Psalms 82:1-2

Psalm 82 ¹ 

A psalm of Asaph.

82:1 God stands in ²  the assembly of El; ³ 

in the midst of the gods ⁴  he renders judgment. ⁵ 

82:2 He says, ⁶  “How long will you make unjust legal decisions

and show favoritism to the wicked? ⁷  (Selah)

Numbers 11:16

The Response of God

11:16 ⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials ⁹  over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you.

Deuteronomy 1:15-16

1:15 So I chose ¹⁰  as your tribal leaders wise and well-known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials. 1:16 I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they ¹¹  should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens ¹²  and judge fairly, ¹³  whether between one citizen and another ¹⁴  or a citizen and a resident foreigner. ¹⁵ 

Deuteronomy 1:2

1:2 Now it is ordinarily an eleven-day journey ¹⁶  from Horeb ¹⁷  to Kadesh Barnea ¹⁸  by way of Mount Seir. ¹⁹ 

Deuteronomy 5:3

5:3 He ²⁰  did not make this covenant with our ancestors ²¹  but with us, we who are here today, all of us living now.

Matthew 26:3

26:3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people met together in the palace of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas.

Matthew 27:1

Jesus Brought Before Pilate

27:1 When ²²  it was early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people plotted against Jesus to execute him.

Luke 23:50-51

Jesus’ Burial

23:50 Now ²³  there was a man named Joseph who was a member of the council, ²⁴  a good and righteous man. 23:51 (He ²⁵  had not consented ²⁶  to their plan and action.) He ²⁷  was from the Judean town ²⁸  of Arimathea, and was looking forward to ²⁹  the kingdom of God. ³⁰ 

Acts 5:21

5:21 When they heard this, they entered the temple courts ³¹  at daybreak and began teaching. ³² 

Now when the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they summoned the Sanhedrin ³³  – that is, the whole high council ³⁴  of the Israelites ³⁵  – and sent to the jail to have the apostles ³⁶  brought before them. ³⁷ 

[82:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 82. The psalmist pictures God standing in the “assembly of El” where he accuses the “gods” of failing to promote justice on earth. God pronounces sentence upon them, announcing that they will die like men. Having witnessed the scene, the psalmist then asks God to establish his just rule over the earth.

[82:1]  ² tn Or “presides over.”

[82:1]  ³ tn The phrase עֲדַת אֵל (’adat ’el, “assembly of El”) appears only here in the OT. (1) Some understand “El” to refer to God himself. In this case he is pictured presiding over his own heavenly assembly. (2) Others take אֵל as a superlative here (“God stands in the great assembly”), as in Pss 36:6 and 80:10. (3) The present translation assumes this is a reference to the Canaanite high god El, who presided over the Canaanite divine assembly. (See Isa 14:13, where El’s assembly is called “the stars of El.”) In the Ugaritic myths the phrase ’dt ’ilm refers to the “assembly of the gods,” who congregate in King Kirtu’s house, where Baal asks El to bless Kirtu’s house (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 91). If the Canaanite divine assembly is referred to here in Ps 82:1, then the psalm must be understood as a bold polemic against Canaanite religion. Israel’s God invades El’s assembly, denounces its gods as failing to uphold justice, and announces their coming demise. For an interpretation of the psalm along these lines, see W. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” EBC 5:533-36.

[82:1]  ⁴ sn The present translation assumes that the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “gods”) here refers to the pagan gods who supposedly comprise El’s assembly according to Canaanite religion. Those who reject the polemical view of the psalm prefer to see the referent as human judges or rulers (אֱלֹהִים sometimes refers to officials appointed by God, see Exod 21:6; 22:8-9; Ps 45:6) or as angelic beings (אֱלֹהִים sometimes refers to angelic beings, see Gen 3:5; Ps 8:5).

[82:1]  ⁵ sn The picture of God rendering judgment among the gods clearly depicts his sovereign authority as universal king (see v. 8, where the psalmist boldly affirms this truth).

[82:2]  ⁶ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to indicate that the following speech is God’s judicial decision (see v. 1).

[82:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the face of the wicked lift up.”

[11:16]  ⁸ sn The Lord provides Spirit-empowered assistance for Moses. Here is another variation on the theme of Moses’ faith. Just as he refused to lead alone and was given Aaron to share the work, so here he protests the burden and will share it with seventy elders. If God’s servant will not trust wholeheartedly, that individual will not be used by God as he or she might have been. Others will share in the power and the work. Probably one could say that it was God’s will for others to share this leadership – but not to receive it through these circumstances.

[11:16]  ⁹ tn The “officials” (שֹׁטְּרִים, shottÿrim) were a group of the elders who seem to have had some administrative capacities. The LXX used the word “scribes.” For further discussion, see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 69-70.

[1:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “selected”; Heb “took.”

[1:16]  ¹¹ tn Or “you.” A number of English versions treat the remainder of this verse and v. 17 as direct discourse rather than indirect discourse (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[1:16]  ¹² tn Heb “brothers.” The term “brothers” could, in English, be understood to refer to siblings, so “fellow citizens” has been used in the translation.

[1:16]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew word צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “fairly”) carries the basic idea of conformity to a norm of expected behavior or character, one established by God himself. Fair judgment adheres strictly to that norm or standard (see D. Reimer, NIDOTTE 3:750).

[1:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”

[1:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”

[1:2]  ¹⁶ sn An eleven-day journey was about 140 mi (233 km).

[1:2]  ¹⁷ sn Horeb is another name for Sinai. “Horeb” occurs 9 times in the Book of Deuteronomy and “Sinai” only once (33:2). “Sinai” occurs 13 times in the Book of Exodus and “Horeb” only 3 times.

[1:2]  ¹⁸ sn Kadesh Barnea. Possibly this refers to àAin Qudeis, about 50 mi (80 km) southwest of Beer Sheba, but more likely to àAin Qudeirat, 5 mi (8 km) NW of àAin Qudeis. See R. Cohen, “Did I Excavate Kadesh-Barnea?” BAR 7 (1981): 20-33.

[1:2]  ¹⁹ sn Mount Seir is synonymous with Edom. “By way of Mount Seir” refers to the route from Horeb that ended up in Edom Cf. CEV “by way of the Mount Seir Road”; TEV “by way of the hill country of Edom.”

[5:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[5:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “fathers.”

[27:1]  ²² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:50]  ²³ tn Grk “And behold.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[23:50]  ²⁴ tn Grk “a councillor” (as a member of the Sanhedrin, see L&N 11.85). This indicates that some individuals among the leaders did respond to Jesus.

[23:51]  ²⁵ tn Grk “This one.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation at this point.

[23:51]  ²⁶ tc Several mss (א C D L Δ Ψ 070 Ë^1,13 [579] 892 1424 2542 al) read the present participle συγκατατιθέμενος (sunkatatiqemeno") instead of the perfect participle συγκατατεθειμένος (sunkatateqeimeno"). The present participle could be taken to mean that Joseph had decided that the execution was now a mistake. The perfect means that he did not agree with it from the start. The perfect participle, however, has better support externally (Ì⁷⁵ A B W Θ 33 Ï), and is thus the preferred reading.

[23:51]  ²⁷ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation at this point.

[23:51]  ²⁸ tn Or “Judean city”; Grk “from Arimathea, a city of the Jews.” Here the expression “of the Jews” (᾿Iουδαίων, Ioudaiwn) is used in an adjectival sense to specify a location (cf. BDAG 478 s.v. ᾿Iουδαῖος 2.c) and so has been translated “Judean.”

[23:51]  ²⁹ tn Or “waiting for.”

[23:51]  ³⁰ sn Though some dispute that Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple of Jesus, this remark that he was looking forward to the kingdom of God, the affirmation of his character at the end of v. 50, and his actions regarding Jesus’ burial all suggest otherwise.

[5:21]  ³¹ tn Grk “the temple.” See the note on the same phrase in the preceding verse.

[5:21]  ³² tn The imperfect verb ἐδίδασκον (edidaskon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[5:21]  ³³ tn Or “the council” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[5:21]  ³⁴ tn A hendiadys (two different terms referring to a single thing) is likely here (a reference to a single legislative body rather than two separate ones) because the term γερουσίαν (gerousian) is used in both 1 Macc 12:6 and Josephus, Ant. 13.5.8 (13.166) to refer to the Sanhedrin.

[5:21]  ³⁵ tn Grk “sons of Israel.”

[5:21]  ³⁶ tn Grk “have them”; the referent (the apostles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ³⁷ tn The words “before them” are not in the Greek text but are implied.