In today's sermon (April 12, 2026) on John 10:22-42, I addressed Jesus’ quote of Psalm 82:6, “I said, “You are gods…” I’d like to attempt to explain what I understand Jesus to be saying a little more clearly as the limits inherent in trying to fit such a discussion into a 30-some minute sermon made me feel that it didn’t come across as well as I would have liked.
I mentioned 4 major Jewish interpretations of Psalm 82. The “gods” have been understood as: 1) angels/demons; 2) Melchizedek; 3) human leaders who issue judgments in the name of God; 4) Israel as they gathered at Mount Sinai. Each of these options have been taught by Jewish teachers in the past and numbers 1 and 3 probably have the greatest number of supporters among Christian writers today.
So, why did I choose to go with choice number 4?
The key question that I needed to address when approaching the quote of Psalm 82 found in John 10:34 is, “Why would Jesus quote this passage in response to being accused of blasphemy?” When I focused on that question, I felt that options 1 and 3 fell short because both of them would be tantamount to Jesus implying that He could be less than God.
In the case of human rulers, He would be saying, “You call other men ‘gods,’ so why are you upset when I call myself His Son?” This doesn’t strike me as something Jesus would say given that He has been openly declaring Himself to be, not simply a human teacher or leader, but the Son of God who has come to save the world. The effect would be to have us conclude that, every time He claims to be the “Son of God,” that He might simply be saying that He has come as a human ruler to judge human affairs in the name of God. In other words, “I just came to be the mayor of Jerusalem, and you all are accusing me of claiming to be God!”
It doesn’t seem to me that that problem is avoided by understanding the gods to be angelic beings. Jesus would be saying, “You call these created angelic beings ‘gods,’ so why are you saying I’m blaspheming when I call myself the ‘Son of God’?” Once again, Jesus would be throwing into question what His actual claim is when He says that He is the “Son of God.” Is He merely another created being? Is He an angel clothed in human skin? Is there a fundamental difference between Him and the Father and, like those addressed in Psalm 82, Jesus has the potential to fall and be subject to judgment (see Psalm 82:1-2, 6-7)?
Option 4 avoids the pitfalls inherent in options 1 and 3 and, at the same time, buttresses His claim to being equal with the Father.
As I noted in my sermon, at first glance it seems like it might be the least likely of the options as it sounds like one is imposing the idea of Israel being gods upon the text. Where do we see language like this elsewhere? One way I sought to address this was to say that the point isn’t so much what the true interpretation of Psalm 82 is but, rather, how were the Jewish teachers understanding it? Jesus was clearly saying to them, “You understand Psalm 82 to be teaching so-and-so, now apply that understanding to my claims.” Whether they were right or not, could be argued, was beside the question. But the more I considered what Jesus was saying in light of the surrounding context, the more convinced I became that this is the right interpretation. This is not to say that I truly understand why the Psalmist (in this case, Asaph) uses the language of a “divine council” or “gods” to refer to the Israelites but, nevertheless, the argument has a certain logic to it that creates a teaching tool for Jesus to leverage against His critics in a way that the other options do not.
If “gods” is to be understood as Israel, then Jesus’ question amounts to: “If Israel may be called ‘god’ why would it be blasphemy for me to be called the Son of God?” This may sound like we are back to the same problems inherent in options 1 and 3 but, once we understand why Israel was referred to as “gods,” we see that it we are not.
I’ll stop here for a moment to say that the resource that helped me to grasp this was an essay, “I Said: You Are Gods”: Psalm 82:6 and John 10 by Jerome H. Neyrey found in the Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol 108. The article was referenced by Marvin Tate in his commentary on the Psalms for the Word Biblical Commentary series. Tate, working only with the OT text, seems to prefer an interpretation that is a combination of options 1 and 3, but he highlight’s Neyrey’s treatment as an example of how scholars have approached the question in light of John 10. I was fortunate enough to be able to access the Neyrey essay and found his defense of view number 4 quite convincing and the more I meditated on Jesus’ use of Psalm 82, the greater the depth of the meaning behind the citation seemed to be and I was able to build upon it.
To give it the most cursory of treatments, the way I would frame the argument goes something like this:
Midrash (a Jewish teaching) Rabbah 16.24 applies Psalm 82 to the Israelites and likens its message to them to the experience of Adam. When Adam was in the garden of Eden, he received God’s word and was charged to be obedient. Adam was made in the image of God and that image involved him being created to live a life of holy obedience and, were he to remain obedient, he would live forever. He would experience “deathlessness.” But, Adam broke God’s command, ate of the tree, lost his holiness and God said to him, “you are dust, and to dust you will return.” Rabbah 16.24 then says that, just as this was true of Adam, so it is true of you Israel for, in your case, “I said, you are god’s” but you have ruined yourselves like Adam, and so “indeed, you will die like Adam.”
So, here we have Adam who is, implicitly, a “god” like the Israelites because he was created in holiness and he was deathless.
Now we fast forward to the gathering of the Israelites at Mount Sinai. They have been freed from their captivity in Egypt and the land of promise lays ahead. An opportunity for a new start. Once again, God speaks and gives them His Word of command. They express their commitment to obey it but they fear hearing the voice of God because they knew that, upon hearing it, they would die. So they ask for Moses to tell them what it is that God has to say. By virtue of Moses’ intercession for them, they are now “deathless” in the sense that the angel of death has been withheld from them. They are also holy as those who have been set apart by God and who have expressed their intent to be obedient. In these ways, Israel mirrors Adam, and can be said to have, in a sense, regained the image that Adam lost and can, therefore, be referred to as “gods”- those who are holy and deathless. But, just as with Adam, they sin- they broke God’s commands and, even, worshipped a golden calf. God’s restraining hand on the angel of death was loosened and they died under God’s judgment.
Psalm 82 has been applied in this manner in a number of different Jewish teachings. One applies Psalm 82 to Deuteronomy 32:20 which reads, “I will see what their end will be.” The teaching on this passage includes: “You stood on Mount Sinai and said, “All the Lord has spoken will we do, and obey (Exodus 24:7), whereupon “I said: Ye are gods (Psalm 82:6); but when you said to the golden calf, “This is they god, O Israel” (Exodus 32:4), I said to you, “Nevertheless you shall die like men” (Psalm 82:7). This is typical of many other examples.
So, if this is how Jesus was using this passage, what would He be saying?
It would go beyond Him simply saying, “The people of Israel were called ‘gods’ so why are you upset with me for saying I’m the “Son of God”?” His hearers would have known “why” Israel was called “gods.” Because, at Sinai, they were like Adam in his pre-fall existence. They were holy and deathless.
The implication is that Jesus can use the same logic to describe Himself, for He is holy and deathless.
He is holy. Moses consecrated the people before God (Exodus 19:14) and the priests consecrated themselves (Exodus 19:22), but it was the Father who consecrated Jesus and sent Him into the world (John 10:36). Jesus had asked in John 8:46, “Which one of you convicts me of sin?” and, in John 10 he says, “I have shown you many good works from the Father (vs. 32) and “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me” (vs. 37). Jesus is not like Adam nor is He like Israel. The first Adam fell, Jesus, the second Adam, remains in obedience doing the works of God. The Israelites fell, but Jesus, the true Israel, continues steadfast in the commandments of God.
He is deathless. Jesus had just told them that He had the power to lay down His life and to take it up again. Now, in John 10, He says that He is the giver of eternal life and that those who are His will never perish (vs. 28). Adam and the Israelites died as mere mortals, but death cannot hold Jesus. He has power over death.
The point is made. When Jesus quotes Psalm 82 He is not simply saying, “Don’t get mad at me for calling myself the Son of God, I’m just doing what others have done too.” He is declaring Himself to be divine. He is the Holy One. He is the Deathless One. He and the Father are One. This is not blasphemy, this is truth.
That is why Jesus then challenges them, in essence saying: “Prove me wrong.”
I once held the view that the “gods” of Psalm 82 were mere human rulers, issuing judgments on God’s behalf, because the arguments for that position had a certain logic to it and it seemed to hold sway with many teachers that I admired and trusted. The more I have meditated on this understanding of Jesus’ use of Psalm 82, however, the richer it has become.
