Psalms 82:1

1. The Judge of the judges 82:1

The writer envisioned God sitting as Judge over a gathering of human judges, the judges that lived in every town in Israel. The human judges in Israel served as God’s judicial representatives among His people. The Hebrew word translated "rulers" (NASB) or "gods" (NIV) is elohim (lit. strong ones). This word usually describes God in the Old Testament, but sometimes it refers to the strong ones in Israel, namely, the human rulers or authorities (cf. Psalms 45:6; Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:8-9). It does not refer to angels here (cf. Ephesians 6:12) as the Syriac translators thought. This is clear from the context. It does not refer to the gods of the heathen either (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:20).