Psalms 82:1-5

A psalm of Asaph.

1 God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods”:
2 “How long will you[a] defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?[b]
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Psalms 82:1-5 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 82

\\<>\\. 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, 2Ch 19:5-7, 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, Joh 10:34-36.

Cross References 9

  • 1. Psalms 7:8; Psalms 58:11; Isaiah 3:13; Isaiah 66:16; Joel 3:12
  • 2. S Job 21:22
  • 3. Deuteronomy 1:17
  • 4. Psalms 58:1-2; Proverbs 18:5
  • 5. S Deuteronomy 24:17
  • 6. Psalms 140:12; Jeremiah 5:28; Jeremiah 22:16
  • 7. S Psalms 14:4; S Psalms 53:2; Micah 3:1
  • 8. Job 30:26; Isaiah 5:30; Isaiah 8:21-22; Isaiah 9:2; Isaiah 59:9; Isaiah 60:2; Jeremiah 13:16; Jeremiah 23:12; Lamentations 3:2
  • 9. S Judges 5:4; S Psalms 11:3

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. The Hebrew is plural.
  • [b]. The Hebrew has "Selah" (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
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