Read John 10:34-35 and Psalm 82.

Introduction⤒🔗

In response to Jesus’ assertion, “I and the Father are one,” (Jn. 10:30), the Jewish leaders charge Him with blasphemy: “you, being a man, make yourself God” (vs. 33). In reply, the Lord references Psalm 82:6, “I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you [are] sons of the Most High.’” To rightly understand our Lord’s use of Psalm 82, it is necessary for us to consider that Psalm in detail.

A Brief Exposition of Psalm 82←⤒🔗

Verse one is speaking of “the congregation ( עֵדתָ ) of God.” The Hebrew term, תדָעֵ, is used in Numbers 27:17 and Joshua 22:16 to identify Israel as “the congregation of the LORD ”.( עֵדתָ יהְוהָֹ).”

Verses 2-4 are expressing the LORD’s condemnation of the judges/rulers of Israel who have exercised corrupt rule over His people. This view is supported by the parallel passage of Isaiah 3:13­ 15, where the rebuke is clearly being spoken against the earthly rulers of Israel, (cf., also, such passages as Ezek. 45:9-12; Amos 5:10-12; Mic. 7:3-4).

The LORD stands up to contend, he rises to judge the peoples. ¹⁴The LORD will enter into judgment against the elders of his people and against their princes. It is you who have devoured the vineyard! The plunder you have taken from the poor is in your houses! ¹⁵What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor [into the ground]? declares the Lord, the LORD of hosts. Isa. 3:13-15

As the Old Testament commentator, Leslie M’Caw, points out: The charge brought against the corrupt judges/rulers of Israel in Psalm 82:2-4 is two-fold: They have shown respect of persons before the law (vs. 2), a thing prohibited in the Mosaic Law (cf. Lev. 19:15); and they have failed to uphold the cause of the poor and oppressed (vs. 3-4), another thing prohibited in the Mosaic Law (cf. Deut. 24:17-18).¹ As representatives of God, the rulers of Israel had been appointed to carry out a God-like rule over the people of Israel: God judges with perfect impartiality (cf. Deut. 10:17) and He upholds the cause of the poor (cf. Deut. 10:18).

The first half of verse five informs us that the cause of the corrupt judges’ failure to properly fulfill their God-given role is due to their culpable ignorance: “They know not, neither do they understand; they walk to and fro in darkness” (vs. 5a). Due to their ignorance, they fail to appreciate the devastating consequences of their malfeasance: “All the foundations of the earth are shaken!” (vs. 5b)

As the latter half of verse five points out, the consequence of such misrule is that the very foundation of a stable society, the civil order, is undermined.² The ramification of the corrupt rulers of Israel’s malfeasance is spoken of in universal terms: “the foundations of the earth are shaken.” The point being made is that when the very kingdom of God, (in its earthly manifestation as the nation of Israel), suffers under misrule, that misrule sends out tremors throughout the whole earth. When the center from which righteousness was to emanate as a beacon (cf. Deut. 4:5-8) has become shaken by corrupt rule, the shock waves are felt throughout the world with devastating results.

Verses 6-7 now report the personal consequence to be suffered by the corrupt rulers: though they have been assigned the highest rank, (being equated with God Himself), they shall suffer the divine curse administered against the disobedient.

Note: The fact that verse six begins with the emphatic, “I said, ‘You are gods,’” indicates that the LORD has sovereignly bestowed upon these men the title of “gods.” Because they have been appointed to fulfill a God-like role, (i.e. to be the earthly administrators of divine justice over His people Israel), God has designated them as “gods.” Furthermore, these men are designated by God as “gods” because they are affiliated with and identified with God in their divine calling to represent Him as the agents and means by which He exercises His righteous rule over Israel. Notice how, in Exodus 22:28, the earthly rulers are spoken of in conjunction with God, and as such are worthy of respect, even reverence: “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.”

L. M’Caw writes, “These earthly judges are called Elohim [i.e. “gods”] because the office they hold and the judgment they should give are really God’s.”³ He cites 2 Chronicles 19:4-7, a passage in which King Hezekiah gives instructions to the judges whom he sent out throughout the land of Israel; note, especially, verse six, “you [are judging] not for men, but for the LORD; and he is with you in the judgment.”

With regard to the statement, “all of you [are] sons of the Most High,” we must bear in mind that the term “son(s) of...” is used in Scripture in a variety of ways. The usage that is most pertinent to the passage at hand is found in Matthew chapter five. At verse nine and again at verses forty-four and forty-five it is used to indicate that a person has an affinity with God and identification with Him in God’s divine character and conduct:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Matt. 5:9

I say unto you, “Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you: ⁴⁵so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. Matt. 5:44-45

Note, also, Luke 6:35, “love your enemies...and you shall be sons of the Most High, for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil.”

The rulers of Israel are identified as “sons of the Most High” as they were called to exercise God’s righteous rule, and thereby provide an actual demonstrate of God’s righteous character.

In describing the judgment to be executed against the corrupt rulers, the LORD declares, “you shall die like men” (vs. 7a). The Old Testament commentator, F. Delitzsch, sees this as the LORD’s declaration that these men “shall die off like common men, not rising in any degree above the mass [of humanity].”⁴ In support of this view, we may take note of the fate that awaited the corrupt treasurer Shebna, who was building a mausoleum for himself; to him the LORD declares, “[I will] toss you like a ball into a large country; and there you shall die” (Isa. 22:15-18).

There may also be something more to be said about the judgment pronounced upon the corrupt rulers. Although the Hebrew term for man(kind) [ אָדָם ] always appears in the singular, (the statement in verse seven that is rendered, “like men,” in Hebrew reads: כְּאָדםָ ), here it may also be intended as an allusion to Adam [ אָ דָם ]. The allusion would be to the consequence Adam suffered for his disobedience, even though he had been called to serve as God’s vice regent, exercising rule over all the creation (cf. Gen. 1:26b). Adam would forfeit that high position and succumb to death, the ignominious fate of returning to the dust (cf. Gen. 3:19).

A reference to the fate suffered by Adam in consequence of his disobedience becomes all the more probable in light of the latter half of verse seven, “you shall...fall like one of the princes.” Here, in all likelihood, is a reference to the devil’s fall from the high position he once occupied as “the day star” (cf. Isa. 14:12-15; also, Ezek. 28).

In this light, the LORD is delivering a powerful warning to the corrupt rulers: If God did not spare “the day star,” (i.e. the brightest and highest of the angelic host), and if He did not spare the first man, (whom He had appointed to be His own vice regent over all the earth), when they transgressed, surely the LORD will not spare those upon whom He has bestowed His own name when they commit themselves to lives of transgression.

In verse eight, we have the Psalmist’s plea to God [the LORD], requesting Him to act on behalf of His righteousness (cf. Psl. 12:5; Psl. 58:6,11; Psl. 96:13). In light of the failure on the part of the rulers of Israel, the Psalmist is calling upon God to arise and personally carry out His role as the Righteous Judge. The Psalmist now realizes that it is absolutely necessary for the LORD to act, because there is none other who can fulfill this function (cf. Isa. 59:15b-19; Isa. 63:1-6).

The Psalmist pleads that the LORD would carry out His role as the Holy One who administers justice not only in Israel, but over all the earth. The justification the Psalmist gives is the fact that the LORD shall “inherit all the nations.” The word, “inherit,” indicates that not only Israel, but all the nations, belong to the LORD (cf. Psl. 24:1-2). But at the same time, “inherit,” with its future perspective, brings out the fact that at present the nations are not in submission to God’s righteous rule. That is why the prayer of the Psalmist, and that of the church is, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).

Now we must inquire: What is the purpose of the Lord Jesus alluding to Psalm 82:6 in His argument with the Jewish leaders?

The Purpose of the Lord Jesus’ Allusion to Psalm 82:6←⤒🔗

His argument in John 10:34-35 is as follows: If, by virtue of their God-given calling as rulers in Israel, God designates, (or, identifies), them as “gods,” how much more is it appropriate for the One who is a member of the Godhead to identify Himself as “the Son of God”? In simplified form: If God identifies certain men as “gods,” how much more justified is the divine Son to identify Himself as “the Son of God”?

The renowned New Testament scholar, Leon Morris, wrote that Jesus is not arguing that because Psalm 82:6 speaks of men as gods, therefore, Jesus, too, is entitled to apply the title “Son of God” to Himself. To the contrary, Morris goes on to write, “If in any sense the Psalm may apply this term to men, then much more may it be applied to Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world. Jesus is not classifying Himself among men. He calls Himself ‘him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world.’ [Jesus] separates and distinguishes himself from men.”⁵

As noted previously, in verse 33 the Jews literally assert, you, being a man, make yourself God.” In response, our Lord now references Psalm 82:6, a passage in which God makes men to be gods, (i.e. God designates the men to whom He speaks as “gods,” cf. our exposition of Psalm 82). Thus, in His rebuttal, Jesus inverts the Jews’ charge, (‘you, being a man, make yourself God”), with His reference to Psalm 82:6, where God makes men “gods.” His argument then proceeds: If, by virtue of their God-given calling as rulers in Israel, God designates/identifies them as “gods,” how much more is it appropriate for the One who is a member of the Godhead to identify Himself as “the Son of God”? Again, in simplified form: If God identifies certain men as “gods,” how much more justified is the divine Son to identify Himself as “the Son of God”?