Heinsius suggests that the sentence means t( against whom the word of God was " spoken in the 82d Psalm : that Psalm containing a rebuke of princes. But this seems doubtful.
Pearce thinks that it means "with whom was the word of judgment," and refers to the Septuagint version of 2 Chron. xix. 6.
It deserves notice that it is never said of Christ Himself, that the " Word of God came to Him." He was above all other com- missioned judges.
[And the Scripture cannot be broken.] In this remarkable pa- renthesis our Lord reminds His Jewish hearers of their own ac- knowledged principle, that the " Scripture cannot be annulled or broken : " that is, that everything which it says must be re- ceived reverently and unhesitatingly, and that not one jot. or tittle of it ought to be disregarded. Every word of Scripture must be allowed its full weight, and must neither be clipped, passed over, nor evaded. If the 82d Psalm calls princes who are mere men "gods," there cannot be any impropriety in ap- plying the expression to persons commissioned by God. The expression may seem strange at first. Never mind, it is in the Scripture and it must be right.
Few passages appear to me to prove so incontrovertibly the plenary inspiration and divine authority of every word in the original text of the Bible. The whole point of our Lord's argu- ment hinges on the divine authority of a single word. Was that word in the Psalms? Then it justified the application of the expression " gods " to men. Scripture cannot be broken. The theories of those who say that the writers of the Bible were inspired, but not all their writings, — or the ideas of the Bible inspired, but not all the language in which these ideas are con- veyed,— appear to be totally irreconcilable with our Lord's use of the sentence before us. There is no other standing ground, I believe about inspiration, excepting the principle that it is plenary, and reaches to every syllable. Once leaving that ground, we are plunged in a sea of uncertainties. Like the care- fully composed language of wills, settlements, and conveyances, every word of the Bible must be held sacred, and not a single flaw or slip of the pen admitted.
Let it be noted that the literal meaning of the word rendered " broken " is loosed or untied.
Gill observes : " This is a Jewish way of speaking, much used in the Talmud. When one doctor has produced an argu- ment, another says, * It may be broken,' or objected to, or re- futed. But the Scripture cannot be broken."
Hengstenberg says : " It cannot be doubted that the Scrip- ture is broken by those Who assert that the Psalms breathe a spirit of revenge— that Solomon's song is a common Oriental love song— that there are in the Prophets predictions never to