ation, especially the passage Ezek. xxxii. 21, which had
formerly been appealed to in support of the translation "strong hero,"
is set aside; for the [Hebrew: ali gbvriM] of that passage are "rams of
heroes." Rationalistic interpreters now differ in their attempts at
getting rid of the troublesome fact. _Hitzig_ says, "Strong God"--he
erroneously views [Hebrew: gbvr], which always means "hero," as an
adjective--"the future deliverer is called by the oriental not strictly
separating the Divine and human, and He is called so by way of
exaggeration, in so far as He possesses divine qualities." A like
opinion is expressed by _Knobel_: "Strong God the Messiah is called,
because in the wars with the Gentiles He will prove himself as a hero
equipped with divine strength." The expression proves a divine nature
as little as when in Ps. lxxxii. 1-6, comp. John x. 34, 35, kings are,
in general, called [Hebrew: alhiM], "gods, _Like_ God, to be compared
to Him, a worthy representative of Him, and hence, likewise, called
God." It is true that there is one [Hebrew: al gbvr] only, and that,
according to chap. x. 21, the Messiah cannot be [Hebrew: al gbvr]
beside the Most High God, excepting _by partaking in his nature_. Such
a participation in the nature, not His being merely filled with the
power of [Pg 89] God, is absolutely required to explain the expression.
It is true that in the Law of Moses all those who have to command or to
judge, all those to whom, for some reason or other, respect or
reverence is due, are consecrated as the representatives of God on
earth; _e.g._, a court of justice is of God, and he who appears before
it appears before God. But the name _Elohim_ is there given _in general
only to the judicial court_, which represents God--to the _office_, not
to the single individuals who are invested with it. In Ps. lxxxii. 1,
the name _Elohim_ in the expression: "He judgeth among the gods" is
given to the single, judging individual; comp. also ver. 6; but this
passage forms an isolated exception. To explain, from it, the passage
before us is inadmissible, even from chap. x. 21, where [Hebrew: al
gbvr] stands in its fullest sense. It must not be overlooked that that
passage in Ps. lxxxii. belongs to higher poetry; that the author
himself there mitigates in ver. 6, in the parallel member, the strength
of the expression: "I have said ye are _Elohim_, and sons of the Most
High ye all;" and, finally, that there _Elohim_ is used