There is a theory that is growing in popularity concerning the existence of a “divine council”—a group of angels that participated in decision making with YHWH and that were given authority over the nations when they were separated at the tower of Babel. Having looked into this, we have not found there to be sufficient evidence to support it, and there is some evidence against it. Following are a few arguments for readers to consider in making up their own minds.

There aren’t any references that plainly attest to the presence of a divine council, and very few that could even be seen to indirectly support such a view. The most commonly used passage is Psalm 82:

Without doubt this is a difficult passage to understand. It seems to be talking about God judging angelic beings (sons of God, or elohim) and sentencing them to die like men. The other verses in this passage suggest that God’s delaying of judgement on these angels has resulted in suffering for mankind on earth. Verse 8 also suggests that these angels are the ones who have dominion over the nations.

We believe this passage is not referring to a so-called “divine council” but to Satan and the angels who followed him. Satan is described as dying like a man in Isaiah 14:15 and Ezekiel 28:18. Satan was numbered among the “sons of God” in Job 1:6, and we’ve already discussed that dominion of the earth currently belongs to Satan, as Luke 4:6 shows.

The following passage is also used to support a divine council:

The word “assembly” is sod (H.5475) which can mean council, but it can also mean just an assembly or gathering. In this passage it says that those assembled around God are to be fearful and reverent of Him, which is not suggestive of a divine council. The same word is used in Jeremiah 23:18 and 22 and in those verses we read about those assembled hearing “My words” three times. We must conclude that those in YHWH’s presence are there to hear His words.

There are a couple of seeming exceptions to this. 1 Kings 22:19–22 describes God calling on his angels to help with a task which is probably the clearest picture of a divine council in the scriptures. However, in this passage we’re told that “all the host of heaven” were there, so it does not seem to be speaking of a small and select council that God was conferring with. And at the end of the passage, it is God who made the decision on His own—it was not a council decision.

Another passage that might be suggestive of a divine council can be found in Daniel:

This passage, however, is not stating that the watchers or the holy ones were responsible for making the decision about the judgement, for it plainly says that the “Most High rules”. In verse 24 it further confirms that by saying “this is the decree of the Most High”. When read in conjunction with the other verses we’ve mentioned, it is apparent that the watchers were simply delivering the message they had heard from God.

In addition to claiming that the divine council was responsible for decision making with God, the theory also claims that after the tower of Babel when the nations were divided, each of the sons of God in the council was given authority over a nation. To begin with this is at odds with Luke 4:6 where Satan claims to have authority over all the nations, and he is the one who gives that authority to whom he wants.

For some reason proponents of this theory then claim that there were 70 sons of God and that the people were separated into 70 different nations. They will claim this is based on the table of nations listed in Genesis 10. However, there are not 70 distinct nation groups listed in that chapter. We were able to count only 49 descendants of Noah who could have fathered nations. In doing this, we did not count fathers as well as their children. Even if fathers are counted too there are still only 64 different individuals mentioned in that chapter. If the nine other nations that are listed are also included (the Jebusites, Amorites, etc.) the total comes to 73.

A second problem with this theory is that it relies on the Septuagint translation of Deuteronomy 32:8. In Bibles based on the Masoretic text that verse says:

The Septuagint, however, says “according to the number of the sons of God”, which is where it seems the theory about the sons of God gaining authority over the nations originated.

We believe the “sons of God” version to be wrong because this passage is not talking about the dividing of the nations at Babel. It is talking about God taking a set-apart people—Israel—as an inheritance for Himself from the nations of the sons of Adam, which happened quite some time later. That this is so can be seen in the verse that follows:

And earlier in verse 6 it’s also talking about YHWH’s inheritance for it says “Is He not your Father, who bought you?” This is the surrounding context in which verse 8 must be read. It’s also described as being exactly that in Leviticus:

A second concern is with the use of the Septuagint itself. Chick Publications has done an excellent study and video series on the historical evidence which suggests that the Septuagint is not a genuine translation and that the commonly accepted story of its origin is completely fabricated. We won’t go into the details of that analysis here, but the interested reader can follow the link in the footnote [link]. Suffice it to say, we have no confidence in the Septuagint translation and would use it only for gaining understanding into how the language was used at the time, not for determining matters of doctrine, particularly when it differs from the Hebrew Masoretic text.

Therefore, based on the scant amount of evidence for the presence of a divine council and the reasonable amount of evidence against it, we do not currently believe that there is or was a “divine council” in heaven, nor that the members of that council were given authority over the nations at Babel.