Verses 5-18 are a hymn praising Yahweh’s greatness as supreme over all creation. The psalmist calls upon the beings in heaven to proclaim God’s greatness. They are called the holy ones (verses 5b, 7a) and “sons of gods” (verse 6b). They form an assembly (verse 5b), a council (verse 7a) around God (verse 7b); they are subordinate to him (verse 6) and fear him (verse 7b).
In verse 5a the heavens means “all heavenly beings,” “all creatures (or, living beings) in heaven,” in parallel with the holy ones in line b.
The holy ones in verses 5b, 7a are thought of either as the gods of other nations, as in 82.1 (so Oesterley and others), or as the angels (Briggs, Bible en français courant, and others); McCullough calls them angels and demigods. Dahood defines them as “the divine beings who comprise the court of Yahweh.” The “sons of gods” in verse 6b are to be identified as gods (see also 29.1); Anderson defines them as “those belonging to the class of gods.” Translations vary: “the sons of gods” (Weiser, Bible de Jérusalem), “sons of God” (New American Bible), “the gods” (Dahood, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), “divine beings” (New Jerusalem Bible). If the translator does not use “angels,” some expression for “divine beings” may be used. In many languages a term for such beings will be associated with the idea of “idols.” However, these are not idols, and the translator should not identify them as being part of the unseen world of evil. In some languages a generic term for God may be used, while in others a term for spirit, or “heavenly spirit” can be used, provided, of course, that this word does not refer to evil spirits. Therefore one can say, for example, “the spirits in heaven sing of the wonderful things which you do.” The second line of verse 5 may be rendered “the spirits sing and tell in their heavenly meeting how faithful you are.”
Revised Standard Version shows that the Hebrew of verses 6-7 is in the form of a rhetorical question which refers to God in the third person; Good News Translation uses declarative statements, addressed to God in the second person, in keeping with the second person in verse 5. If the translator uses the rhetorical question, the answer “no one” may have to be provided in some languages. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy does a good job of shortening and combining the two lines of verse 6: “No god, no one in heaven, can be compared to you, Lord!” Bible en français courant has “Lord, you have no peer, up there; in the world of the gods, none is equal to you.”
Yahweh is greater than any of the gods, and they all respect and fear him (verses 6-7). The two passive adjectives used to characterize God in verse 7 are “dreadful” and “fearful”; that is, God inspires dread and fear in those around him. Good News Translation “feared” and “stand in awe” is rather weak; see New Jerusalem Bible “greatly dreaded … awesome.” Verse 7a may require recasting as an active verb; for example, “the spirits in the heavenly council fear you, God.”
As the footnote in Revised Standard Version verse 7b indicates, the Hebrew word “greatly” is not the normal form used in a context like this, and some translators feel the need to emend, following the Septuagint (so Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible). Others, like Dahood, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, and Good News Translation, believe that the Masoretic text, though unusual, does make sense.5-7 Hebrew Old Testament Text Project criticizes both Revised Standard Version and New English Bible translations of the Masoretic text and says the translation should be “(very fearful), in the council of saints, greatly, and terrible.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .