Neonmadman -
Sorry I usually say which translation I quote from. The quote was from the Revised Standard Version. This translation uses the older Septaguint text which also agrees with the Dead Sea Scrolls and the phrase can be translated 'sons of God' or 'divine sons'.
It is true that most bible translations use the Masoretic text as a starting point but the discovery of the dead sea scrolls showed that the older Septaguint was the more accurate text. You will usually find a footnote at Deut 32:8-9 in a modern translation to say this if it doesn't already translate the phrase as 'sons of God'.
the Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance lists the root word in verse 8 as yisra'el.
That's the root word in the Masoretic text.
The people's of the ancient middle east around the area of Ugarit thought of the divine council as the Most High God El presiding over his sons, each of whom was the patron deity of a nation. In the earliest traditions Yahweh was one of these divine sons of El and this is the idea behind the Septaguint and Dead Sea Scrolls reading of Deut 32. Later when the Talmudic Jews created the Masoretic text they were uncomfortable with the polytheism in the phrase 'according to the number of the divine sons' and changed it to read 'sons of Israel'.
Psalms 82 also describes the old view of the divine council whilst also denouncing it.
It seems clear to me that these are human judges and rulers
Then why does the psalm say "you shall die like men" if the beings spoken to were men?
God refers to them sarcastically as "gods"
Prove it!
For this psalm to carry the interpretation you suggest would place it at odds with the rest of the Bible
Most of it, yes. My 'agenda' as you put it is to find out why and how the bible came to us in its present form. It is mainly monotheistic because the Deutoronomic and post exilic bible editors made it that way. But there are enough clues in archaeology, contemporary Ugaritic documents and verses such as those discussed that prove Israel was largely polytheistic and slowly developed monotheism.
Doesn't it make more sense to understand the religion of the Hebrews consistently?
Yes it does. And it also makes more sense when you fully understand the background of how the religion of the Hebrews developed from myths, other religions, historical and political events.
Again, taking Deuteronomy 32:8,9 in context, we find a description of God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt. He 'divided mankind' and 'set boundaries for the people' in the sense of making a place for His people among the other nations. The other nations had to yield their place in favor of Israel, because the Israelites were God's favored people.
Well that's the way the Talmudic writers of the Masoretic text wanted it understood. But the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septaguint show otherwise. The nations were divided among El's divine sons and Israel was Yahweh's portion.