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Psalm Eighty-two
New King James Version (NKJV)
YLT -- A Psalm of Asaph.
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 82
A Psalm of Asaph. This psalm was written for the use of
persons in power, for the instruction of kings and princes, judges and civil
magistrates; according to Kimchi, it was written about the times of
Jehoshaphat, who appointed new judges throughout the land; those that were
before having been very corrupt, to whom he gave a charge agreeably to the
purport of this psalm, 2 Chronicles 19:5, but it seems rather to
be written by Asaph, in the times of David, under a spirit of prophecy, and has
respect to the times of Christ, when there was a great corruption among the
judges and rulers of the Jews, both civil and ecclesiastic. The Syriac version
calls it, "a reproof of the ungodly Jews"; our Lord cites a passage
out of it in vindication of himself from their charge of blasphemy, John 10:34.
Psalm 82:1 God
stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods.[a]
YLT
1God hath stood in the
company of God, In the midst God doth judge.
God standeth in the congregation of the mighty,.... The
Syriac version renders it, "in the congregation of angels"; they are
mighty, and excel in strength, and there is a large company of them, even an
innumerable one, and who surround the throne of the Majesty on high. Christ,
who is God over all, was among those on Mount Sinai, and when he ascended to
heaven; and with these he will descend when he comes a second time, Psalm 68:17. The Targum interprets it of
the righteous thus,
"God,
whose majesty (or Shechinah) dwells in the congregation of the righteous that
are strong in the law.'
It
may be better understood of such as are strong in the Lord, in the grace that
is in Christ, and in the exercise of grace upon him; who are gathered out of
the world unto him, and unto distinct societies and congregations; in the midst
of which God is, where he grants his presence, bestows the blessings of his
grace, and affords his divine aid and protection; and where Christ the Son of
God is, and will be to the end of the world. The words may be rendered,
"God standeth in the congregation of God"F1בעדת אל "in congregatione
Dei", Pagninus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Vatablus, Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator, Ainsworth. : that is, in his own congregation, his church
and people; but it seems best of all to understand the words of rulers and
civil magistrates, of the cabinet councils of princes, of benches of judges,
and courts of judicature; in all which God is present, and observes what is
said and done; perhaps reference may be had to the Jewish sanhedrim, the chief
court of judicature with the Jews, consisting of seventy one persons; in the
midst of which Christ, God manifest in the flesh, God in our nature, stood, and
was ill used, and most unjustly judged by them, of whose unjust judgment
complaint is made in the next verse:
he judgeth among the gods: which the Syriac version
renders "angels" again; and so Aben Ezra interprets it of them, who
are so called, Psalm 8:5, but rather civil magistrates are
meant, the rulers and judges of the people, who go by this name of
"elohim", or gods, in Exodus 21:6, and are so called because they
are the powers ordained of God, are representatives of him, are his vicegerents
and deputies under him; should act in his name, according to his law, and for
his glory, and are clothed with great power and authority from and under him;
and therefore are before styled the "mighty". Among these Christ, the
Son of God, judges, to whom all judgment is committed; he qualifies these for
the discharge of their office, he directs them how to judge, and all the right
judgment they make and do is from him, "by" whom "kings"
reign, and princes decree justice; by whom princes rule, and
nobles, even all the judges of the earth; and to whom they are all
accountable, and will be themselves judged by him another day, Proverbs 8:15 so the Targum,
"in
the midst of the judges of truth he judges.'
Psalm 82:2 2 How long will you judge
unjustly, And show partiality to the wicked? Selah
YLT
2Till when do ye judge
perversely? And the face of the wicked lift up? Selah.
How long will ye judge unjustly,.... These are the words
not of the psalmist, but of the divine Person that stands in the congregation
of the mighty, and judges among the gods; calling the unjust judges to an
account, and reproving them for their unrighteous proceedings and perversion of
justice, in which they had long continued, and which was an aggravation of
their sin; this is very applicable to the rulers and judges of the Jewish
nation in the times of Christ, who had long dealt very unjustly, and continued
to do so; they judged wrong judgment, or judgment of iniquity, as Aben Ezra
renders it, both in civil and ecclesiastical things; their judgment was
depraved concerning the law, which they transgressed and made void by adhering
to the traditions of the elders; they passed an unrighteous judgment on John the
Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, rejecting his baptism, and calling him a
devil; and upon Christ himself, adjudging him to death for crimes he was not
guilty of; and upon his followers, whom they cast out of the synagogue; the
character of an unjust judge see in Luke 18:2,
and accept the persons of the wicked? gave the
cause in favour of them, and against the righteous, because they were rich, or
related to them, or had bribes from them, contrary to the law in Deuteronomy 16:19, so the judges among the
Jews, in Christ's time, judged according to appearance, the outward
circumstances of men, and not righteous judgment, as our Lord suggests, John 7:24.
Selah. See Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 82:3 3 Defend the poor and
fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
YLT
3Judge ye the weak and
fatherless, The afflicted and the poor declare righteous.
Defend the poor and fatherless,.... Or, judgeF4שפטו "judicate", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus,
Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus, Michaelis. them; such as have no
money to enter and carry on a suit, and have no friends to assist and advise
them, and abide by them; these should be taken under the care and wing of
judges; their cause should be attended to, and justice done them; their persons
should be protected, and their property defended and secured for, since they
are called gods, they ought to imitate him whose name they bear, who is the
Father of the fatherless, the Judge of the widows, and the helper of the poor
that commit themselves to him, Psalm 10:14, such a righteous judge and
good magistrate was Job; see Job 29:12,
do justice to the afflicted and needy; or
"justify"F5הצדיקו
"justificate", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Musculus,
Cocceius, &c. them, pronounce them righteous, give the cause for them, not
right or wrong, nor because they are poor and needy, but because they are in
the right; for, if wicked, they are not to be justified, this is an abomination
to the Lord; see Leviticus 19:15.
Psalm 82:4 4 Deliver the poor and
needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked.
YLT
4Let the weak and needy
escape, From the hand of the wicked deliver them.
Deliver the poor and needy,.... From his adversary
and oppressor, who is mightier than he, and draws him to the judgment seat;
when it is not in his power to defend himself against him, and get out of his
hands, unless a righteous judge will show a regard to him and his cause; and
sometimes even an unjust judge, through importunity, will do this, as everyone
ought, and every righteous one will:
rid them out of the hand of the wicked; this was what
the poor widow importuned the unjust judge for, and obtained, Luke 18:3.
Psalm 82:5 5 They do not know, nor do
they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth
are unstable.
YLT
5They knew not, nor do they
understand, In darkness they walk habitually, Moved are all the foundations of
earth.
They knew not,.... The Targum adds, to do well. This is to
be understood of unjust judges and wicked magistrates, who know not God, and
have not the fear of him before their eyes, though he stands in the midst of
them, and judges among them; which is the source of their unjust judging and
unrighteous proceedings: for because they know not God, nor fear him, therefore
they regard not men: nor do such know themselves; they are called gods, and
they think they are so, and do not consider they are but men; they are the
ministers of God, deputies under him, and are accountable to him: nor do they
know their duty before pointed out; it is for them to know judgment, what is right,
and what is wrong, that they may pronounce righteous judgment, Micah 3:2, but they do not know it, at
least so as to practise it: nor did the Jewish rulers know Christ, which was
the reason of their unrighteous dealing with him and with his followers; they
put him to death, and so they did them, because they knew him not, 1 Corinthians 2:8,
neither will they understand: the Targum adds, by way
of explanation, "the law", the rule of judgment, which judges ought
to understand; so the Jewish rulers, Pharisees and Sadducees, were upbraided by
Christ with ignorance of the Scriptures, and the law of God, their false
glosses of which he refutes, Matthew 5:1 and their ignorance was wilful
and affected, they shut their eyes against light and evidence, especially with
respect to Christ; they could discern the face of the sky, but not the signs of
the times, Matthew 16:3, who so blind as they that
will not see? and such were the Jewish rulers; see Isaiah 42:19,
they walk on in darkness; they chose darkness
rather than light, and so were blind leaders of the blind, and were wilfully
so, having their eyes blinded with gifts, Deuteronomy 16:19,
all the foundations of the earth are out of course; or "shaken"
or "moved"F6ימוטו
"moventur", Vatablus; "dimoventur", Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator; "commoventur", Gejerus; "nutant",
Tigurine version. : by the perversion of justice, towns, cities, commonwealths,
kingdoms, and states, are thrown into the utmost disorder and confusion: as the
king by judgment establisheth the land; Proverbs 29:4, so when judgment is not
executed, it is unsettled, and thrown into confusion; or thoughF7So
Ainsworth. "the foundation", &c. though this is the case, yet
unjust judges will go on, perverting judgment, even though, as at the deluge,
the foundations of the earth were shaken and moved, for the violence, rapine,
and oppression, the earth was then filled with, which Kimchi thinks is here
referred to; and though a dissolution of the Jewish polity, civil and
ecclesiastical, was threatened, because of such injustice; that God would once
more shake the heavens and the earth, remove their church and civil state, when
they should cease to be a nation, their city be destroyed, and their temple,
not one stone left upon another; and yet such was the obstinacy of their wicked
judges, that they would persist their wicked ways.
Psalm 82:6 6 I said, “You are
gods,[b] And all of
you are children of the Most High.
YLT
6I -- I have said, `Gods ye
[are], And sons of the Most High -- all of you,
I have said, ye are gods,.... In the law, Exodus 21:6 or they were so by his
appointment and commission; he constituted them judges and magistrates,
invested them with such an office, by which they came to have this title; see Romans 13:1, and so our Lord interprets
these words, that they were gods "to whom" the word of God came,
which gave them a commission and authority to exercise their office, John 10:35, or rather "against
whom" it came, pronouncing the sentence of death on them, as in Psalm 82:7, to which the reference is;
declaring, that though they were gods by office, yet were mortal men, and
should die. The Targum is, "I said, as angels are ye accounted"; and
so judges and civil magistrates had need to be as angels, and to have the
wisdom of them; see 2 Samuel 14:20. Jarchi interprets it of
angels, but magistrates are undoubtedly meant:
and all of you are children of the most High; the Targum
here again renders it,
"the
angels of the most High:'
and
so Aben Ezra explains it of them who are called the sons of God, Job 38:7 but men in power are meant, who,
because of their eminency and dignity, their high office, post, and place, are
so called; see Genesis 6:2.
Psalm 82:7 7 But you shall die like
men, And fall like one of the princes.”
YLT
7But as man ye die, and as
one of the heads ye fall,
But ye shall die like men,.... As men in common do,
to whom it is appointed to die, Hebrews 9:27 or as common men, as men in
the lowest class of life: the wise man dies as the fool, the king as the
peasant, high as the low, rich as the poor; death levels and makes all alike:
or as Adam, as the first man, so Jarchi, who was lord of the whole universe;
but being in honour, abode not, but became like the beasts that perish; sinning
he died, and so all his posterity, even those who have the greatest power and
authority on earth; see Psalm 49:2 and not only die a corporeal
death, but an eternal one, dying in their sins; as Christ threatened the Jewish
rulers, Scribes, and Pharisees, if they believed not in him, John 8:21.
and fall like one of the princes; or the chief of them,
Satan, who fell like lightning from heaven, Luke 10:18 or rather as one of the giants
that lived in the old world, famous for their injustice and oppression, that
fell in the deluge, Genesis 6:4 or any of the Heathen princes,
tyrants and oppressors, such as are mentioned in the following psalm, Psalm 83:9. This may have respect to the
destruction of the Jewish nation, which is called the falling of them, Romans 11:11 and the words may be rendered,
"and ye shall fall together, equally and alike, O ye princes"F1כאחד "pariter; sive ex aequo", Maius apud
Gataker. Cin. c. 10. p. 292. ; when the Jewish state, civil and ecclesiastical,
fell, they fell with it, and together; the princes of this world then came to
nought, or were abolished, they and their authority, as the Apostle Paul says
they should, 1 Corinthians 2:6 the sceptre then departed
from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet; all rule and authority
ceased among them, as Jacob foretold it would, Genesis 49:10.
Psalm 82:8 8 Arise, O God, judge the
earth; For You shall inherit all nations.
YLT
8Rise, O God, judge the
earth, For Thou hast inheritance among all the nations!
Arise, O God,.... These are the words of the prophet, or
of the church, whom he represents, addressing Christ, who is God over all; that
seeing there was such a corruption and degeneracy in the world, and such
wretched perversion of justice, that he would arise and exert himself, and show
himself strong on the behalf of his people:
judge the earth: who is the Judge of the whole earth, to
whom all judgment is committed, and who will judge the world in righteousness:
for thou shalt inherit all nations; which he will do in the
latter day, when he shall be King over all the earth, and the Heathen shall be
given him for his inheritance, he being heir of all things; and universal
justice will not take place in the world till that time comes; and therefore it
is to be wished and prayed for, as by the prophet and church here.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)