Psalms 82:2-8

2 "You must stop judging unjustly; you must no longer be partial to the wicked!

3 Defend the rights of the poor and the orphans; be fair to the needy and the helpless.

4 Rescue them from the power of evil people.

5 "How ignorant you are! How stupid! You are completely corrupt, and justice has disappeared from the world.

6 "You are gods,' I said; ¹ "all of you are children of the Most High.'

7 But you will die like mortals; your life will end like that of any prince."

8 Come, O God, and rule the world; all the nations are yours.

Psalms 82:2-8 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

• 1. 82.6John 10.34.