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Psalm 82:5-7
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 82:5-7
New Catholic Bible
5 “They neither know nor understand;
they wander around in darkness
while all the foundations of the earth[a] are crumbling.
6 [b]I declare, ‘Although you are gods,
all of you sons of the Most High,
7 you will die as all men do;
like any ruler you will fall.’ ”[c]
Footnotes
- Psalm 82:5 When those in authority, instead of sharing in God’s wisdom (see 1 Ki 3:9; Prov 8:14-16; Isa 11:2), have no understanding of their most important duty or of the divine norm and standard and do not walk in the light of the revealed will of the eternal Judge (see Job 21:22), then all the supports upon which a well-ordered State rests will crumble (see Pss 11:3; 75:4). Foundations of the earth: a metaphor for God’s rule on earth (see Pss 11:3; 75:4; 96:10). The Lord has established some order, even in pagan nations, and he condemns the ungodly for undermining that order for their own ends.
- Psalm 82:6 These verses can be interpreted to apply to judges or rulers but also to pagan gods. The Lord pronounces sentence and dethrones such gods. Indeed, his judgment is pronounced upon all manifestations of evil, both in the human world and in the angelic world (see Mt 25:41; Rev 20:10, 14f; 21:8). Gods: see note on verse 1b. This passage is applied by Christ, in an entirely different context, to Jews instructed by the word of God (see Jn 10:34; see also Acts 17:28; 2 Cor 6:18).
- Psalm 82:7 These corrupt rulers will see death like all other human beings and be judged in the same way. Like any ruler you will fall: another possible translation is: “as one man, rulers, you will fall.” God will humble the great of the world as he annihilated the false gods likened to personages of the ancient mythology (see Isa 14:12; Ezek 28:11ff).
