Deus stetit. An exhortation to judges and men in power.
The Prophet declareth, 2. that God reprehendeth vniust Iudges and Magistrates: premonisheth them of his seuere & eternal punishment: 8. wherto the prophet conforming his wil prayeth for the same.
1A psalm for Asaph. God hath stood in the congregation of gods: and being in the midst of them he judgeth gods.Salmo di Asaph. Iddio sta nell'adunanza degli dei: e in mezzo a loro degli stessi dei fa giudizio.A Psalme to Asaph. GOd stood in the assemblie of goddes, and in the middes he iudgeth goddes.Psalmus Asaph. Deus stetit in synagoga deorum; / in medio autem deos dijudicat. 2How long will you judge unjustly: and accept the persons of the wicked?E fino a quando farete voi giudizj ingiusti, e avrete rispetti umani in grazia de' peccatori?How long iudge ye iniquitie: and accept ye the persons of sinners.Usquequo judicatis iniquitatem, / et facies peccatorum sumitis ? 3Judge for the needy and fatherless: do justice to the humble and the poor.Rendete giustizia al povero, e al pupillo: fate ragione al piccolo, e al povero.Iudge ye for the needie and the pupil: iustifie ye the humble, and the poore.Judicate egeno et pupillo; / humilem et pauperem justificate. 4Rescue the poor; and deliver the needy out of the hand of the sinner.Difendete il povero: e strappate il mendico dalle mani del peccatore.Take away the poore: and deliuer the needie from the hand of the sinner.Eripite pauperem, / et egenum de manu peccatoris liberate. 5They have not known nor understood: they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth shall be moved.Sono dell'ignoranza, e privi del bene dell'intelletto, camminano nelle tenebre: sono scosso le fondamenta della terra.They knew not, neither did they vnderstand, they walke in darkenesse: al the fundations of the earth shal be moued.Nescierunt, neque intellexerunt; / in tenebris ambulant: / movebuntur omnia fundamenta terræ. 6I have said: You are gods and all of you the sons of the most High.Io ho detto: Voi siete dii, e figliuoli tutti dell'Altissimo.I saide: Yow are goddes, and the sonnes of the highest al.Ego dixi: Dii estis, / et filii Excelsi omnes. 7But you like men shall die: and shall fall like one of the princes.Ma voi, come uomini morete, cadrete come l'uno dei principi.But you shal die as men: and fal as one of the princes.Vos autem sicut homines moriemini, / et sicut unus de principibus cadetis. 8Arise, O God, judge thou the earth: for thou shalt inherit among all the nations.Levati su, o Dio, giudica tu la terra: imperocché tu avrai per tua eredità tutte le genti.Arise ô God, iudge the earth: because thou shalt inherite in al the Gentiles.Surge, Deus, judica terram, / quoniam tu hæreditabis in omnibus gentibus.
81:1
Calmet
Asaph. Josaphat gave the like instructions to his judges, 2 Paralipomenon 19:6. (Kimchi) (Calmet)
Theodoret
God rejected the Jews in the preceding psalm, and here the reason is assigned. (Theodoret)
Congregation, or church of the Jews, who were gathered together like cattle, and sought after temporal advantages (St. Augustine, in Psalm 72:23.) alone. (Catec. Trid. Symb.[The Catechism of Trent: The Creed: Article ix.?])
Haydock
This is not exactly true of all, (Hebrews 11:14.) though it might be of the people in general, who seldom raised their thoughts to spiritual delights. (Haydock)
Amama
Of gods. Hebrew, "of God," who presides in his own council, and gives authority to others. (Amama)
Haydock
Yet Syriac has, "the angels;" Chaldean, "the just;" Protestants, "the mighty;" and Aquila, "the powerful ones." (Haydock)
Calmet
Gods here are put for judges, who act in God's name, Deuteronomy 1:17., and Exodus 22:28. To decide affairs of consequence, the priests and other judges met in the temple; and the Romans did the like, each senator offering incense and wine to the god who was honoured in that place. (Suetonius in Aug. xxxv.) (Calmet)
Worthington
All magistrates ought to be equally careful in what they determine, as if they heard God present giving them the following instructions. (Worthington)
Houbigant
Judgeth gods, or "God, our Saviour, is judged." (Houbigant)
Berthier
This bringeth on the reprobation of the Jews, ver. 5, etc. (Berthier)
81:2
Wicked. Contrary to the law, Deuteronomy 1:17., and Leviticus 19:15.
81:3
Haydock
Do justice. This is the sense of justificate, "justify," as the poor must not be screened from justice, any more than the rich. (Haydock)
81:5
Berthier
Moved. The ignorance, inapplication, and injustice of those in power overturn the state, which is supported by justice, Proverbs 14:34. They draw down God's curse upon the land, (St. Jerome; Calmet) and expose it to all the miseries of anarchy. This regards pastors also. (Berthier)
By gross ignorance judges walk in darkness, and throw all into confusion.
81:6
Calmet
Gods. The people look upon you as such, and treat you with respect. But entertain not sentiments of pride on that account. (Calmet)
Haydock
If judges, even those whom God condemns, may be styled gods without blasphemy, how much more might Jesus Christ, who was holy and did the works of God? He uses this argument to make the fury of the people abate: but then he continues to prove that he was God in a very different and proper sense, insomuch that the Jews, clearly perceiving his meaning, which Socinians would now mistake, took up stones to throw at him, John 10:34. (Haydock)
Berthier
If he had not been God, He would surely have told them plainly, as St. Paul did when people would have offered sacrifice to him, and as St. John the Baptist confessed that he was not the Christ. The sons of Seth, priests, the just, and all the Israelites, were styled sons of God, as well as the angels and judges, Genesis 6:2., Psalm 28:1., Wisdom 5:5., and Job 1:6. But no individual is called the Son, except Jesus Christ the true God. (Berthier)
Haydock
This passage may be understood of all the faithful, (St. Augustine) particularly of bishops: and Constantine the Great was hence deterred from judging them (St. Gregory 1:dec. Grat. p. 2. C. 11. q. 1.) or the clergy; (St. Melchiades C. 12. q. 1.) though this name seems inaccurate, as he died before (Glossa) the council of Nice. Amama restrains the text to men in power. (Haydock)
Menochius
Their elevated station makes their ignorance and misconduct less excusable. (Menochius)
81:7
Men. Hebrew Adam, or "like a man" (Montanus; Haydock) of the meanest rank.
St. Justin Martyr
Princes. Among men, (Calmet) or like Lucifer, the first of the rebel angels. (Eusebius) (St. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho)
Menochius
Most tyrants come to a miserable end. (Menochius)
Worthington
At death, judges themselves are brought to the bar, and their case is then more terrible, as the mighty in guilt shall suffer more, Wisdom vi. (Worthington)
Berthier
They are forced to taste of death; while Jesus Christ was master of it, John 10:17, 28. This comparison evinces Christ's divinity. But Socinians blind themselves by looking at the sun, and attempting to fathom all by the weak light of reason. (Berthier)
81:8
Calmet
Nations. Those whom thou hast appointed judges, prevaricate, Genesis 18:25. (Calmet)
Come, therefore, thyself, Lord Jesus, (Apocalypse 22:20.) to whom all nations were promised for an inheritance. (Berthier) (Psalm 2:7.)
Calmet
His appearance at the last day is described in the 49th psalm; and most of the Fathers here discover a clear prediction of the conversion of the Gentiles. (Calmet)
81:1
The wordes of the prophet, admonishing al magistrates, that when they sitte in iudgement, or determine anie cause, God who is there, and euerie where present,
attendeth their processe: and therfore it behoneth them to be aduised what they doe: euen as if they heard God speaking as here foloweth:
81:2
The wordes of God, though not vttered sensibly, yet in effect intimated by his law, according wherto he wil procede in iudgement against vniust Iudges.
81:5
Such iudges procede in grosse ignorance, not caring to vnderstand, but content to walke in darknes.
Ye are so euil disposed, that you would turne al vpside downe, instifying the wicked, and condemning the iust.
81:6
For your office which you participate of me, you are certaine goddes vpon earth:
81:7
But when you die you shal find that you are men, subiect to Gods iudgement.
yea your punishment wil be greuous, and importable: for the mightie shal mightely suffer torments.
Sap. •
81:8
Againe the wordes of the prophet praying God,
that eing he is Lord of al he wil iudge al.
81:1
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.6.1
… Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee.” For the Spirit designates both [of them] by the name, of God—both Him who is anointed as Son, and Him who does anoint, that is, the Father. And again: “God stood in the congregation of the gods, He judges among the gods.”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 1.7
But this argument you will try to shake with an objection from the name of God, by alleging that that name is a vague one, and applied to other beings also; as it is written, “God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; He judgeth among the gods.” And again, “I have said, Ye are gods.”
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Hermogenes 5
… Well, then, you say, we ourselves at that rate possess nothing of God. But indeed we do, and shall continue to do—only it is from Him that we receive it, and not from ourselves. For we shall be even gods, if we, shall deserve to be among those of whom He declared, “I have said, Ye are gods,” and, “God standeth in the congregation of the gods.”
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 13
… indeed, you follow those who did not at the time endure the Lord when showing Himself to be the Son of God, because they would not believe Him to be the Lord, then (I ask you) call to mind along with them the passage where it is written, “I have said, Ye are gods, and ye are children of the Most High;” and again, “God standeth in the congregation of gods;”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 4.29
… For we know that there are many creatures more honourable than man; and we have read that “God standeth in the congregation of gods,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 8.3
… For “God standeth in the assembly of the gods: He judgeth among the gods.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 8.74
… in the smallest cities have been good and worthy, to a divine and heavenly city, to whom it may be said, “Thou hast been faithful in the smallest city, come into a great one,” where “God standeth in the assembly of the gods, and judgeth the gods in the midst;” and He reckons thee among them, if thou no more “die as a man, or fall as one of the princes.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.7
… “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end: I will give to him that is athirst, of the fountain of living water freely. He that overcometh shall possess these things, and their inheritance; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” Also in the eighty-first Psalm: “God stood in the congregation of gods, and judging gods in the midst.”
Novatian † AD 258 A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity 20
… Thus, if an angel be inferior to Christ, and yet an angel is called god, rather by consequence is Christ said to be God, who is discovered to be both greater and better, not than one, but than all angels. And if “God standeth in the assembly of the gods, and in the midst God distinguisheth between the gods,”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 1.11
39. Therefore He was not man, and then became God, but He was God, and then became man, and that to deify us . Since, if when He became man, only then He was called Son and God, but before He became man, God called the ancient people sons, and made Moses a god of Pharaoh (and Scripture says of many, ‘God standeth in the congregation of Gods
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 30
… But in the second sense, what end will there be? His taking us as His servants, on our entrance into a state of salvation. For what need is there to Work Submission in us when we have already submitted? After which He arises to judge the earth, and to separate the saved from the lost. After that He is to stand as God in the midst of gods,
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 63.6
6. Let Him then be standing for you, that you may not be afraid of Him sitting; for when sitting He judges, as Daniel says: “The thrones were placed, and the books were opened, and the Ancient of days did sit.” But in the eighty-first [second] Psalm it is written: “God stood in the congregation of gods, and decideth among the gods.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 22.4
… But ye shall die like men and fall like one of the princes.” The devil fell first, and since “God standeth in the congregation of the Gods and judgeth among the Gods,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 50.2
2. But then who are those gods, or where are they, of whom God is the true God? Another Psalm saith, “God hath stood in the synagogue of gods, but in the midst He judgeth gods.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 82.1
1. 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” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 136.2
2. Then follows, “Give thanks to the God of gods, for His mercy endureth for ever” ( ver. 2 ). “Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy endureth for ever” ( ver. 3 ). We may well enquire, Who are these gods and lords, of whom He who is the true God is God and Lord? And we find written in another Psalm, that even men are called gods.
Pseudo-Clement The Clementine Homilies 16.6
… And again: ‘The names of other gods shall not ascend upon thy lips.’ Here it mentions many gods whose names it does not wish to be uttered. And again it is written, ‘Thy God is the Lord, He is God of gods.’ And again: ‘Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the Gods?’ And again: ‘God is Lord of gods.’ And again:
81:2
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 82.3
3. “How long will ye judge unrighteously, and accept the persons of the ungodly” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 136.2
… For were it because they are all good, He would not thus distinguish between them. He saith, “He judgeth between the gods.” Then follows, “How long do ye judge iniquity!”
81:3
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.14
In the psalm he exclaims: “Defend the fatherless and the needy; do justice to the humble and the poor; deliver the poor, and rid the needy out of the hand of the wicked.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.6
… But call not ye Rabbi, for One is your Master.” Also in the Gospel according to John: “The servant is not greater than his lord, nor the apostle greater than He that sent himself. If ye know these things, blessed shall ye be if ye shall do them.” Also in the eighty-first Psalm: “Do justice to the poor and lowly.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 82.3
… Did not He for your sake hunger and thirst like one in need? Did He not cry to you, “Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart”? Did He not “become poor, when He was rich, that by His poverty we might be made rich”? “Give sentence,” therefore, “for the fatherless and the poor man, justify the humble and needy” (
81:4
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 1.16
… Wast thou powerless? Couldst thou not help? I made thee for this purpose, not that thou mightest do wrong, but that thou mightest check it. Is it not written for thee “Save him that endureth wrong?” Is it not written for thee: “Deliver the poor and needy out of the hand of the sinner”?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 82.3
… proclaim Him righteous. But they will envy Him, and will not at all spare Him, saying, “This is the Heir, come, let us kill Him, and the inheritance shall be ours.” “Deliver,” then, “the poor man, and save the needy from the hands of the ungodly” (
81:5
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.20
… But he also who is ignorant of divine things walks in darkness, just because of that ignorance; as David says,
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 1.4
… “Evil men seek me, and shall not find me; for they held wisdom in hatred and did not receive the word of the Lord.” Also in the twenty-seventh Psalm: “Render to them their deserving, because they have not perceived in the works of the Lord.” Also in the eighty-first Psalm: “They have not known, neither have they understood; they shall walk on in darkness.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.7
… wherefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.” So, too, in the forty-fifth Psalm: “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth.” Also in the eighty-first Psalm: “They have not known, neither have they understood: they will walk on in darkness.”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 60
2. You, however, beloved and most truly longed-for, have done what befitted the tradition of the Church and your piety toward the Lord, in refuting, admonishing, and rebuking such men. But since, instigated by their father the devil, ‘they knew not nor understood,’ as it is written, ‘but go on still in darkness
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 10.4
… But if they imagine that there was some void in the bosom of the Father, they do nothing else than assert of Him perfection by way of augmentation, in the sense that He passed from the state of void and deficiency to the state of fulness and perfection. But “they knew not nor understood,” says David of those that “walk on still in darkness
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Letters 17
… but instead, the dark is changed by the beam into light; thus also the True Light, shining in our gloom, was not itself overshadowed with that shade, but enlightened it by means of itself. Well, seeing that our humanity was in darkness, as it is written, “They know not, neither will they understand, they walk on in darkness
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 82.4
4. To all of them, verily, what follows is most fitly suited: “They did not know nor understand, they walk on in darkness” (
81:6
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.6.1
… He of whom He has said, “God shall come openly, our God, and shall not keep silence;” that is, the Son, who came manifested to men who said, “I have openly appeared to those who seek Me not.” But of what gods [does he speak]? [Of those] to whom He says, “I have said, Ye are gods, and all sons of the Most High.”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.19.1
… and not receiving the incorruptible Word, they remain in mortal flesh, and are debtors to death, not obtaining the antidote of life. To whom the Word says, mentioning His own gift of grace: “I said, Ye are all the sons of the Highest, and gods; but ye shall die like men.”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.38.4
… For we cast blame upon Him, because we have not been made gods from the beginning, but at first merely men, then at length gods; although God has adopted this course out of His pure benevolence, that no one may impute to Him invidiousness or grudgingness. He declares, “I have said, Ye are gods; and ye are all sons of the Highest.”
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Hermogenes 5
… Well, then, you say, we ourselves at that rate possess nothing of God. But indeed we do, and shall continue to do—only it is from Him that we receive it, and not from ourselves. For we shall be even gods, if we, shall deserve to be among those of whom He declared, “I have said, Ye are gods,”
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 13
… If, indeed, you follow those who did not at the time endure the Lord when showing Himself to be the Son of God, because they would not believe Him to be the Lord, then (I ask you) call to mind along with them the passage where it is written, “I have said, Ye are gods, and ye are children of the Most High;”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 The Refutation of All Heresies 5.2
… But he says there ensues a generation of men when the ocean flows downwards; but when upwards to the wall and fortress and the cliff of Luecas, a generation of gods takes place. This, he asserts, is that which has been written: “I said, Ye are gods, and all children of the highest;”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.7
… He that overcometh shall possess these things, and their inheritance; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” Also in the eighty-first Psalm: “God stood in the congregation of gods, and judging gods in the midst.” And again in the same place: “I have said, Ye are gods; and ye are all the children of the Highest: but ye shall die like men.”
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 17.4
… So also we call the Christ, the Son of God, for through Him we have gained the knowledge of God; even as He called Israel My firstborn son, and as He said concerning Solomon, He shall be to Me a son . And we call Him God, even as He surnamed Moses by His own Name. And also David said concerning them:— Ye are Gods and children of the Highest, all of you .
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 6.18
… You call Him a Son, not because He was born from God, but because He was created by God. For you call to mind that God has deemed even holy men worthy of this title, and you consider that it is assigned to the Son in exactly the same sense in which the words, I have said, Ye are Gods, and all of you sons of the Most High
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 7.10
… he was feared and entreated, he chastised and healed. It is one thing to be appointed a god; it is another thing to be God. He was made a god to Pharaoh; he had not that nature and that name wherein God consists. I call to mind another instance of the name being given as a title; that where it is written, I have said, Ye are gods
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 11.2
… Another even denies the cardinal doctrine of the Generation and pronounces Him a creature. Another will call Him, but not think Him, God on the ground that religion allows us to speak of more Gods than One, but He, Whom we recognise as God, must be conscious of sharing the divine nature
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 On the Incarnation of the Word 3
… as Wisdom says: “The taking heed to His laws is the assurance of immortality;” but being incorrupt, he would live henceforth as God, to which I suppose the divine Scripture refers, when it says: “I have
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 On the Incarnation of the Word 39
… but rather let him marvel that by so ordinary a means things divine have been manifested to us, and that by death immortality has reached to all, and that by the Word becoming man, the universal Providence has been known, and its Giver and Artificer the very Word of God. 3. For He was made man that we might be made God
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 1.3
… not a creature or work, but an offspring proper to the Father’s essence. Wherefore He is very God, existing one in essence with the very Father; while other beings, to whom He said, ‘I said ye are Gods
St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Letters 8.3
… From this the consubstantiality is proved. For God in essence or substance is co-essential or con-substantial with God in essence or substance. But when even man is called “god” as in the words, “I have said ye are gods,”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 11.4
To others also the Scripture says, Ye are the sons of the Lord your God : and in another place, I have said, Ye are gods, and ye are all sons of the Most High
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 1.5
40. Furthermore, the Arians deny that in Godhead He is One with the Father.
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.13
… Whosoever he be of whom it is said, O disciple of Photinus, he is more to be borne with, who held his peace; thou, nevertheless, hast dared to lift up thy voice to utter it, that thou mightest be proved more foolish than the fool. Thou deniest My Godhead, whereas I said, ‘Ye are gods, and ye are all the children of the Most Highest?’
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.1
… so that they consider Him to be the same as He has granted other men to be, even as He says to Moses: “I have made thee a god unto Pharaoh.” Wherefore it is also said in the Psalms: “I have said, ye are gods.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Two Homilies on Eutropius 2.8
… What kind of names hath He received from me, and what kind hath He given to me? He Himself is God, and He hath called me God; with Him is the essential nature as an actual fact, with me only the honour of the name: “I have said ye are gods, and ye are all children of the most highest.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 32
… iii. 1 ): and again, “I send My angel before Thy face:” but of some, “Serpents, generation of vipers.” ( Matt. xii. 34 .) So then, it all depends upon the use. Why do I say, an angel? the man can become God, and a child of God. For we read, “I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 14
… This is why he does not say, As many as have received the Spirit, but, “as many as are led by the Spirit,” that is, as many as live up to this all their life long, “they are the sons of God.” Then since this dignity was given to the Jews also, for it says, “I said ye are Gods, and all of you children of the Most High” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 3
… I speak to thee concerning God, and dost thou bring the earth into the argument, and men who are of the earth? At this rate, since Christ is called Son of God, and God, Man who is called Son of God must be God also. For, “I have said, Ye are Gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 14
Whence then shall we begin? From the sonship itself? What then is the distinction between the first and second? The first is the honor of a name, in the second the thing goes with it. Of the first the Prophet says, “I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 22.4
… But ye shall die like men and fall like one of the princes.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 9.23
… and far be it from us to say that “great King above all gods” means “great King above all demons.” But the same Scripture also calls men who belong to God’s people “gods:” “I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you children of the Most High.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 10.1
… this worship, which in Greek is called θρησκεία , and in Latin “religio,” but the religion by which we are bound to God only; this worship, which they call θεοσέβεια , but which we cannot express in one word, but call it the worship of God,—this, we say, belongs only to that God who is the true God, and who makes His worshippers gods.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 15.23
… But both are correct. For they were both sons of God, and thus brothers of their own fathers, who were children of the same God; and they were sons of gods, because begotten by gods, together with whom they themselves also were gods, according to that expression of the psalm: “I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 1.6
13. Similar evidence has been collected also concerning the Holy Spirit, of which those who have discussed the subject before ourselves have most fully availed themselves, that He too is God, and not a creature. But if not a creature, then not only God (for men likewise are called gods
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Faith and the Creed 9
… Nor, if this kind of inquiry be addressed to us with respect to the Holy Spirit, ought we to affirm in reply that He is anything else than God; being earnestly on our guard, [however], against an acceptance of this merely in the sense in which it is applied to men, when it is said, “Ye are gods.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 2.4
… for the prophets often show that this same Lord of ours might have been their Father also, if they had not strayed from His commandments: as, for instance, we have that statement, “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me;” and that other, “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 26.3
… Would you know what He would have us do? Give ear to the Psalm; “I have said, Ye are gods, and ye are all the children of the Most High.” But by savouring the things of men; “ye shall die like men.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 31.6
… “he gave them power to become the sons of God.” What marvel then! Ye were men, if we were the sons of men; ye were all men, and were liars, for, “All men are liars.” The grace of God came to you, and “gave you power to become the sons of God.” Hear the voice of My Father saying, “I have said, Ye are gods; and ye are all the children of the Most High.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 47.2
2. And how have we in the Psalm sung unto the Lord, “Lord, have mercy on me, for man hath trodden me down”? He is called a man who lives after the manner of men. For it is said to them who live after God, “Ye are gods, and ye are all the children of the Most High.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 57.3
… “Man,” He saith. “O man;” for seeing thou valuest this inheritance so highly, what art thou but a man? He wished to make him something more than man. What more did He wish to make him, from whom He wished to take covetousness away? What more did He wish to make him? I will tell you, “I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 75.3
… “The Jews wished to kill Him, not only because He did these things on the sabbaths, but because He called Himself the Son of God, making Himself equal with God.” For Christ called Himself the Son after one manner, in another was it said to men, “I said, Ye are Gods, and ye are all children of the Most High.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 1.4
… “For whereas ye say, I am of Paul, I of Apollos, are ye not men?” What did he wish to make them whom he upbraided because they were men? Do you wish to know what he wished to make them? Hear in the Psalms: “I have said, ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 48.9
9. But see what answer the Lord gave to their dull apprehension. He saw that they could not bear the brilliance of the truth, and He tempered it with words. “Is it not written in your law,” that is, as given to you, “that I said, Ye are gods?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 2.14
… because such is each one as is his love. Lovest thou earth, thou shalt be earth. Lovest thou God, what shall I say? thou shalt be a god? I darenot say it of myself, let us hear the Scriptures: “I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 50.2
… See in the same Psalm those to whom he saith, “I have said, Ye are gods, and children of the Highest all; but ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 82.4
… “I said, Ye are gods, ye are all the children of the Most High” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 86.11
… Angels worship the one God, and favour not men who wish to worship Angels and not God. For we find Angels of high rank forbidding men to adore them, and commanding them to adore the true God. But when they say Angels, suppose they mean men, since it is said, “I have said, Ye are Gods, and all the children of the Most Highest.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 97.12
… He is exalted above devils: but neither is this very great; the heathen gods indeed are devils, but “He is far above all gods.” Even men are styled gods: “I have said, Ye are gods: and ye are all the children of the Most Highest:” again it is written, “God standeth in the congregation of princes: He is a Judge among gods.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 8.21
… To whom this saying applies with sufficient accuracy: “I have said: Ye are Gods, and ye are all the children of the Most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes;”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 3.2
… “I have given thee as a God to Pharaoh,” or in this passage: “I said ye are Gods,”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 147
… In the great song he says “Rejoice O ye nations with His people and let all the sons of God be strong in Him;” and by the mouth of the prophet Isaiah He says “I have nourished and brought up sons (children) and they have rebelled against me;” and through the thrice blessed David “I have said ye are gods and all of you are children of the Most High,”
81:7
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 17.4
… And we call Him God, even as He surnamed Moses by His own Name. And also David said concerning them:— Ye are Gods and children of the Highest, all of you . And when they amended not themselves, therefore He said concerning them:— As men shall ye die, and as one of the princes shall ye fall.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 47.2
… For it is said to them who live after God, “Ye are gods, and ye are all the children of the Most High.” But to the reprobate, who were called to be the sons of God, and who wished rather to be men, that is, to live after the manner of men, he says, “But ye shall die like men, and fall as one of the princes.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 39.18
… They were afraid to presume of their own merits. They did not “go about to establish their own righteousness,” that they might “submit themselves to the righteousness of God.” …Behold! you are mortal; and you bear about you a body of flesh that is corrupting away: “And ye shall fall like one of the princes. Ye shall die like men,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 82.4
… “I said, Ye are gods, ye are all the children of the Most High” ( ver. 6 ). “But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes” (
81:8
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Trallians: Shorter and Longer Versions 10
… He really died, and was buried, and rose from the dead, even as He prayed in a certain place, saying, “But do Thou, O Lord, raise me up again, and I shall recompense them.” And the Father, who always hears Him, answered and said, “Arise, O God, and judge the earth; for Thou shall receive all the heathen for Thine inheritance.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.29
… God, when Thou wentest forth in the sight of Thy people, in passing into the desert.” Also in the eighty-first Psalm: “Arise, O God; judge the earth: for Thou wilt exterminate among all nations.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 21.17
… and though the wicked come, as it is written, to an awful death, nevertheless for the present the godly are a laughing stock, while the goodness of God and the great treasuries of what is in store for each of them hereafter are concealed. Then indeed word and deed and thought will be weighed in the just balances of God, as He arises to judge the earth,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 7
… but if thou approach then , no longer [wilt thou receive it]. For then the approach is unseasonable, for it is not “then a throne of Grace.” Till that time He sitteth granting pardon, but when the end [is come], then He riseth up to judgment. For it is said, “Arise, O God, judge the earth.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 9.13
13. But as to David, why do I say that his prophecy extends to all nations, when we have just heard the psalm (and it is difficult to mention a psalm in which the same is not sounded forth)? But certainly, as I have said, we have been just singing, “Arise, O God, judge the earth; for Thou shalt inherit among all nations.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 82.5
5. 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” (
81:6
Joseph (Heb. Yôsēph; Ps. 81, 6 Yĕhôsēph = «God Increases»)
… Yôsēph; Ps. 81, 6 Yĕhôsēph = «God Increases»). - Beloved son of the patriarch Jacob (v.) and of Rachel. …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.