translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: PSA

label: NET study note

text: . The psalmist pictures God standing in the “assembly of El” where he accuses the “gods” of failing to promote justice on earth. God pronounces sentence upon them, announcing that they will die like men. Having witnessed the scene, the psalmist then asks God to establish his just rule over the earth.


text: The present translation assumes that the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’ elohim , “gods”) here refers to the pagan gods who supposedly comprise El’s assembly according to Canaanite religion. Those who reject the polemical view of the psalm prefer to see the referent as human judges or rulers ( אֱלֹהִים sometimes refers to officials appointed by God, see Exod 21:6; 22:8-9 ; Ps 45:6 ) or as angelic beings ( אֱלֹהִים sometimes refers to angelic beings, see Gen 3:5 ; Ps 8:5 ).


text: Having addressed the defendants, God now speaks to those who are observing the trial, referring to the gods in the third person.


text: These gods, though responsible for justice, neglect their duty. Their self-imposed ignorance (which the psalmist compares to stumbling around in the dark) results in widespread injustice, which threatens the social order of the world (the meaning of the phrase all the foundations of the earth crumble ).


text: Normally in the OT the title Most High belongs to the God of Israel, but in this context, where the mythological overtones are so strong, it probably refers to the Canaanite high god El (see v. 1 , as well as Isa 14:13 ).