In Psalm 82, the author mentions G-d holding council in the midst of “the gods,” and identifies others as, “gods, sons of the most high.” Since Judaism is a monotheistic religion, what is meant by, “gods?”

Hi, Thanks for asking this question. I can understand your confusion. I would also be confused if I mistranslated the Hebrew the way that whatever version you are using mistranslated it. Let me shed some light into the psalm for you. The psalm says: “Elokim nitzav ba’adas kel bekerev elohim yishpot.” (sorry about the transliteration) That literally means, “God stands in the assembly of God, in the midst of the judges, shall He judge.”

The “assembly of God” is the “beit din,” or Earthly Rabbinic court, who would pass judgment on Jews in this world for disobeying the Torah. Specifically here, the verse is speaking about God being “bekerev” – in the heart of the judge who will pass judgment. It is in absolutely no way speaking about a God amongst Gods. That would be heresy. Any other translation is wrong. This Hebrew is absolutely clear.

The second part that you quoted was, “Gods, sons of the Most High.” That would be verse 6 of the psalm, where King David, the author, wrote, “Ani amarti Elokim atem. Uvnei elyon kulchem.” That literally means, “I said, ‘You are angelic, sons of the Most High are you all.” According to the great rabbinic commentary, “The Alshich”, God is speaking to the judges, the same judges that were referred to earlier. We see many times in ancient Jewish texts that sometimes the angels are called the same name that God is. The word in Hebrew is “Elokim.” I am substituting a “k” for the “h” in the word, as it is in the ten commandments not to use God’s name in vain, so we use a substitute letter when we are not praying, but are using His Name. In conclusion, I hope you see that in order to properly understand Jewish texts one needs to use a Jewish source. If you are really interested in understanding the psalms I highly suggest that you purchase an Artscroll translation. You can buy one here.

I hope that this clarifies the situation. The Psalms were written by King David and in order to understand his intent one needs to analyze the writings with a viewpoint consistent with the author’s. When studying the Jewish bible you need to have Jewish sources.

Be Well,
Rabbi Gershon Litt