Are we gods?

[TonyChanYT]

Psalm 82:

6 I said, “You are gods [elohim], sons of the Most High, all of you;

The word "elohim" could refer to spirits or humans.

Jesus quoted the above in John 10:

34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?

If human judges could be called elohim/gods, what about the one and only Son of God?

36 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’?

In English, the word "god" refers to divine beings. It does not carry the wide range of meanings of elohim.

Are we gods?

No, not in the English literal sense of the word. We are God's representatives. Metaphorically, we could be gods or godlike.

 

[Randy Kluth]

Psalm 82:


The word "elohim" could refer to spirits or humans.

Jesus quoted the above in John 10:


If human judges could be called elohim/gods, what about the one and only Son of God?


In English, the word "god" refers to divine beings. It does not carry the wide range of meanings of elohim.

Are we gods?

No, not in the English literal sense of the word. We are God's representatives. Metaphorically, we could be gods or godlike.

I could be wrong but it appears that God in the Psalms sarcastically referred to weak religious judges as "gods." (Psa 82) I think it said something like, "you are gods, but you'll die like men," indicating that they're not as "divine" as they think they are.

We are called, in the Scriptures, sons of God, or children of God, when we behave like a child of God. This doesn't at all mean that we are Deity, but it does mean that we carry an element of His divine nature such that we can act like Him.

 

[Lambano]

I think I agree with Randy that the Psalmist was being sarcastic in Psalm 82. Which leads me to believe that God intentionally had Asaph use the controversial phrase, "I said 'You are gods'" for the purpose of Jesus tweaking the Pharisees a thousand years later.

 

[Webers_Home]

~
The grammatical tense of the language below is deliberately revised to
emphasize a technicality.

"I say: You are gods"

The original version of Ps 82:6 is past tense rather than present, indicating
God said they were divine beings sometime in the past prior to this Psalm's
writing.

The earliest I can think of is Gen 3:22 where it's stated:

"The Lord God said: The man has now become like one of us, knowing good
and evil."

However; if men were actually divine beings they'd be eternal, but the gods
in Psalm 82 were on their way to a grave (82:7) indicating of course that
they were tin gods rather than the real McCoy.
_

 

[Randy Kluth]

~
The grammatical tense of the language below is deliberately revised to
emphasize a technicality.

"I say: You are gods"

The original version of Ps 82:6 is past tense rather than present, indicating
God said they were divine beings sometime in the past prior to this Psalm's
writing.

The earliest I can think of is Gen 3:22 where it's stated:

"The Lord God said: The man has now become like one of us, knowing good
and evil."

However; if men were actually divine beings they'd be eternal, but the gods
in Psalm 82 were on their way to a grave (82:7) indicating of course that
they were tin gods rather than the real McCoy.
_

Yes, it is using words that appear self-contradictory, which is why it appears to be a form of sarcasm. You can't have gods that die.

But I suppose it could be saying that judges took the place of God, and appeared to be almost worshiped by the people as "gods." Again, this seems contradictory.

However, those who truly love God are called "children of God." But these judges do not appear to be very much like God because they are being reminded of their mortality.

 

[Bob Estey]

Psalm 82:


The word "elohim" could refer to spirits or humans.

Jesus quoted the above in John 10:


If human judges could be called elohim/gods, what about the one and only Son of God?


In English, the word "god" refers to divine beings. It does not carry the wide range of meanings of elohim.

Are we gods?

No, not in the English literal sense of the word. We are God's representatives. Metaphorically, we could be gods or godlike.

I don't think of myself as a god, nor anyone else, except Jesus.