Text -- Psalms 82:6-8 (NET)

82:6 I thought, ‘You are gods; all of you are sons of the Most High.’ 82:7 Yet you will die like mortals; you will fall like all the other rulers.” 82:8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth! For you own all the nations.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 82:6

¹ tn Heb “said.”

² sn Normally in the OT the title Most High belongs to the God of Israel, but in this context, where the mythological overtones are so strong, it probably refers to the Canaanite high god El (see v. 1, as well as Isa 14:13).

NET Notes: Psa 82:7

¹ tn Heb “men.” The point in the context is mortality, however, not maleness.

sn You will die like mortals. For the concept of a god losing immortality and dying, see Isa 14:12-15, which alludes to a pagan myth in which the petty god “Shining One, son of the Dawn,” is hurled into Sheol for his hubris.

² tn Heb “like one of the rulers.” The comparison does not necessarily imply that they are not rulers. The expression “like one of” can sometimes mean “as one of” (Gen 49:16; Obad 11) or “as any other of” (Judg 16:7, 11).

NET Notes: Psa 82:8

¹ tn The translation assumes that the Qal of נָחַל (nakhal) here means “to own; to possess,” and that the imperfect emphasizes a general truth. Another option is to translate the verb as future, “for you will take possession of all the nations” (cf. NIV “all the nations are your inheritance”).