[Contra the “human judges” interpretation of the elohim of Psa 82] their immortality,
presupposed in v. 8, alludes to their status as “gods”; Yahweh’s statement of
their status as “god” in v. 6 is logically related to his verdict on them to be
demoted from their “divine status” and to be reduced to mortals n v. 7.
Accordingly, the four terms, אדם, מות, שר, and נפל, in
the texts, resulting from their failure to be just, are intentionally put here
to be juxtaposed wiht the other two terms, which convey their contrasting denotations:
sc. אלהים and בני עליון. Thus, some point out cogently that these accused
entities refer to “angels” or “gods” of the pantheon. (Sang Youl Cho, Lesser
Deities in the Ugaritic Texts and the Hebrew Bible: A Comparative Study of
their Nature and Roles [Deities and Angels of the Ancient World 2;
Piscataway, New Jersey: Gorgias Press, 2007], 124-25, comment in square bracket added for clarification)