The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 81
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 82 in the KJV and most English Bibles
Tap Fathers under a verse to read what the saints said about it.
A Psalm for Asaph. God stands in the assembly of gods; And in the midst of them will judge gods.
Ψαλμὸς τῷ Ἀσάφ. Ὁ Θεὸς ἔστη ἐν συναγωγῇ θεῶν, ἐν μέσῳ δὲ θεοὺς διακρινεῖ.
This Psalm, like others similarly named, was so entitled either from the name of the man who wrote it, or from the explanation of that same name, so as to refer in meaning to the Synagogue, which Asaph signifies; especially as this is intimated in the first verse. For it begins, "God stood in the synagogue of gods".…
How long will ye judge unrighteously, And accept the persons of sinners? Pause.
Ἕως πότε κρίνετε ἀδικίαν, καὶ πρόσωπα ἁμαρτωλῶν λαμβάνετε; διάψαλμα.
"How long will you judge unrighteously, and accept the persons of the ungodly"; as in another place, "How long are you heavy in heart?" Until He shall come who is the light of the heart? I have given a law, you have resisted stubbornly: I sent Prophets, you treated them unjustly, or slew them, or connived at those who…
Judge the orphan and poor: Do justice to the low and needy.
Κρίνατε ὀρφανὸν καὶ πτωχὸν, ταπεινὸν καὶ πένητα δικαιώσατε.
Rescue the needy, and deliver the poor Out of the hand of the sinner.
Εξέλεσθε πένητα, καὶ πτωχὸν ἐκ χειρὸς ἁμαρτωλοῦ ῥύσασθε.
They know not, nor understand; They walk on in darkness: All the foundations of the earth shall be shaken.
Οὐκ ἔγνωσαν οὐδὲ συνῆκαν, ἐν σκότει διαπορεύονται· σαλευθήσονται πάντα τὰ θεμελια τῆς γῆς.
I have said, Ye are gods; And all of you children of the Most High.
Ἐγὼ εἶπα, θεοί ἐστε, καὶ υἱοὶ ὑψίστου πάντες.
But the kingdom of earthly happiness is pride, to oppose which came the lowliness of Christ, rebuking those whom He wished by lowliness to make the children of the Most High, and blaming them: "I said, You are gods, you are all the children of the Most High". "But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the…
But ye die as men, And fall as one of the princes.
Ὑμεῖς δὲ ὡς ἄνθρωποι ἀποθνήσκετε, καὶ ὡς εἷς τῶν ἀρχόντων πίπτετε.
Arise, O God, judge the earth: For thou shalt inherit all nations.
Ἀνάστα ὁ Θεὸς, κρῖνον τὴν γῆν, ὅτι σὺ κατακληρονομήσεις ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν.
And therefore that this vice may be cured, in the person of the Prophet himself it is said, "Arise, O God, and judge the earth"; for the earth swelled high when it crucified You: rise from the dead, and judge the earth. "For You shall destroy among all nations." What, but the earth? That is, destroying those who…
Every note is a real passage, quoted word for word from a published English translation, with its source. Nothing here is summarised or written by us. Some verses have many notes and some have none, because the Fathers wrote more on some passages than others.
All of these translations are in the public domain. The passages were matched to their verses by the Historical Christian Commentaries project, which also hosts the full texts we link to. The Fathers are a treasury of the Church's mind, and they are best read alongside the life of the Church: if a passage raises a question, bring it to your priest.