_31:16; Jos_22:16.,
“the congregation of (the sons of) Israel,” which God has purchased from among the
nations (Psa_74:2), and upon which as its Lawgiver He has set His divine impress. The
psalmist and seer sees Elohim standing in this congregation of God. The part. Niph. (as
in Isa_3:13) denotes not so much the suddenness and unpreparedness, as, rather, the
statue-like immobility and terrifying designfulness of His appearance. Within the range
of the congregation of God this holds good of the elohim. The right over life and death,
with which the administration of justice cannot dispense, is a prerogative of God. From
the time of Gen_9:6, however, He has transferred the execution of this prerogative to
mankind, and instituted in mankind an office wielding the sword of justice, which also
exists in His theocratic congregation, but here has His positive law as the basis of its
continuance and as the rule of its action. Everywhere among men, but here pre-
eminently, those in authority are God's delegates and the bearers of His image, and
therefore as His representatives are also themselves called elohim, “gods” (which the lxx
in Exo_21:6 renders τᆵ κριτήριον τοሞ Θεοሞ, and the Targums here, as in Exo_22:7-8,
Exo_22:27 uniformly, ‫א‬ָ ַ‫נ‬ָ ַ ). The God who has conferred this exercise of power upon
these subordinate elohim, without their resigning it of themselves, now sits in judgment
in their midst. ‫ּט‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ִ‫י‬ of that which takes place before the mind's eye of the psalmist. How
long, He asks, will ye judge unjustly? ‫ל‬ֶ‫ו‬ ָ‫ע‬ ‫ט‬ ַ‫פ‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ is equivalent to ‫ט‬ ָ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ ַ ‫ל‬ֶ‫ו‬ ָ‫ע‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ ָ‫,ע‬ Lev_19:15,

Lev_19:35 (the opposite is ‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ ָ‫ישׁ‬ ֵ‫מ‬ ‫ט‬ ַ‫פ‬ ָ‫,שׁ‬ Psa_58:2). How long will ye accept the
countenance of the wicked, i.e., incline to accept, regard, favour the person of the
wicked? The music, which here becomes forte, gives intensity to the terrible sternness
(das Niederdonnernde) of the divine question, which seeks to bring the “gods” of the
earth to their right mind. Then follow admonitions to do that which they have hitherto
left undone. They are to cause the benefit of the administration of justice to tend to the
advantage of the defenceless, of the destitute, and of the helpless, upon whom God the
Lawgiver especially keeps His eye. The word ‫שׁ‬ ָ‫ר‬ (‫אשׁ‬ ָ‫,)ר‬ of which there is no evidence until
within the time of David and Solomon, is synonymous with ‫ּון‬‫י‬ ְ‫ב‬ ֶ‫.א‬ ‫דל‬ with ‫ויתום‬ is pointed
‫ל‬ ָ‫,ד‬ and with ‫,ואביון‬ on account of the closer notional union, ‫ל‬ ַ‫ד‬ (as in Psa_72:13). They are
words which are frequently repeated in the prophets, foremost in Isaiah (Isa_1:17), with
which is enjoined upon those invested with the dignity of the law, and with jurisdiction,
justice towards those who cannot and will not themselves obtain their rights by violence.
BI, "God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; He judgeth among the gods.
The supremacy of God
I. As rebuking unjust rulers. “How long will ye judge unjustly?” Here is a common crime.
Human rulers, alas! through all times and the world over, have been prone to judge
unjustly and to “accept the persons of the wicked.” In proportion to the moral corruption
of a man is at once his indisposition and incapability to deal out justice to others.
II. As enjoying pity for the afflicted. “Defend the poor and fatherless.” See that they have
justice done them, deal tenderly with them. “Deliver the poor and needy.” It argues bad
for that ruler the poor and suffering of whose people are found in the heartless grip of
wicked men.
III. As characterizing the course of wicked rulers. “They know not, neither will they
understand,” etc. These magistrates pursue their course of moral ignorance, they are
blind to the eternal principles of right, to the transcendent claims of justice; only alive to
their own ambition, aggrandizement, pleasures, and gratifications. What is the
consequence?
1. Society is endangered. “All the foundations of the earth are out of course.” All
institutions are tottering.
2. Its rulers are doomed. “I have said, Ye are gods,” etc. “But ye shall die like men.”
This language may mean—
(1) I have regarded you as divinities; in consequence of your office, as far
superior to all ordinary men.
(2) I looked upon your appointment as Divine. “All of you are children of the
Most High.” Magistracy is a Divine appointment, into that magistracy you have
been permitted to enter; notwithstanding this, in consequence of your
unrighteous conduct, ye “shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.”
IV. As the grand object of the world’s hope. “Arise, O God,” etc. There is no hope for a
corrupt world but in God. (Homilist.)

The utility of magistracy
Take government out of the world, and then take the sun out of the firmament, and leave
it no more a κόσµος, a beautiful structure, but a χάος, a confused heap; without this men
would be like Ishmael, wild men; every man’s hand would be against his brother (Gen_
26:12). It is reported of Maximilian the emperor, that as oft as he passed by the gallows
he would pug off his hat and salute it, with a calve sancta justitia! All hail, holy justice.
Of all people, Christians have most cause to bless God for it; for they are exposed more
to the malice of wicked men by reason of their profession and principles, which are so
opposite to the ways of the world, so that they are as lambs amongst lions, as sheep
amongst wolves, as a lily amongst thorns, which would soon be devoured, did not the
great Shepherd of the flock raise up shepherds under Him to defend it. These are the
ministers of God for our good—
1. For our natural good, for our lives.
2. Civil good, for our estate.
3. Moral, for defence of us in goodness.
4. Spiritual, to protect the Gospel; and this good is reduced by the apostle to three
heads (1Ti_2:2), peace, piety, and honesty.
They are a means under God to preserve the lives of us and ours; our goods, sabbaths,
ordinances, and all that is near and dear to us; so that when government fails—
1. Order fails;
2. Religion fails;
3. Justice fails;
4. Strength fails;
5. Wealth fails;
6. Honour fails;
7. Peace fails.
As where there is no ministry, the people perish; so where there is no magistracy, the
people come to ruin (Pro_2:14). These are shields to defend us, fathers to tender us, yea,
nursing fathers to carry us in their bosoms, pillars that under God uphold the world, that
it fall not into confusion, and the very life of the State (Lam_4:20). (T. Hall, B. D.)
Magistrates should esteem their office a Divine institution
Civil authority is a Divine institution. The man who holds municipal or political office is
a “minister of God.” One man may, therefore, have just as real a Divine vocation to
become a town-councillor or a member of parliament, as another to become a
missionary to the heathen, In either case it is at a man’s peril that he is disobedient to
the heavenly vision. The Divine right of kings was a base corruption of a most noble
truth; so was the fanatical dream about the reign of the saints. We shall never approach
the Christian ideal of civil society until all who hold municipal, judicial, and political
offices recognize the social and political order of the nation as a Divine institution, and
discharge their official duties as ministers of God. (R. W. Dale, D. D.)

2 “How long will you[a] defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?[b]
BAR ES, "How long will ye judge unjustly - literally, Judge evil. This is
designed, evidently, to denote the prevailing character of the magistrates at the time
when the psalm was written. Unhappily such occasions occur very often in the course of
human affairs.
And accept the persons of the wicked? - literally, Lift up, or bear, the faces of the
wicked. The meaning is, that they showed favor or partiality to wicked people; they did
not decide cases according to truth, but were influenced by a regard for particular
persons on account of their rank, their position, their wealth, or their relation to
themselves. This is a common phrase in the Scriptures to denote favoritism or partiality.
Job_34:19; Act_10:34; Rom_2:11; 1Pe_1:17; Lev_19:15; Deu_1:17.
CLARKE, "Accept the persons of the wicked? - “Lift up their faces,” encourage
them in their oppressions.
Selah - “Mark this:” ye do it, and sorely sLall ye suffer for it.
GILL, "How long will ye judge unjustly,.... These are the words not of the psalmist,
but of the divine Person that stands in the congregation of the mighty, and judges among
the gods; calling the unjust judges to an account, and reproving them for their
unrighteous proceedings and perversion of justice, in which they had long continued,
and which was an aggravation of their sin; this is very applicable to the rulers and judges
of the Jewish nation in the times of Christ, who had long dealt very unjustly, and
continued to do so; they judged wrong judgment, or judgment of iniquity, as Aben Ezra
renders it, both in civil and ecclesiastical things; their judgment was depraved
concerning the law, which they transgressed and made void by adhering to the traditions
of the elders; they passed an unrighteous judgment on John the Baptist, the forerunner
of Christ, rejecting his baptism, and calling him a devil; and upon Christ himself,
adjudging him to death for crimes he was not guilty of; and upon his followers, whom
they cast out of the synagogue; the character of an unjust judge see in Luk_18:2,
and accept the persons of the wicked? gave the cause in favour of them, and
against the righteous, because they were rich, or related to them, or had bribes from
them, contrary to the law in Deu_16:19, so the judges among the Jews, in Christ's time,
judged according to appearance, the outward circumstances of men, and not righteous

judgment, as our Lord suggests, Joh_7:24.
JAMISO , "accept the persons — literally, “lift up the faces,” that is, from
dejection, or admit to favor and communion, regardless of merit (Lev_19:15; Pro_18:5).
CALVI , "2How long will ye judge unjustly? Many suppose that God is here
introduced speaking, and that these are the words which he utters from his throne
of judgment. But I would rather consider the prophet himself as the speaker, who,
in order to prepare the way for administering a rebuke, had spoken in the manner
in which he did in the first verse. Kings may lift up their heads above the clouds, but
they, as well as the rest of mankind, are under the government of God; and such
being the case, it is in vain for them arrogantly to struggle to obtain exemption from
the obligations of reason. Yet this is what they do. Although tyrants are amongst the
basest of men, and occupy their exalted station by detestable treason, yet if any
servant of God has the fortitude to open his mouth against them, they immediately
attempt to shelter themselves by appealing to the sacred name of God, as if great
wrong had been done to them. Thus, whilst they persuade themselves that they are
privileged with exemption from the law to which the rest of mankind are subject,
they endeavor to deprive the common people of divine truth and its ministers. In
short, they think that there can be no sovereignty unless where uncontrolled license
is enjoyed. But let this principle be once established, “That God rules among them,”
and then a way is opened up for the admission of divine truth. Accordingly, the
prophet, after having thus laid a foundation for his authority, freely inveighs
against princes, and reproves the very gross vice of selling themselves to those who
unrighteously oppress the poor, and of being gained by bribes to pervert in their
administration every principle of justice. He expressly names the wicked; for good
men will never attempt to corrupt judges. Moreover, there is a certain devilish
frenzy which infatuates the princes of the world, and leads them voluntarily to pay
greater respect to wicked men than to the simple and innocent. Even supposing that
the wicked continue inactive, and use no endeavors to obtain for themselves favor
either by flattery, fraud, bribery, or other artifices; yet those who bear rule are for
the most part inclined of themselves to the bad side. The reason why the prophet
upbraids them is, that wicked men find more favor at their hands than the good and
conscientious.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 2. How long will ye judge unjustly and accept the persons of the
wicked? It is indirectly stated that the magistrates had been unjust and corrupt.
They not only excused the wicked, but even decided in their favour against the
righteous. A little of this is too much, a short time too long. Some suitors could get
their claims settled at once, and in their own favour, while others were wearing out
their lives by waiting for an audience, or were robbed by legal process because their
opponents had the judge's ear: how long were such things to be perpetuated?
Would they never remember the Great Judge, and renounce their wickedness? This
verse is so grandly stern that one is tempted to say, "Surely an Elijah is here."
Selah. This gives the offenders pause for consideration and confession.

Ver. 2. And accept the persons of the wicked. The last clause exemplifies one of the
most peculiar Hebrew idioms. The combination usually rendered respect persons in
the English Bible, and applied to judicial partiality, means literally to take (or take
up) faces. Some suppose this to mean the raising of the countenance, or causing to
look up from dejection. But the highest philological authorities are now agreed, that
the primary idea is that of accepting one man's face or person rather than another's,
the precise form of expression, though obscure, being probably derived from the
practice of admitting suitors to confer with governors or rulers, face to face, a
privilege which can sometimes only be obtained by bribes, especially, though not
exclusively, in oriental courts. Joseph Addison Alexander.
HI TS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Ver. 2. A common sin. Regard for the persons of men often influences our judgment
of their opinions, virtues, vices, and general bearing; this involves injustice to
others, as well as deep injury to the flattered.
Psalms 82:3*
ELLICOTT, "(2) How long?—What a terrible severity in this Divine Quousque
tandem!
“The gods
Grow angry with your patience; this their care,
And must be yours, that guilty men escape not;
As crimes do grow, justice should rouse itself.”
BE JO SO .
Judge unjustly.—Literally, judge iniquity. For the opposite expression see Psalms
58:1. Leviticus 19:15, which lays down the great principle of strictly fair and
unbribable justice is evidently in the poet’s mind, as is shown by the use of the next
clause.
Accept the persons.—Literally, lift up the faces. An expression arising from the
Eastern custom of prostration before a king or judge. The accepted suitor is
commanded to “lift up his face,” i.e., to arise. (Comp. Proverbs 18:5, and
Jehoshaphat’s address to the judges, 2 Chronicles 19:7.) This fine sense of the
majesty of incorruptible justice attended Israel throughout its history. (See Sirach
7:6.)
BE SO , "Psalms 82:2. How long will ye judge unjustly? — The psalmist speaks to
them in God’s name, and reproves them for their continued unrighteousness in their

public administrations; and accept the persons of the wicked — By overlooking the
merits of the cause, and giving sentence according to your respect or affection to the
person. It appears from Isaiah 1:23, that the courts of justice were very corrupt in
Hezekiah’s reign, at which time probably this Psalm was written.
WHEDO , "2. How long will ye judge unjustly—God, who stands in the assembly,
speaks to the ministers of justice. The “how long” is the first thundertone to the
consciences of these corrupt office bearers, and calls their attention back to the law.
Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:17.
Accept the persons of the wicked—Lift up the faces of the wicked; give them
assurance and favour, having respect to their persons, which was forbidden in the
law. Leviticus 19:15
PULPIT, "How long will ye judge unjustly? "The cry of the impatient Jehovah"
(Cheyne); comp. Exodus 10:3; Exodus 16:28; umbers 14:11, umbers 14:27. And
accept the persons of the wicked? Accepting men's persons is favouring them
unduly on account of their position or outward circumstances. It was strictly
forbidden in the Mosaic Law (see Deuteronomy 1:17; Deuteronomy 16:19; Le
Deuteronomy 19:15).
COFFMA , "Verse 2
THE DE U CIATIO S A D WAR I GS
"How long will ye judge unjustly,
And respect the persons of the wicked?
(Selah)
Judge the poor and fatherless:
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
Rescue the poor and needy:
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
They know not, neither do they understand;
They walk to and fro in darkness:
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I said, Ye are gods,
And all of you sons of the Most High.

evertheless, ye shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes."
"How long will ye judge unjustly" (Psalms 82:2)? "These judges are not evil angels,
who in later Judaism were regarded as guardians of the nations."[4] Who were
they? They were the ones to whom God gave the Law of Moses, the Israelites (See
John 10:34ff), particularly the wicked judges upon whom this chapter is focused.
"Judge the poor ... fatherless ... afflicted ... destitute, and deliver them out of the
hand of the wicked" (Psalms 82:3-4). Many are the Biblical denunciations of Israel's
wicked judges. Zephaniah 3:3 refers to those judges as "evening wolves"; and Amos
repeatedly stated that they would sell the poor "for a pair of shoes" (Amos 2:6; 8:6).
Furthermore, those prophets were not speaking of "angels" but of the corrupt
judges of the chosen people. Those who are familiar with the sordid record cannot
be surprised that Jesus founded one of his parables upon the "Unjust Judge."
"They know not ... neither understand ... but walk in darkness" (Psalms 82:5). This
is the statement of God regarding the scandalous judges of Israel. Their ignorance
and lack of understanding in view here were in no sense innocent, but willful. As
Christ himself explained it, "Their eyes they have closed and their ears they have
stopped, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears and
understand with their hearts, and should turn again and I should heal them" (Acts
18:26-27).
"All the foundations of the earth are shaken" (Psalms 82:5). This simply means that
with a corrupt judiciary, Israel's foundation as a nation was already in a very
precarious condition. o nation can long survive when the judiciary becomes
corrupt.
See the chapter introduction for a full discussion of Psalms 82:6.
" evertheless, ye shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes." (Psalms 82:7)
"Ye shall die like men." This is an unfortunate rendition, because it seems to say
that "the angels" alleged to be spoken of here shall even die like human beings die.
"The death here is evidently a penalty impending upon these unjust judges from
God himself. Though exalted in their position, they were not divine, but human."[5]
To paraphrase this verse, "You shall certainly die just like all other mortals die."
"This verse contrasts the purely human fate of the unjust judges with the
superhuman dignity of their calling."[6]
This mention of death to the unjust judges forbids the notion that angels are
addressed; because, the angels of God are not subject to death, except in the case of

the fallen angels who followed Satan; and that death will be eternal punishment, not
ordinary death.
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
BAR ES, "Defend the poor and fatherless - literally, judge; that is, Pronounce
just judgment; see that right is done to them. This is required everywhere in the
Scriptures. The meaning is not that judgment is to be pronounced in their favor because
they are poor, or because they are orphans, for this would be to do what they had just
been charged with as in itself wrong, accepting of persons; that is, showing favor on
account of condition or rank, rather than on account of a just claim. The idea is, that the
poor and the fatherless, having no natural protectors, were likely to be wronged or
oppressed; that they had none to defend their claims; and that magistrates, therefore, as
if they were their natural protectors, should see that their rights were maintained. See
the notes at Isa_1:17.
Do justice to the afflicted and needy - See that justice is done them; that they are
not wronged by persons of wealth, of power, and of rank. Such care does religion take of
those who have no natural guardians. The poor and the needy - the widow and the
fatherless - owe to the religion of the Bible a debt which no language can express.
CLARKE, "Defend the poor - You are their natural protectors under God. They
are oppressed: punish their oppressors, however rich or powerful: and deliver them.
GILL, "Defend the poor and fatherless,.... Or, judge (d) them; such as have no
money to enter and carry on a suit, and have no friends to assist and advise them, and
abide by them; these should be taken under the care and wing of judges; their cause
should be attended to, and justice done them; their persons should be protected, and
their property defended and secured for, since they are called gods, they ought to imitate
him whose name they bear, who is the Father of the fatherless, the Judge of the widows,
and the helper of the poor that commit themselves to him, Psa_10:14, such a righteous
judge and good magistrate was Job; see Job_29:12,
do justice to the afflicted and needy; or "justify" (e) them, pronounce them
righteous, give the cause for them, not right or wrong, nor because they are poor and

needy, but because they are in the right; for, if wicked, they are not to be justified, this is
an abomination to the Lord; see Lev_19:15.
HE RY, " A charge given to all magistrates to do good with their power, as they will
answer it to him by whom they are entrusted with it, Psa_82:3, Psa_82:4. 1. They are to
be the protectors of those who lie exposed to injury and the patrons of those who want
advice and assistance: Defend the poor, who have no money wherewith to make friends
or fee counsel, and the fatherless, who, while they are young and unable to help
themselves, have lost those who would have been the guides of their youth. Magistrates,
as they must be fathers to their country in general, so particularly to those in it who are
fatherless. Are they called gods? Herein they must be followers of him, they must be
fathers of the fatherless. Job was so, Job_29:12. 2. They are to administer justice
impartially, and do right to the afflicted and needy, who, being weak and helpless, have
often wrongs done them; and will be in danger of losing all if magistrates do not, ex
officio - officially, interpose for their relief. If a poor man has an honest cause, his
poverty must be no prejudice to his cause, how great and powerful soever those are that
contend with him. 3. They are to rescue those who have already fallen into the hands of
oppressors and deliver them. (Psa_82:4): Rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
Avenge them of their adversary, Luk_18:3. These are clients whom there is nothing to
be got by, no pay for serving them, no interest by obliging them; yet these are those
whom judges and magistrates must concern themselves for, whose comfort they must
consult and whose cause they must espouse.
JAMISO , "So must good judges act (Psa_10:14; Job_29:12).
CALVI , "3Determine the cause of the poor and the orphan. We are here briefly
taught that a just and well-regulated government will be distinguished for
maintaining the rights of the poor and afflicted. By the figure synecdoche, one part
of equitable administration is put for the whole; for it cannot be doubted that rulers
are bound to observe justice towards all men without distinction. But the prophet,
with much propriety, represents them as appointed to be the defenders of the
miserable and oppressed, both because such persons stand in need of the assistance
of others, and because they can only obtain this where rulers are free from avarice,
ambition, and other vices. The end, therefore, for which judges bear the sword is to
restrain the wicked, and thus to prevent violence from prevailing among men, who
are so much disposed to become disorderly and outrageous. According as men
increase in strength, they become proportionally audacious in oppressing the weak;
and hence it is that rich men seldom resort to magistrates for help, except when they
happen to fall out among themselves. From these remarks, it is very obvious why the
cause of the poor and needy is here chiefly commended to rulers; for those who are
exposed an easy prey to the cruelty and wrongs of the rich have no less need of the
assistance and protection of magistrates than the sick have of the aid of the
physician. Were the truth deeply fixed in the minds of kings and other judges, that
they are appointed to be the guardians of the poor, and that a special part of this
duty lies in resisting the wrongs which are done to them, and in repressing all
unrighteous violence, perfect righteousness would become triumphant through the

whole world. Whoever thinks it not beneath him to defend the poor, instead of
allowing himself to be carried hither and thither by favor, will have a regard only to
what is right. We may farther learn from this passage, that although magistrates
may not be solicited for succor, they are accounted guilty before God of negligence,
if they do not, of their own accord, succor those who stand in need of their
interference. When iniquity openly prevails, and when, on account of it, sighs and
lamentations are everywhere heard, it is in vain for them to pretend that they
cannot redress wrongs, unless complaints are addressed to them. Oppression utters
a sufficiently loud cry of itself; and if the judge, sitting on a high watch-tower, seems
to take no notice of it, he is here plainly warned, that such connivance shall not
escape with impunity.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 3. Defend the poor and fatherless. Cease to do evil, learn to do
well. Look not to the interests of the wealthy whose hands proffer you bribes, but
protect the rights of the needy, and especially uphold the claims of orphans whose
property too often becomes a prey. Do not hunt down the peasant for gathering a
few sticks, and allow the gentlemanly swindler to break through the meshes of the
law.
Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Even they can claim from you as judge no
more than justice; your pity for their circumstances must not make you hold the
scales unfairly: but if you give them no more than justice, at least be sure that you
give them that to the full. Suffer not the afflicted to be further afflicted by enduring
injustice, and let not the needy long stand in need of an equitable hearing.
Ver. 3. It is said of Francis the First, of France, that when a woman kneeled to him
to beg justice, he bade her stand up; for, said he, Woman, it is justice that I owe
thee, and justice thou shalt have; if thou beg anything of me, let it be mercy. A
happy place and people surely, where justice (as it seemeth), was not extorted, but
dropt as kindly as honey from the comb; where there was no sale of offices, no
exchanging of fees, no subtleties of delay, no trucking for expedition, no making
snares of petty and penal statutes: where Justice had scales in her hand, not to
weigh gold, but equity: where judges and magistrates were as oah's ark, to take in
weary doves, and as the horns of the altar, for oppressed innocency to betake
himself unto; where lawyers, advocates, pleaders, did not call evil good, or good evil,
bitter sweet, etc., where plaintiffs and accusers did not inform or persecute through
malice, envy, or for advantage; where subordinate officers durst not help potent
delinquents out of the briars, nor suffer poor men, tempest tossed in law, to languish
in their business within ken of harbour for want of giving a sop to Cerberus, or
sacrificing to the great Diana of expedition; where those setting dogs, such as base,
promoting informers, were not countenanced, and severely punished upon any false,
unjust, or malicious information. To close up all, where the magistrate owed justice
to the people, and paid it; where the people begged for mercy and had it. William
Price. 1642.
Ver. 3-4. The touchstone of magistrates' justice is in the causes and cases of the

poor, fatherless, afflicted, and needy, who are not able to attend long their suits of
law, have no friends nor money to deal for them; to whom, therefore, the mighty
should be eyes to direct them, and a staff to their weakness, to support and help
them in their right. David Dickson.
BE SO , "Psalms 82:3-4. Defend the poor and fatherless — As far as justly you
may: for so this clause must be limited, as appears by comparing it with Leviticus
19:15. Do justice to the afflicted and needy — Hebrew, ‫,הצדיקו‬ hatzdiku, justify him,
namely, when his cause is good, and he is oppressed by a potent adversary. Deliver
the poor and needy — These he recommends to the special care and protection of
magistrates, because such are commonly neglected and crushed by men in higher
place and power, and are unable to relieve or right themselves.
WHEDO , "3. Defend the poor—Hebrew, Judge the poor; administer to them
righteously; give them a fair trial; send them not away unheard because they are
poor, and have no gift or bribe to offer, the crying sin of Asiatic governments to this
day. The word, ‫,שׁפשׂ‬ (shaphat,) to judge, give judgment, should here be understood
generically of the manner of conducting a trial. Their whole code of procedure was
corrupt and needed reform. The poor and fatherless describe a temporal condition
without reference to moral character; but afflicted, in the next clause, often takes
the accessory idea of meek, pious. Psalms 72:2; Psalms 140:12; Isaiah 66:2.
Do justice—Hebrew, Make righteous; that is, acquit before the law, justify. This
they are commanded to do to the meanest citizen, his cause being right, no less than
to the greatest. This was the ideal perfection of the divine government. Psalms
72:12-14
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
BAR ES, "Deliver the poor and needy - That is, Deliver them from the power
and the arts of those who would oppress and wrong them. This would not be showing
them partiality; it would be simply doing them justice.
Rid them out of the hand of the wicked - Deliver, or Rescue them from their
hands; that is, from their attempts to oppress and wrong them.

GILL, "Deliver the poor and needy,.... From his adversary and oppressor, who is
mightier than he, and draws him to the judgment seat; when it is not in his power to
defend himself against him, and get out of his hands, unless a righteous judge will show
a regard to him and his cause; and sometimes even an unjust judge, through
importunity, will do this, as everyone ought, and every righteous one will:
rid them out of the hand of the wicked; this was what the poor widow importuned
the unjust judge for, and obtained, Luk_18:3.
JAMISO , "poor and needy — (Compare Psa_34:10; Psa_41:1).
SPURGEO , "Ver. 4. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the
wicked. Break the nets of the man catchers, the legal toils, the bonds, the securities,
with which cunning men capture and continue to hold in bondage the poor and the
embarrassed. It is a brave thing when a judge can liberate a victim like a fly from
the spider's web, and a horrible case when magistrate and plunderer are in league.
Law has too often been an instrument for vengeance in the hand of unscrupulous
men, an instrument as deadly as poison or the dagger. It is for the judge to prevent
such villainy.
BE SO , "Psalms 82:5. They know not — That is, the magistrates, of whom this
Psalm treats, are not acquainted with, and will not be at the pains to learn the truth
and right of the causes which come before them, nor the duty of their place. either
will they understand — This their ignorance is wilful and affected: they will not
search out the truth, and they shut their eyes lest they should see what they do not
love to see. They walk on — They persist and proceed: it is not one rash and
transient action, but their constant course; in darkness — In ignorance, or in their
sinful and unrighteous courses; being blinded by their corrupt affections and
interests. All the foundations of the earth are out of course — This corruption of the
supreme rulers flows from them to their inferior officers and members, and
manifestly tends to the dissolution of all civil societies, partly by subverting that
order and honesty by which they are supported, and partly by provoking God, the
governor of the world, to destroy them for their wickedness. Green translates this
verse, They are ignorant of their duty, and will not attend to it; but go on in the
dark; all the foundations of the land are in a tottering state. The general meaning is,
“Those that should rule the several nations of the earth uprightly, and preserve
justice among men, are themselves the most unjust, and thereby the authors of all
mischief to the world.” Respecting the word foundations, see on Psalms 11:3.
WHEDO , "4. Deliver… rid—The charge given in Psalms 82:3 has relation to
ordinary suits; this to cases of persecution and oppression. In those they were to
pronounce justice; in these snatch the victims of avarice and malice out of the clutch

of their tormentors. The two words are different, but they both have relation, not
simply to arbitrative justice, but to power also—the interference of the strong arm
of legal protection.
5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand
nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
BAR ES, "They know not, neither will they understand - This is designed
still further to characterize the magistrates at the time referred to in the psalm. They not
merely judged unjustly, and were not merely partial in the administration of justice Psa_
82:2, but they did not desire to understand their duty, and the true principles on which
justice should be administered. They were at no pains to inform themselves, either in
regard to those principles, or in regard to the facts in particular cases. All just judgment
must be based
(a) on a true knowledge of what the law is, or what is right; and
(b) on a knowledge of the facts in a particular case. Where there is no such knowledge,
of course there must be a mal-administration of justice.
One of the first requisites, therefore, in a magistrate is, that he shall have a proper
knowledge of the law; his duty is to ascertain the exact facts in each individual case that
comes before him, and then impartially to apply the law to that case.
They walk on in darkness - In ignorance of the law and of the facts in the case.
All the foundations of the earth - See Psa_11:3, note; Psa_75:3, note. All settled
principles; all the things on which the welfare of society rests; all on which the prosperity
of the world depends. The manner in which justice is administered is as if the very
foundations of the earth should be disturbed, and the world should move without order.
Are out of course - Margin, as in Hebrew, moved. That is, they are moved from
their proper place; the earth no longer rests firmly and safely on its foundation. This
language is taken from the idea so often occurring in the Scriptures, and in the language
of people generally, that the earth rests on solid foundations - as a building does. The
idea is derived from the stability and fixedness of the earth, and from the fact that when
a building is fixed and stable we infer that it has a solid foundation. The thought here is,
that a proper administration of justice is essential to the stability and prosperity of a

state - as essential as a solid foundation is to the stability of the edifice which is reared
on it. The effect of a real-administration of justice in any community may be well
compared with what the result would be if the foundations of the earth should be
removed, or if the laws which now keep it in its place should cease to operate.
CLARKE, "They know not - The judges are not acquainted with the law of God, on
which all their decisions should be founded.
Neither will they understand - They are ignorant and do not wish to be
instructed. They will not learn; they cannot teach. Happy England! How different from
Judea, even in the days of Jehoshaphat! All thy judges are learned, righteous, and
impartial. Never did greater men in their profession dignify any land or country - (1822).
All the foundations of the earth - “All the civil institutions of the land totter.”
Justice is at the head of all the institutions in a well regulated state: when that gets
poisoned or perverted, every evil, political and domestic, must prevail; even religion
itself ceases to have any influence.
GILL, "They knew not,.... The Targum adds, to do well. This is to be understood of
unjust judges and wicked magistrates, who know not God, and have not the fear of him
before their eyes, though he stands in the midst of them, and judges among them; which
is the source of their unjust judging and unrighteous proceedings: for because they know
not God, nor fear him, therefore they regard not men: nor do such know themselves;
they are called gods, and they think they are so, and do not consider they are but men;
they are the ministers of God, deputies under him, and are accountable to him: nor do
they know their duty before pointed out; it is for them to know judgment, what is right,
and what is wrong, that they may pronounce righteous judgment, Mic_3:2, but they do
not know it, at least so as to practise it: nor did the Jewish rulers know Christ, which was
the reason of their unrighteous dealing with him and with his followers; they put him to
death, and so they did them, because they knew him not, 1Co_2:8,
neither will they understand: the Targum adds, by way of explanation, "the law",
the rule of judgment, which judges ought to understand; so the Jewish rulers, Pharisees
and Sadducees, were upbraided by Christ with ignorance of the Scriptures, and the law
of God, their false glosses of which he refutes, Mat_5:1 and their ignorance was wilful
and affected, they shut their eyes against light and evidence, especially with respect to
Christ; they could discern the face of the sky, but not the signs of the times, Mat_16:3,
who so blind as they that will not see? and such were the Jewish rulers; see Isa_42:19,
they walk on in darkness; they chose darkness rather than light, and so were blind
leaders of the blind, and were wilfully so, having their eyes blinded with gifts, Deu_
16:19,
all the foundations of the earth are out of course; or "shaken" or "moved" (f): by
the perversion of justice, towns, cities, commonwealths, kingdoms, and states, are
thrown into the utmost disorder and confusion: as the king by judgment establisheth the
land; Pro_29:4, so when judgment is not executed, it is unsettled, and thrown into
confusion; or though (g) "the foundation", &c. though this is the case, yet unjust judges
will go on, perverting judgment, even though, as at the deluge, the foundations of the

earth were shaken and moved, for the violence, rapine, and oppression, the earth was
then filled with, which Kimchi thinks is here referred to; and though a dissolution of the
Jewish polity, civil and ecclesiastical, was threatened, because of such injustice; that God
would once more shake the heavens and the earth, remove their church and civil state,
when they should cease to be a nation, their city be destroyed, and their temple, not one
stone left upon another; and yet such was the obstinacy of their wicked judges, that they
would persist their wicked ways.
HE RY, " A charge drawn up against bad magistrates, who neglect their duty and
abuse their power, forgetting that God standeth among them, Psa_82:2, Psa_82:5.
Observe, 1. What the sin is they are here charged with; they judge unjustly, contrary to
the rules of equity and the dictates of their consciences, giving judgment against those
who have right on their side, out of malice and ill-will, or for those who have an
unrighteous cause, out of favour and partial affection. To do unjustly is bad, but to judge
unjustly is much worse, because it is doing wrong under colour of right; against such
acts of injustice there is least fence for the injured and by them encouragement is given
to the injurious. It was as great an evil as any Solomon saw under the sun when he
observed the place of judgment, that iniquity was there, Ecc_3:16; Isa_5:7. They not
only accepted the persons of the rich because they were rich, though that is bad enough,
but (which is much worse) they accepted the persons of the wicked because they were
wicked; they not only countenanced them in their wickedness, but loved them the better
for it, and fell in with their interests. Woe unto thee, O land! when thy judges are such as
these. 2. What was the cause of this sin. They were told plainly enough that it was their
office and duty to protect and deliver the poor; it was many a time given them in charge;
yet they judge unjustly, for they know not, neither will they understand. They do not
care to hear their duty; they will not take pains to study it; they have no desire to take
things right, but are governed by interest, not by reason or justice. A gift in secret blinds
their eyes. They know not because they will not understand. None so blind as those that
will not see. They have baffled their own consciences, and so they walk on in darkness,
not knowing nor caring what they do nor whither they go. Those that walk on in
darkness are walking on to everlasting darkness. 3. What were the consequences of this
sin: All the foundations of the earth (or of the land) are out of course. When justice is
perverted what good can be expected? The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are
dissolved, as the psalmist speaks in a like case, Psa_75:3. The miscarriages of public
persons are public mischiefs.
JAMISO , "By the willful ignorance and negligence of judges, anarchy ensues (Psa_
11:3; Psa_75:3).
out of course — (Compare Margin; Psa_9:6; Psa_62:2).
CALVI , "5They know not, neither do they understand. (425) After having
reminded princes of their duty, the Psalmist complains that his admonition from
their infatuation is ineffectual, and that they refuse to receive wholesome
instruction; yea, that although the whole world is shaken to its foundations, they,
notwithstanding, continue thoughtless and secure in the neglect of their duty. He
chiefly reprobates and condemns their madness as manifested in this, that although
they see heaven and earth involved in confusion, they are no more affected at the
sight than if the care of the interests of mankind did not belong to them, of which

they are, notwithstanding, in an especial manner the chosen and appointed
conservators. I have stated a little before, that what chiefly deprives them of
understanding is, that, being dazzled with their own splendor, and perversely
shaking off every yoke, no religious considerations have the effect of inclining them
to moderation. All sound knowledge and wisdom must commence with yielding to
God the honor which is his due, and submitting to be restrained and governed by
his word. The last clause of the verse, Although all the foundations of the earth are
moved, (426) is almost universally understood by interpreters in a different sense
from that in which I have rendered it. They explain it as implying, that of all the
calamities in the world the greatest is when princes neglect to execute the duties of
their office; for it is the observance and prevalence of justice which constitutes the
foundation on which the fabric of human society rests. Thus the sense, according to
them, is, that the world is undermined and overthrown by the unjust tyranny of
princes. I am far from rejecting this interpretation; but, as I have already hinted, I
am more inclined to think, that we have here condemned the monstrous stupidity of
judges, who can remain indifferent and unmoved in beholding the horrible
confusion of civil society, yea even the very earth shaken to its foundations.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 5. They know not, neither will they understand. A wretched
plight for a nation to be in when its justices know no justice, and its judges are
devoid of judgment. either to know his duty nor to wish to know it is rather the
mark of an incorrigible criminal than of a magistrate, yet such a stigma was justly
set upon the rulers of Israel.
They walk on in darkness. They are as reckless as they are ignorant. Being both
ignorant and wicked they yet dare to pursue a path in which knowledge and
righteousness are essential: they go on without hesitation, forgetful of the
responsibilities in which they are involved, and the punishment which they are
incurring.
All the foundations of the earth are out of course. When the dispensers of law have
dispensed with justice, settlements are unsettled, society is unhinged, the whole
fabric of the nation is shaken. When injustice is committed in due course of law the
world is indeed out of course. When "Justices' justice" becomes a byword it is time
that justice dealt with justices. Surely it would be well that certain of "the great
unpaid" should be paid off, when day after day their judgments show that they have
no judgment. When peasants may be horsewhipped by farmers with impunity, and
a pretty bird is thought more precious than poor men, the foundations of the earth
are indeed sinking like rotten piles unable to bear up the structures built upon them.
Thank God we have, as an almost invariable rule, incorruptible judges; may it
always be so. Even our lesser magistrates are, in general, most worthy men; for
which we ought to be grateful to God evermore.
Ver. 5. They know not, neither will they understand, etc. Every judge must have in
him (as Baldus actually said) two kinds of salt; the first is sal scientiae, that he may
know his duty; the second is sal conscientiae, that he may do his duty. Such as fail in

the first, are censured here with a nescierunt, and non intellexerunt; such as fall in
the second, are branded here with an ambulant in tenebris. The dangers upon this
neglect of these duties are two: the one concerning the whole commonwealth, All the
foundations of the earth are out of course; the other especially touching the private
persons of the judges, at the seventh verse, Ye shall die like men, and fall like one of
the princes, and after death comes judgment, Psalms 82:8 : Arise, O God, judge the
earth. Almighty God "standeth in the congregation of princes, and is a judge among
gods; "he sits Chief Justice in every session and assize, to mark what matters pass,
and how they pass, ready to judge those righteously, who judge others unjustly,
"giving wrong judgment, and accepting the persons of the wicked." Psalms 67:4
pros to krithrion tou yeou. Thus I have made the way plain before you; God
infinitely rich in mercy grant, that both I in speaking, and you in hearing, may walk
therein (as the blessed Apostle phraseth it, Galatians 2:14) "with a right foot." They
know not, neither will they understand. That is, they neither know God, who made
them gods; nor yet understand his law, which is a lantern to their feet, and a light to
their paths. Or, as Placidus Parmensis upon the place, â€”They neither consider
how they that be called gods, as commissioners and ministers of God, ought to judge
others; nor yet remember how they shall be judged themselves at the last day, when
"all the foundations of the world shall be moved, "and God himself shall "arise to
judge the earth." Or, they be so corrupt and abominable, that they will neither
learn what is their office from others, nor yet understand it by themselves. Or
briefly, to give that gloss (which fits best I think the text, I am sure the time),
escierunt quid facti, non intelexerunt quid juris; they were both ignorant in the
matter of fact, as not searching out the cause; and ignorant in the matter of law,
sitting (as Paul said of Ananias) to give judgment according to the law, and yet
commanding that which is contrary to the law. The first concerns a good deal the
jury, the second a great deal the judges; in both are condemned, as the nurses of all
confusions in a commonwealth, ignorantia simplex, and affectata; simple ignorance,
when as they be so shallow that they cannot; affected ignorance, when as they be so
deep, that they will not understand what is right and reason. John Boys, in "The
Judge's Charge, "1618.
COKE, "Psalms 82:5. They know not, &c.— They are ignorant of their duty, and
will not attend to it, but go on in the dark: All the foundations of the land are in a
tottering state. Green. Respecting the word foundations, see on Psalms 11:3. The
meaning is, "those who should rule the several nations of the earth uprightly, and
preserve justice among all men, are themselves the most unjust, and thereby the
authors of all mischief to the world."
PULPIT, "They know not, neither will they understand. Scarcely "an aside from
the indignant judge," as Professor Cheyne suggests, much less a remark
interpolated by the poet (Ewald, Hitzig). Rather a complaint of human perversity,
addressed by Jehovah to the angelic host who are present (Psalms 82:1). It is not an
accidental and excusable ignorance, but a wilful and guilty one that is spoken of.
They walk on in darkness. Loving darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil (John 3:19), they walked in the way of darkness (Proverbs 2:13). All the
foundations of the earth are out of course; rather, are shaken. The fundamental

bases on which the life of man upon the earth rests, the very principles of morality,
are shaken, and totter to their fail, when those whose place it is to administer justice
pervert it and deal out injustice instead.
WHEDO , "5. They know not— “The judges are ignorant of their duty.”—
Ainsworth. They consider not the high dignity of their office, the fundamental laws
of the theocracy, and that the existence of the nation depends on their fidelity. For
more than sixty years, since the death of Solomon, the government had declined
fearfully. We must understand God as still speaking to the judges, and Psalms 82:5
refers to such as are described Psalms 82:2, and will not practise the injunctions of
Psalms 82:3-4. Compare Micah 3:1 : “And I said,… O… ye princes of the house of
Israel, is it not for you to know judgment.”
All the foundations of the earth are out of course—The principles of just
government are the pillars of society, and when they are perverted by corrupt and
ambitious rulers the foundations of the social fabric are shaken, and must fall. The
figure is that of an earthquake shaking and heaving the solid earth, and demolishing
human habitations. Compare note on Psalms 75:3
K&D 5-7, "What now follows in Psa_82:5 is not a parenthetical assertion of the
inefficiency with which the divine correction rebounds from the judges and rulers. In
connection with this way of taking Psa_82:5, the manner in which the divine language is
continued in Psa_82:6 is harsh and unadjusted. God Himself speaks in Psa_82:5 of the
judges, but reluctantly alienated from them; and confident of the futility of all attempts
to make them better, He tells them their sentence in Psa_82:6. The verbs in Psa_82:5
are designedly without any object: complaint of the widest compass is made over their
want of reason and understanding; and ‫ידעו‬ takes the perfect form in like manner to
ᅚγνώκασι, noverunt, cf. Psa_14:1; Isa_44:18. Thus, then, no result is to be expected from
the divine admonition: they still go their ways in this state of mental darkness, and that,
as the Hithpa. implies, stalking on in carnal security and self-complacency. The
commands, however, which they transgress are the foundations (cf. Psa_11:3), as it were
the shafts and pillars (Psa_75:4, cf. Pro_29:4), upon which rests the permanence of all
earthly relationships with are appointed by creation and regulated by the Tôra. Their
transgression makes the land, the earth, to totter physically and morally, and is the
prelude of its overthrow. When the celestial Lord of the domain thinks upon this
destruction which injustice and tyranny are bringing upon the earth, His wrath kindles,
and He reminds the judges and rulers that it is His own free declaratory act which has
clothed them with the god-like dignity which they bear. They are actually elohim, but not
possessed of the right of self-government; there is a Most High (‫ּון‬‫י‬ ְ‫ל‬ ֶ‫)ע‬ to whom they as
sons are responsible. The idea that the appellation elohim, which they have given to
themselves, is only sarcastically given back to them in Psa_82:1 (Ewald, Olshausen), is
refuted by Psa_82:6, according to which they are really elohim by the grace of God. But if
their practice is not an Amen to this name, then they shall be divested of the majesty
which they have forfeited; they shall be divested of the prerogative of Israel, whose
vocation and destiny they have belied. They shall die off ‫ם‬ ָ‫ד‬ፎ ְⅴ, like common men not
rising in any degree above the mass (cf. ‫ם‬ ָ‫ד‬ፎ ‫י‬ֵ‫נ‬ ְ , opp. ‫ישׁ‬ ִ‫א‬ ‫י‬ֵ‫נ‬ ְ , Psa_4:3; Psa_49:3); they

shall fall like any one (Jdg_16:7, Oba_1:11) of the princes who in the course of history
have been cast down by the judgment of God (Hos_7:7). Their divine office will not
protect them. For although justitia civilis is far from being the righteousness that avails
before God, yet injustitia civilis is in His sight the vilest abomination.
6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’
BAR ES, "I have said, Ye are gods - See the notes at Psa_82:1. I have given you
this title; I have conferred on you an appellation which indicates a greater nearness to
God than any other which is bestowed on men - an appellation which implies that you
are God’s representatives on earth, and that your decision is, in an important sense, to
be regarded as his.
And all of you are children of the Most High - Sons of God. That is, You occupy
a rank which makes it proper that you should be regarded as his sons.
CLARKE, "Ye are gods - Or, with the prefix of ‫כ‬ ke, the particle of similitude,
‫כאלהים‬ keelohim, “like God.” Ye are my representatives, and are clothed with my power
and authority to dispense judgment and justice, therefore all of them are said to be
children of the Most High.
GILL, "Psalms 82:6
I have said, ye are gods,.... In the law, Exo_21:6 or they were so by his appointment
and commission; he constituted them judges and magistrates, invested them with such
an office, by which they came to have this title; see Rom_13:1, and so our Lord interprets
these words, that they were gods "to whom" the word of God came, which gave them a
commission and authority to exercise their office, Joh_10:35, or rather "against whom"
it came, pronouncing the sentence of death on them, as in Psa_82:7, to which the
reference is; declaring, that though they were gods by office, yet were mortal men, and
should die. The Targum is, "I said, as angels are ye accounted"; and so judges and civil
magistrates had need to be as angels, and to have the wisdom of them; see 2Sa_14:20.
Jarchi interprets it of angels, but magistrates are undoubtedly meant:
and all of you are children of the most High; the Targum here again renders it,
"the angels of the most High:''

and so Aben Ezra explains it of them who are called the sons of God, Job_38:7 but men
in power are meant, who, because of their eminency and dignity, their high office, post,
and place, are so called; see Gen_6:2.
HE RY, "I. Earthly gods abased and brought down, Psa_82:6, Psa_82:7. The dignity
of their character is acknowledged (Psa_82:6): I have said, You are gods. They have
been honoured with the name and title of gods. God himself called them so in the statute
against treasonable words Exo_22:28, Thou shalt not revile the gods. And, if they have
this style from the fountain of honour, who can dispute it? But what is man, that he
should be thus magnified? He called them gods because unto them the word of God
came, so our Saviour expounds it (Joh_10:35); they had a commission from God, and
were delegated and appointed by him to be the shields of the earth, the conservators of
the public peace, and revengers to execute wrath upon those that disturb it, Rom_13:4.
All of them are in this sense children of the Most High. God has put some of his honour
upon them, and employs them in his providential government of the world, as David
made his sons chief rulers. Or, “Because I said, You are gods, you have carried the
honour further than was intended and have imagined yourselves to be the children of the
Most High,” as the king of Babylon (Isa_14:14), I will be like the Most High, and the king
of Tyre (Eze_28:2), Thou hast set thy heart as the heart of God. It is a hard thing for
men to have so much honour put upon them by the hand of God, and so much honour
paid them, as ought to be by the children of men, and not to be proud of it and puffed up
with it, and so to think of themselves above what is meet. But here follows a mortifying
consideration: You shall die like men. This may be taken either, 1. As the punishment of
bad magistrates, such as judged unjustly, and by their misrule put the foundations of the
earth out of course. God will reckon with them, and will cut them off in the midst of
their pomp and prosperity; they shall die like other wicked men, and fall like one of the
heathen princes (and their being Israelites shall not secure them anymore than their
being judges) or like one of the angels that sinned, or like one of the giants of the old
world. Compare this with that which Elihu observed concerning the mighty oppressors
in his time. Job_34:26, He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of others. Let
those that abuse their power know that God will take both it and their lives from them;
for wherein they deal proudly he will show himself above them. Or, 2. As the period of
the glory of all magistrates in this world. Let them not be puffed up with their honour
nor neglect their work, but let the consideration of their mortality be both mortifying to
their pride and quickening to their duty. “You are called gods, but you have no patent for
immortality; you shall die like men, like common men; and like one of them, you, O
princes! shall fall.” Note, Kings and princes, all the judges of the earth, though they are
gods to us, are men to God, and shall die like men, and all their honour shall be laid in
the dust. Mors sceptra ligonibus aequat - Death mingles sceptres with spades.
JAMISO , "Though God admitted their official dignity (Joh_10:34), He reminds
them of their mortality.
CALVI , "6I have said, ye are gods. God has invested judges with a sacred
character and title. This the prophet concedes; but he, at the same time, shows that
this will afford no support and protection to wicked judges. He does not introduce
them as speaking of the dignity of their office; but anticipating the style of reasoning

which they would be disposed to adopt, he replies, “If you appeal to your dignity as
an argument to shield you, this boasting will avail you nothing; yea, rather you are
deceiving yourselves by your foolish confidence; for God, in appointing you his
substitutes, has not divested himself of his own sovereignty as supreme ruler. Again,
he would have you to remember your own frailty as a means of stirring you up to
execute with fear and trembling the office intrusted to you.” This verse may also be
viewed as addressed by God himself to rulers, and as intimating, that, in addition to
his clothing them with authority, he has bestowed upon them his name. This
interpretation seems to agree with the language of Christ in John 10:34, where he
speaks of those as called gods to whom the word of God came. The passage,
however, may be appropriately resolved thus: I grant that ye are gods, and the sons
of the Most High (427) But this does not materially alter the meaning. The object is
simply to teach that the dignity with which judges are invested can form no excuse
or plea why they should escape the punishment which their wickedness deserves.
The government of the world has been committed to them upon the distinct
understanding that they themselves also must one day appear at the judgment-seat
of heaven to render up an account. The dignity, therefore, with which they are
clothed is only temporary, and will pass away with the fashion of the world.
Accordingly, it is added in the 7th verse, But ye shall die as men. You are armed
with power, as if he had said, to govern the world; but you have not on that account
ceased to be men, so as to be no longer subject to mortality. The last clause of the
verse is translated by some expositors, Ye shall fall like one of the princes; (428) but
in my opinion improperly. They think that it contains a threatening of the violent
death which would befall these unrighteous judges, corresponding to the sentiment
of these lines of a heathen poet: —
“Ad generum Cereris sine caede et sanguine pauci,
Descendunt reges, et sicca morte tyranni.”
“Few kings and tyrants go down to Pluto, the son-in-law of Ceres, without being put
to a violent death, before they have completed the ordinary term allotted to the life
of mortal man.” (429) That translation being forced, and not such as the words
naturally suggest, I have no doubt that princes are here compared to the obscure
and common class of mankind. The word one signifies any of the common people.
Forgetting themselves to be men, the great ones of the earth may flatter themselves
with visionary hopes of immortality; but they are here taught that they will be
compelled to encounter death as well as other men. Christ, with the view of
rebutting the calumny with which the Pharisees loaded him, quoted this text, John
10:34, “Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he
called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be
broken; say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world,
Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” By these words Christ did
not mean to place himself among the order of judges; but he argues from the less to
the greater, that if the name of God is applied to God’s officers, it with much more
propriety belongs to his only begotten Son, who is the express image of the Father,
in whom the Father’s majesty shines forth, and in whom the whole fullness of the
Godhead dwells.

Psalm 82 commentary

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Psalm 82 commentary