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Ismael Maldonado wrote:

Hi, guys —

I have a question about the Divine Counsel in Psalm 82.

  • Are the spiritual beings gods?
  • If not, who or what constitute all of the (members/spiritual beings) of the Divine Council?

Thank you,

Ismael

  { Are the spiritual beings in Psalm 82 gods? and, If not, who, or what, constitute the Divine Council? }

Eric replied:

Dear Ismael,

They are gods, yes, not in the sense of being equal rivals to Yahweh, but in the sense of being created spiritual beings whom Yahweh had set over the nations. 

According to Michael Heiser:

One frequently misunderstood term that identifies a being as a member of the nonhuman, non-terrestrial world is “ʾelōhı̂m” (“god”; “gods”). I've written extensively on this term and how the biblical writers affirmed the existence of multiple “ʾelōhı̂m” — that is, a populated spiritual world.

Since the biblical writers identify a range of entities as “ʾelōhı̂m” that they explicitly differentiate from Yahweh and emphasize as lesser beings than Yahweh, it is clear that the term “ʾelōhı̂m” is not a label for only one Supreme Being. As I have noted elsewhere:

A biblical writer would use “ʾelōhı̂m” to label any entity that is not embodied by nature and is a member of the spiritual realm. This “otherworldliness” is an attribute all residents of the spiritual world possess. Every member of the spiritual world can be thought of as “ʾelōhı̂m” since the term tells us where an entity belongs in terms of its nature.

The term “ʾelōhı̂m” simply means “divine beings” — residents of the supernatural world. By choosing “ʾelōhı̂m” to describe a particular being, the biblical writer was not denying the uniqueness of Yahweh, the God of Israel. Rather, the term helped them affirm that there was an animate, spiritual world, of which Yahweh was a member. Yahweh was, of course, unique in that he was the uncreated Creator of these other spiritual beings and superior to them in his attributes.

Heiser, Michael S., Demons: What the Bible Really Says about the Powers of Darkness (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020), pp. 7-8

Specifically with respect to Psalm 82, he writes:

One might presume that Yahweh expected better behavior from the other lesser “ʾelōhı̂m”, that they should have abhorred being worshiped in place of their sovereign. There is no such indication in Scripture. Rather, the expectation seems to have been that, as the God of gods, the Creator, and the sovereign over that creation, Yahweh is the only god worthy of worship by anyone, anywhere. That would in turn mean that the role of the lesser “ʾelōhı̂m” was administration of the nations. God may have severed the relationship between himself and humanity, but He still wanted those created in His image to be ruled justly, not abused.

At some point, the sons of God transgressed Yahweh's desire for earthly order and just rule of His human imagers, sowing chaos in the nations. This is the distinct trajectory of Psalm 82, where the gods of the nations are excoriated by Yahweh for abusing their charges.

Heiser, Michael S., Demons: What the Bible Really Says about the Powers of Darkness (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020, pp. 151-152)

Let me know if I can answer more questions.

Eric

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