Psalm 82 Introduction

Structure and Formatting

Psalm 82, like Psalm 81, seems to have been written for the occasion of one of the annual festivals, when many Israelites would have been at the temple in Jerusalem and heard its message of challenge and warning. It depicts God convening an assembly of rulers and passing judgment against them for failing to ensure justice. 1. God takes his place of authority in this assembly (1) 2. God demands that these rulers judge justly (2–4) 3. God passes judgment against these rulers (5–7) 4. The psalmist asks God to judge the earth (8)

Translation Issues in This Psalm

Translation of the term “gods”

The psalmist describes these rulers as “gods” in verse 1, and God says to them “You are gods” in verse 6. That has led many interpreters to conclude that this is a depiction of a divine assembly in heaven. However, that same Hebrew term can also mean “judges,” as in Exodus 21:6 and 22:8, so other interpreters understand this as a depiction of God summoning human judges and indicting them for not upholding justice. If possible, translate this psalm in a way that allows for either interpretation. The UST models one way to do that.

Parallelisms

Parallelisms arise when two clauses occur together which mean the same thing. The second clause emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea using different words. Hebrew poetry was based on this kind of repetition. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could combine the phrases and express the emphasis in another way. Another approach would be to connect the clauses with a word that shows that the second clause is repeating the first one and not saying something additional. See how your translation team has decided to represent pairs of clauses in Hebrew poetry that mean basically the same thing.