Library Theodoret Questions on Exodus
Questions on Exodus 51: “You shall not speak evil of gods”
How should one understand “you shall not speak evil of gods”?
He calls the judges gods, as those entrusted to judge in imitation of the God of all. The prophet David taught this more clearly. For after saying, “God stood in the assembly of gods; in the midst he judges gods,” he added: “How long will you judge injustice and accept the faces of sinners? Judge for the orphan and the poor; justify the lowly and the needy. Deliver the needy and the poor; rescue him from the hand of the sinner.” Then, accusing them, he added: “They did not know, nor did they understand; they walk in darkness”; and he also shows his own generosity. “I said,” he says, “you are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High. But you die as human beings, and fall as one of the rulers.” So also here: “You shall not speak evil of gods, and you shall not speak ill of a ruler of your people.”
Greek: Theodoret of Cyrus, Quaestiones in Octateuchum / Questions on Exodus (CPG 6200.02; cf. Fernández Marcos and Sáenz-Badillos; also PG 80, cols. 225–298). English: study translation for BWAB Library—not the copyrighted Robert C. Hill (CUA Press) translation. The full Questions on Exodus (72 questions) is hosted here.