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Journey of a Passage

Psalm 82:6

"I have said, Ye are gods" and John 10:34

"I have said, Ye are gods (elohim); and all of you are children of the most High." Every witness in the library agrees. In John 10:34 Jesus quotes the line, in Greek, to answer a charge of blasphemy. Who the "gods" are is the question investigated in Ancient Mysteries.

Stable text: no manuscript differences in meaning

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains this verse · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
  • Uncertain connection
Hebrew
  1. The psalm as first composedPsalms composed over centuries (c. 10th–4th century BC; debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The psalm as first composed
Greek
  1. Greek Psalter (library: Giguet's French)Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872Translated from the Old Greek Psalter
Latin
  1. Jerome's Gallican Psalter (Clementine Vulgate)c. AD 386–392, revised from the GreekTranslated from the Greek Psalter (Origen's Hexapla)
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew
New Testament quotation
  1. Greek New Testament (library: Statistical Restoration text)1st century AD; edition 2010sUncertain relationship to the psalm (which wording it followed is the question)

Every witness, in order

  1. Psalms composed over centuries (c. 10th–4th century BC; debated)

    The psalm as first composed

    – No copy survives

    No original survives. About forty Psalms manuscripts from Qumran, Masada and Nahal Hever (c. 2nd century BC – 1st century AD) are the oldest copies.

  2. 1st century AD; edition 2010s

    Greek New Testament (library: Statistical Restoration text)

    ✓ Contains this passageUncertain relationship to the psalm (which wording it followed is the question)

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: the Greek New Testament editions in the library (Textus Receptus, Byzantine Textform, Statistical Restoration).

    Ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς ὁ ˚Ἰησοῦς, “Οὐκ ἔστιν γεγραμμένον ἐν τῷ νόμῳ ὑμῶν, ὅτι ‘Ἐγὼ εἶπα, “Θεοί ἐστε”’;

    Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

    John 10:34. KJV: "Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?"

  3. c. AD 386–392, revised from the Greek

    Jerome's Gallican Psalter (Clementine Vulgate)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Greek Psalter (Origen's Hexapla)

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Ego dixi: Dii estis, et filii Excelsi omnes.

    Latin numbering: Psalm 81:6. Jerome revised this Latin Psalter from the Greek, so it is a witness to the Greek, not to the Hebrew.

  4. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The psalm as first composed

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    אֲ‍ֽנִי־אָ֭מַרְתִּי אֱלֹהִ֣ים אַתֶּ֑ם וּבְנֵ֖י עֶלְי֣וֹן כֻּלְּכֶֽם׃

    I said, You are gods (elohim), and sons of the Most High, all of you

    Hebrew numbering: Psalm 82:6.

  5. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

  6. Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872

    Greek Psalter (library: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Old Greek Psalter

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Et moi j’ai dit: Vous êtes dieux, et tous fils du Très-Haut.

    Greek numbering: Psalm 81:6. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check); not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition (C check).

What changed, and why

The text is not in doubt; the interpretation is. Elohim attem ("gods are you") is followed by "but you shall die like Adam/like humans." Readings: heavenly beings or the gods of the nations; human judges; Israel at Sinai. See "Psalm 82: Who Are the 'Gods'?".

John 10:34 matches the Greek psalm exactly (Egō eipa, Theoi este). The New Testament text shown is the library's Greek edition (D check).

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedAll library witnesses agree in 82:6.
  • Independently documentedJohn 10:34 quotes the Greek of 82:6 exactly.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Psalm 82: God Judges Among the Gods →"God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods." He accuses them: "How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked?" "Defend the poor and fatherless." They do not understand, "all the foundations of the earth are out of course." "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men." "Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations."