For though there be.... — This is an hypothetic argument. “Be” is the emphatic word of the supposition. Even assuming that there do exist those beings which are called “gods” (we have a right to make such a supposition, for Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalms 105:2-3, speaks of “gods and lords” of another kind), the difference between the heathen, “gods many” and the “lords and gods” of whom the Old Testament speaks, is that the former are deities, and the latter only a casual way of speaking of angels and other spiritual subjects and servants of the one God. This is brought out in the following verse.
Related Commentaries of 1 Corinthians 8:5
1 Corinthians 8:5
5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)