Overview
The Quick Answer
When Jesus quoted Psalm 82:6 and said "you are gods," He was making a brilliant defense of His deity by pointing to the Divine Council—the assembly of spiritual beings who serve God. If Scripture calls these divine beings "gods" (elohim) because they are God's sons with divine parentage, how much more does Jesus—the unique Son who is ontologically one with the Father—have the right to claim that identity? This isn't about human divinity; it's about Jesus proving He's THE GOD in human form.
Unpacking the Question
This question comes from one of the most explosive confrontations in John 10:22-39, where Jesus has just declared, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). The religious leaders are grabbing stones to execute Him for blasphemy—for claiming to be God. Instead of backing down, Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6: "Is it not written in your Torah, 'I said, you are gods'?"
This passage has been twisted and misunderstood for centuries. Many modern commentaries claim Jesus is talking about human judges or Israelites at Sinai—interpretations that make His argument nonsensical and turn Him into a poor defender of His own deity. But these views arise from a modern discomfort with the Bible's supernatural worldview, not from what the ancient text actually says.
Here's what's at stake: understanding this passage correctly reveals Jesus's brilliant use of Old Testament theology to defend His claim to be God in human flesh. The religious leaders knew exactly what Psalm 82 was about—a Divine Council meeting where Yahweh confronts rebellious spiritual beings. And they understood precisely what Jesus was claiming. Let's recover what they heard.
What the Ancient Words Tell Us
The Hebrew word elohim is at the heart of this passage. In the Old Testament, elohim typically means "God" (as in Genesis 1:1). But here's what's crucial: elohim doesn't refer to a specific set of attributes—it's a term for any being who inhabits the spiritual realm. Yahweh is elohim, but so are the members of His heavenly council—the spiritual beings who serve Him.
When we read Psalm 82:1, it's crystal clear: "God has taken His place in the divine council; in the midst of the elohim He holds judgment." This isn't a courtroom in Jerusalem—it's a heavenly assembly. God is meeting with other spiritual beings, and He's about to condemn them for their corruption.
Grammar Geeks
The word elohim is technically plural in form, but when referring to the one true God, it takes singular verbs in Hebrew. When Psalm 82 uses it for the divine beings in God's council, the grammar shifts to plural—these are multiple spiritual entities. The phrase "sons of the Most High" (bene elyon) in verse 6 confirms we're talking about beings with divine parentage, not human judges. This is the same language used in Psalm 89:6-7 where the "sons of God" meet in the council "in the skies"—clearly the spiritual realm.
The beings in Psalm 82 are condemned for failing in their divine mandate—they've shown partiality to the wicked and failed to defend the weak. God pronounces judgment: "You are elohim, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince" (Psalm 82:6-7).
Here's the key: they're going to die like men precisely because they aren't men. If they were already human, this statement would be meaningless. They're divine beings who will face mortality as judgment for their rebellion.
What Would the Original Audience Have Heard?
The Pharisees and religious leaders confronting Jesus knew their Scriptures intimately. When Jesus quoted Psalm 82, they immediately understood He was referencing the Divine Council—God's assembly of spiritual beings. This wasn't controversial theology; it was standard ancient Israelite belief.
The ancient Near Eastern world—including Israel—understood that there were spiritual beings who served in God's heavenly court. These weren't "other gods" in the sense of rival deities (Israel was fiercely monotheistic), but they were real spiritual entities who carried out God's will and bore His authority.
Did You Know?
The Divine Council appears throughout the Old Testament. In 1 Kings 22:19-22, the prophet Micaiah describes seeing "Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all the host of the heavens standing beside him." In Job 1:6, "the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh." In Psalm 89:5-7, God is praised "in the assembly of the holy ones" and asked "who among the heavenly beings is like Yahweh?" This wasn't fringe theology—it was mainstream Israelite belief.
So when Jesus said, "Your own Scripture calls divine beings 'gods' and 'sons of the Most High,'" His opponents knew exactly what He meant. He was using a kal vahomer argument—a rabbinic "light to heavy" reasoning that moves from lesser to greater: "If this is true in a smaller case, how much more true in a greater case?"
Jesus's logic: If Scripture calls members of the Divine Council "elohim" and "sons of God" because they have divine parentage and operate in the spiritual realm, how can you condemn Me—the One the Father consecrated and sent into the world, the One who does the Father's works—for claiming to be God's Son?
But Wait... There's More to This
Here's where Jesus's defense becomes devastating. Notice what He emphasizes in John 10:36-38: "Do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
The divine beings in Psalm 82 were called "gods" but they failed in their calling. They were corrupt, oppressive, and unfaithful. Jesus, by contrast, perfectly does the Father's works—healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, raising the dead. These aren't things any created being could do. These works reveal that He's not just another member of the Divine Council; He's something radically different.
"Jesus wasn't asking them to cool down because 'we're all gods.' He was proving that if rebellious spiritual beings could be called 'gods' for having divine parentage, then He—who is ontologically one with the Father—has infinitely more right to that title."
Then Jesus drops the bombshell: "The Father is in me and I am in the Father." This language would have immediately brought to mind Exodus 23:20-21, where God tells Moses about the Angel who will lead Israel: "Pay careful attention to Him and obey His voice... for my name is in Him."
Wrestling with This Question
Why do so many commentaries avoid this interpretation? Because they're uncomfortable with divine plurality in the Bible. They worry it sounds like polytheism or threatens monotheism. So they force interpretations that make the "gods" in Psalm 82 into human judges or Israelites at Sinai—even though neither is mentioned anywhere in the psalm.
These interpretations create massive problems:
- Problem #1: They make Jesus's defense worthless. If Jesus is saying, "Don't get mad at me for calling myself God's Son—you guys are all gods too because you're Jewish judges/Israelites," then He's backing away from His claim to deity. But He's not backing away—He immediately follows up by saying "the Father is in Me and I am in the Father" (John 10:38). That's not retreat; that's escalation.
- Problem #2: They make the religious leaders' reaction absurd. If Jesus just said, "We're all sons of God together," why would they try to arrest Him (John 10:39)? Their violent response only makes sense if they understood Jesus was claiming to be God in human form—which is exactly what He was doing.
- Problem #3: They ignore what Psalm 82 actually says. The psalm describes a Divine Council meeting "in the midst of the elohim" where God pronounces judgment on spiritual beings who will die "like men" as punishment. Nothing in the psalm mentions human judges, Sinai, or Exodus 18.
Why This Matters Today
This passage shows us Jesus's mastery of Scripture and His confidence in who He is. He's not playing word games or backing away from His claims—He's using the Old Testament's own theology to prove He's God incarnate.
Understanding the Divine Council worldview doesn't threaten biblical monotheism—it enriches it. Ancient Israel believed there was only one Yahweh, one Most High God who created everything. But they also believed He governed the spiritual and physical realms through a hierarchy of spiritual beings. Some of these beings rebelled (like in Psalm 82), but their rebellion doesn't make them rival gods—it makes them rebels under judgment.
Wait, That's Strange…
Notice Jesus says "in your Torah (Law)" when quoting from Psalms (John 10:34)? Jews commonly referred to all Scripture as "Torah" or "the Law" in a broader sense—not just the five books of Moses. Jesus is emphasizing: "Your own authoritative Scripture says this." He's holding them accountable to their own Bible.
Jesus fits perfectly into this framework—but He transcends it. He's not just another member of the Divine Council like the angels or the rebellious elohim of Psalm 82. He is the unique Son who shares the Father's essence, who does the Father's works, in whom the Father dwells. As Colossians 1:15-16 says, He is "the image of the invisible God" through whom "all things were created, in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities"—including the very beings referenced in Psalm 82.
This passage also protects us from two errors:
- Error #1: Thinking humans are God or even divine. We're not elohim. We're made in God's image (Genesis 1:26-27), called to represent Him on earth, but we're created beings in the physical realm. The "gods" of Psalm 82 are spiritual beings in God's council.
- Error #2: Domesticating Jesus. Some interpretations make Jesus sound like He's just a good teacher making a clever argument. But Jesus is claiming something staggering: He is God in human form, ontologically one with the Father in a way no created being—human or spiritual—ever could be.
Bottom Line
Jesus quoted Psalm 82 not to say "we're all gods together," but to prove His Deity. If Scripture calls rebellious spiritual beings "gods" and "sons of the Most High" because they have divine parentage, then He—the unique Son who perfectly does the Father's works and in whom the Father dwells—has infinitely more right to claim He is God's Son. The religious leaders understood exactly what He meant, which is why they tried to stone and arrest Him. Jesus is God in human form, and Psalm 82's Divine Council theology proves it.
Related Questions
You might also wonder:
- "What is the Divine Council?" It's God's heavenly assembly of spiritual beings who serve Him and carry out His will, mentioned throughout the Old Testament in passages like Psalm 89:5-7, 1 Kings 22:19-22, and Job 1:6. This phraseology was popularised by the late Dr. Michael S. Heiser.
- "Doesn't believing in other spiritual beings threaten monotheism?" Not at all. Israel was fiercely monotheistic—Yahweh alone is the Most High, the Creator. But recognizing He governs through a hierarchy of created spiritual beings enriches our understanding of biblical theology.
- "What does 'the Father is in Me' mean?" This echoes Exodus 23:21 where God says of the Angel, "My name is in Him." It's Old Testament language for God manifesting in visible form—Jesus is claiming to be Yahweh incarnate.
Dive Deeper
Internal Links:
- John 10:30 - "I and the Father are one"
- Psalm 82:1 - The Divine Council meeting
- Exodus 23:21 - "My name is in him"
- Psalm 89:6-7 - The council in the skies
External Scholarly Resources:
יָבֵשׁ חָצִיר — Word of our Elohim stands forever
