If there is mention in the Holy Bible of the word 'gods'

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



If there is mention in the Holy Bible of the word 'gods', it does not at all mean Deity, and we have discussed this issue before here on in other pages. Sometimes it means the pagan gods as is mentioned in the Psalms: "For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised, He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the people are idols" (Ps. 96:4,5), and: "Worship Him, all you gods" (Ps. 97:7). Naturally, those who worship another are not true gods.
Another example, said by the Divine Inspiration in Psalm 82, is: "I said, 'You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes."' (Ps: 6,7). Naturally, he who dies and falls can not be a God. But it is a symbolical expression signifying power and authority, as when some of the
Jews' enemies were afraid from the return of the Ark of Covenant and said: "Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness" (I Sam.4:8). They described all the people as gods which has a symbolic or a metaphoric meaning.