Tool Beta

The Ancient World Behind the Text: Ideas

The customs, offices and ideas a first reader knew without being told, what each meant then, and the nearest thing you already know.

God's council and throne room

Israel's Scriptures picture God presiding over an assembly of heavenly beings, the sons of God, and Psalm 82 calls its members gods. Who those gods are is one of the hardest questions behind John 10.

Older Near Eastern rootsWhat people were waiting for

First, in plain English

A king does not rule alone. He sits with a council, and the council answers to him. Several Old Testament passages picture God the same way, seated among heavenly beings who serve him. Psalm 82 opens with God standing in that assembly and judging its members, whom it calls gods and sons of the Most High, and it ends with them sentenced to die like men. Jesus quotes this psalm in John 10. Who the psalm's gods are is debated, and the answer changes how his argument works.

What it meant then

Heiser reads Psalm 82:1 as God standing in a council of elohim, divine beings. He argues that Psalm 89:5-7, which places an assembly of holy ones in the heavens, cannot describe human beings. On John 10 he writes that Jesus' quotation recalls that "the Jewish Scriptures bore witness to nonhuman sons of God." The quotation sits between Jesus' claims to be one with the Father (10:30) and that the Father is in him (10:38). For Heiser, it sets Jesus above all the divine sons of God. Keener's background commentary reads the psalm as aimed at the kings of the earth, viewed as God's council, who thought themselves divine but would die like mortals. His notes say it probably mocks Near Eastern rulers who saw themselves as gods, which fits a festival that remembered Antiochus. Jewish tradition sometimes applied the verse to Israel receiving the law at Sinai, the reading Wright follows. The ESV and CSB Study Bibles read the gods as human judges, called gods as God's representatives. Jesus argues in a standard Jewish how-much-more form. Heiser also finds the council behind Hebrews 1-2: at 1:6 the angels worship the Son, in a line of Deuteronomy 32:43 whose Dead Sea Scrolls text reads sons of God. Hebrews 2:5 puts the world to come under God's human family, not his divine one. He writes that "the divine council was there at Sinai witnessing the delivering of the law." The picture of ranked gods is older. Podany dates the start of kingship to around 2900 BC. About a thousand years later, the belief that the gods too had a king and a hierarchy was written down. She also describes Babylon's New Year festival of the sixth century BC. There the gods of many cities conferred, and Marduk, king of the gods, declared the fates. The comparison with Psalm 82 is drawn here, not by Podany.

The bridge to today

An analogy: a royal court where the king sits among the governors who rule his provinces in his name. Calling them lords honors their office, and the king can still strip them of it.

What it changes in the reading

The council picture lies behind Jesus' quotation of Psalm 82 in John 10:34-36, whose force depends on who the gods are. In Heiser's reading it also lies behind Paul's remark in 1 Corinthians 6:3 that believers will judge angels, and behind the command in Hebrews 1:6 that the angels, sons of God in one ancient text of the verse, worship the Son.

Where the analogy breaks

Not a court of human officials. A king's governors are men he appointed and can replace with other men. In Heiser's reading the council members are divine beings, and in Psalm 82 God sentences them to die like mortals. Other sources here read them as human rulers or judges.

Where scholars disagree

Who the gods of Psalm 82 are. Heiser: divine beings of God's council, so the quotation sets Jesus above all divine sons of God. Keener's background commentary: earthly kings viewed as God's council, who thought themselves divine. Keener's notes: Near Eastern rulers who saw themselves as divine, though some Jewish interpreters applied the verse to Israel at Sinai, and Jesus may be using his hearers' reading or leaving a riddle. Wright: Israel at Sinai, exalted by receiving the law. The ESV and CSB Study Bibles: human judges, called gods as God's representatives.

Passages where it appears

{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-10-22-42\/","n":"John 10:22-42, In Solomon's Porch at the Festival of Dedication","s":"In winter, at the Festival of Dedication, the Judeans press Jesus to say plainly whether he is the Messiah. He says he and the Father are one, they pick up stones, and he answers from Psalm 82.","r":"John 10:22-42"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/hebrews-1-1-14\/","n":"Hebrews 1:1-14, The Son above the angels","s":"God, who spoke in many ways through the prophets, has now spoken through a Son, heir of all things, who made purification for sins and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty. A chain of Scripture quotations sets the Son above the angels, who worship him and are sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.","r":"Hebrews 1:1-14"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/2peter-2-10-22\/","n":"2 Peter 2:10-22, The glorious ones, the way of Balaam, a dog and a sow","s":"The false teachers slander the glorious ones, which even angels do not dare to do. Like unreasoning animals they carouse in daylight, with eyes full of adultery; they have followed Balaam, who loved profit gained by wrongdoing and was rebuked by a donkey. They promise freedom while slaves of corruption, and they are like a dog returning to its vomit and a washed sow to the mud.","r":"2 Peter 2:10-22"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-4-1-11\/","n":"Revelation 4:1-11, the throne room and the twenty-four elders","s":"Through an open door John is called up to heaven and sees God on a throne, ringed by a rainbow, with twenty-four elders on thrones, four living creatures and a sea of glass. The creatures cry holy, holy, holy, and the elders lay down their crowns, saying the Lord and God is worthy because he created all things.","r":"Revelation 4:1-11"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-5-1-14\/","n":"Revelation 5:1-14, the sealed scroll and the Lamb","s":"In God's right hand is a scroll written on both sides and sealed with seven seals, and no one is worthy to open it until the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, appears as a Lamb that looks slain. The living creatures, the elders, countless angels and all creation worship him.","r":"Revelation 5:1-14"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-11-15-19\/","n":"Revelation 11:15-19, the seventh trumpet and the ark","s":"At the seventh trumpet heaven announces that rule over the world now belongs to God and his Messiah for ever. The elders worship, the angry nations meet God's judgment, and the heavenly temple opens to reveal the ark of the covenant.","r":"Revelation 11:15-19"}

Beings in the Gods of the Bible

{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/gods-of-the-bible\/the-elohim-of-psalm-82\/","n":"The elohim of Psalm 82","s":"A psalm where God stands up in a room full of gods and sentences them to death.","r":"Psalm 82:1"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/gods-of-the-bible\/bene-elohim\/","n":"Bene elohim","s":"Sons of God: a group of lesser divine beings who show up at God's throne.","r":"Genesis 6:2"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/gods-of-the-bible\/yahweh\/","n":"Yahweh","s":"The personal name of Israel's God, printed as LORD in most English Bibles.","r":"Genesis 2:4"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/gods-of-the-bible\/seraphim\/","n":"Seraphim","s":"Six-winged beings around God's throne in Isaiah's vision, described with a word that elsewhere means burning serpent.","r":"Isaiah 6:2"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/gods-of-the-bible\/cherubim\/","n":"Cherubim","s":"Winged composite creatures that guard and carry God's throne, nothing like the babies in later art.","r":"Genesis 3:24"}

In the Divine Council Index

{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/divine-council-index\/john-10-31-36\/","n":"John 10:31-36","s":"Jesus answers a charge of blasphemy by quoting Psalm 82.","r":"John 10:31-36"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/divine-council-index\/psalm-82\/","n":"Psalm 82","s":"God stands in the divine assembly and passes sentence on the elohim He put in charge.","r":"Psalm 82"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/divine-council-index\/psalm-89-5-7\/","n":"Psalm 89:5-7","s":"Yahweh is feared in the council of the holy ones, and nothing in the skies compares to Him.","r":"Psalm 89:5-7"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/divine-council-index\/deuteronomy-32-43-hebrews-1-6\/","n":"Deuteronomy 32:43; Hebrews 1:6","s":"The end of the Song of Moses, where the Masoretic text is one line and every other witness is longer.","r":"Deuteronomy 32:43; Hebrews 1:6"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/divine-council-index\/isaiah-6-1-8\/","n":"Isaiah 6:1-8","s":"The throne room, the seraphim, and the plural question, who will go for us.","r":"Isaiah 6:1-8"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/divine-council-index\/1-kings-22-19-23\/","n":"1 Kings 22:19-23","s":"Micaiah reports seeing Yahweh enthroned with the host standing to His right and left.","r":"1 Kings 22:19-23"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/divine-council-index\/daniel-7-9-14\/","n":"Daniel 7:9-14","s":"Thrones are set in place, plural, the court sits, and one like a son of man comes on the clouds.","r":"Daniel 7:9-14"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/divine-council-index\/isaiah-24-21-23\/","n":"Isaiah 24:21-23","s":"Yahweh punishes the host of heaven above and the kings of earth below, then reigns before His elders.","r":"Isaiah 24:21-23"}

Sources

Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm, ch. 4, God Alone, ch. 20, Retooling the Template, and ch. 31, Who Will Go for Us?, endnote 3
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on John 10:34 and 10:35-36
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on John 10:31 and 10:34-35
N. T. Wright, John for Everyone, Part One, comment on John 10:31-42
ESV Study Bible, study note on John 10:34
CSB Study Bible, note on John 10:34
Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm, ch. 36, Lower Than the Elohim, sections Jesus, Angels, and Us and Jesus, Our Brother in the Council, and ch. 37, This Means War, endnotes
Amanda H. Podany, The Ancient Near East: A Very Short Introduction, ch. 3, The Early Dynastic period, opening section, and ch. 10, The New Year's festival

All ideas