In the non-Christian and non-Jewish world, many gods
and lords
might be worshipped. Yet these gods are so-called
: they exist only in the minds of their worshippers. (Still, as Paul will argue in 1 Corinthians 10:1–33, there are demonic powers at work behind the worship of idols.)
Gods
and lords
do not indicate two separate categories, but rather two ways in which pagan worshippers would refer to their idols. Especially in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, gods were often described as lords
; in other words, as rulers.
5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”