In this verse Paul is certainly speaking in his own name, perhaps showing that he understands the “weaker brethren” (see verses 7-13) who cannot speak so confidently as the Corinthians who are quoted in verse 4b. In English, Good News Bible‘s “so-called ‘gods’ ” strongly suggests that these gods are not rightly so called; New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, and Revised English Bible also use “so-called,” and New International Version uses quotation marks for “gods” and “lords” (see also New Jerusalem Bible footnote). The Greek, though, may mean simply “even if there are beings that people call gods….” If the translator adopts a rendering like this, it should not be necessary to enclose “gods” and “lords” in quotation marks. Lords refers to nonhuman beings that the Greeks and others in the ancient world considered to be ruling in the area between heaven and earth. Possible renderings are “spiritual rulers” or “powerful spiritual beings.”

The gods and lords were supernatural beings whom the Greeks considered to inhabit the region between heaven and earth. Paul’s argument, though, is that even if such beings exist, God is supreme in the universe.

The first half of this verse may be restructured as follows: “Some people say that there are gods who live in the heaven and earth. Even though there are many of these so-called gods….”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .