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NASB | Psalm 82:6 I said, "You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Psalm 82:6 I said, "You are gods; Indeed, all of you are sons of the Most High. [Gen 6:1-4; John 10:34-36; Rom 13:1, 2] |
Bible Question:
I was reading #18285 and other threads that spoke of the dangers of false teachers and false doctrines. Psalm 82:6 is a reference for the Word of Faith belief that "You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High". This verse was one that I studied to determine who is speaking; for my study of pronouns requires to know that information for each passage. Verse six says that "I said". The marginal note in my NASB Study Bible says, [Lit. I, on my part]. So Benny Hinn and others can say that we are in the image of God and a part of God when we say "I am..." However, we can not count ourselves as gods or deity just because we say "I am". But the verse is important for the understanding that Jesus is the Son of God as compared to John 10:33-36 where He brings this Scripture to bear. If our rulers can be called gods and sons of the Most High by the Psalm writer on his part, can not Jesus call Himself the Son of God on His part? Jesus said that the Scripture, the word of God, cannot be broken. If we "count" the "I SAID, YOU ARE GODS" as being said by Deity then I would say that the Scripture has been broken. So I would say that false teachers are trying to put words in God's mouth. My question: The ALL CAPS of the Scriptures leave it up to you to interpret. If you agree that the "I said" is attributed to the Psalmist Asaph, how about the next phrase? 1) "I said, on my part, "You are gods"." Or, 2) "I said, on my part, "You are God's." That decision to my mind [gods or God's] also is important to whether the Scripture is "broken". We may need a Hebrew grammar scholar here. From the heart, Ray |
Bible Answer: Ray... :-) I am no Hebrew grammar scholar but here is what I think: Counting it to have been said by Deity does not necessarily mean it's 'putting words into God's mouth'. Remember the discussion we had before, ID# 122481 and the replies? If 'gods' (elohim) is interpreted as 'judges/rulers' with reference to the power we received from God (over nature etc, see Gen 1:26-29), and we say that 'children of the Most High' refers to how we have been made in His likeness, it is in no dsagreement with the point Jesus was making in John 10:33-36: if men were given so much power and dignity as to be called 'gods' and 'children of the Most High', how much more was Jesus, who was by nature God Himself (Phil 2:6), 'allowed' to call Himself the Son of God? Reading the whole psalm still makes me think it should be interpreted as 'rulers', 'judges', or 'people possessing some sort of power'... Read Psalm 82:7 (KJV), "But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes". So the reminder is definitely there, we cannot claim 'I am god/deity'. We can claim 'I am mighty' or 'I am a judge' or 'I have power', however. C.v. Psalm 82:1. To me the whole point of this psalm is similar to that of Ezekiel 28, which I was referring to earlier. We do have power to 'judge', even 'unjustly' (v2), but also to 'defend the poor and fatherless' (v3). This is the power which the Pharisees had also - I believe Jesus was referring to that when He used this passage from Scripture against them to prove Himself. For 'they know not, neither do they understand, they walk on in darkness" (v5). C.v: Isaiah 6:10, Jeremiah 5:21, Ezekiel 12:2, John 12:40... So Version 1) definitely makes sense, whether we actually accept that it was said by Deity or the psalmist. In any case, I believe it refers to the earthly power He has given to us, which creates pride in too many people. The psalm is a warning against it, as well as a cry from the humble to the Lord to "judge the earth". See also: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? for thou hast made him little lower than angels (NIV and AMP: 'heavenly beings'/'God', NASB: "God"), and hast crowned him with glory and honour" Psalm 8:4-5 (So He made us 'gods' - that's why I think most probably He is talking in this passage, but that's just a personal comment.) Personally I would not go with 2). The word 'gods' ('elohim', Strong's no: 0430) means: "(plu) rulers, judges, divine ones, angels, gods, (sing) god, goddess, godlike one, works or special possessions of God, the (true) God, God". I understand that in some sense, one could translate it as 'God's (works or special possessions)'. But then Jesus' reference would not make much sense, and neither would the rest of the psalm. If the people are 'God's', why does Jesus use the passage against them? And why would the psalmist himself talk about the injustice of the earthly leaders/mighty ones? (Injustice is not of God, it is not characterstic of 'God's' people) Whatever we go with, the point is the same: men have been exalted by God and received much power, but they have abused it; yet when Someone in the very nature of God came with much-much more power, using it only for good things, He was rejected when He claimed to be the Son of God. :-( Hope this helps a little... May God bless you in everything you do for him, but especially in your work with the capitalization of His Word, Zsuzsi |