1 Corinthians 6:3
in 1 Corinthians 6Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more, things that pertain to this life?
KJV
Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
⋯
This verse in 1 Corinthians 6
Commentary
19 notes on this verseBut when the comparison is challenged with an angel, I am compelled to maintain that the head over all things is the stronger of the two, to whom the angels are ministers, who is destined to be the judge of angels, if he shall stand fast in the law of God-an obedience which he refused at first.
This site's exposition
If any of you has a grievance against another
on 1 Corinthians 6:1-3
Paul is astonished that believers take disputes to pagan magistrates instead of before the saints. The saints will judge the world, and even angels, so the things of this life lie within the church's competence now.
This site's exposition
we will judge angels
Theodoret, Theophylact and Tertullian take these angels to be fallen ones, the demons. Severian holds that Paul means priests and teachers judged for false teaching about Christ. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown recall the spectacle of 4:9, now reversed.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Angels are to be judged by us in the same way as the world is to be judged.
Grieve and groan he must of necessity over the fact that, by the grant of pardon, so many works of death in man have been overthrown, so many marks of the condemnation which formerly was his own erased. He grieves that that sinner, (now) Christ's servant, is destined to judge him and his angels. And so he observes, assaults, besieges him, in the hope that he may be able in some way either to strike his eyes with carnal concupiscence, or else to entangle his mind with worldly enticements, or else to subvert his faith by fear of earthly power, or else to wrest him from the sure way by perverse traditions: he is never deficient in stumbling-blocks nor in temptations.
Sure they were that all ostentation, and ambition, and love of pleasing by carnal means, was displeasing to God. And these are the angels whom we are destined to judge: these are the angels whom in baptism we renounce: these, of course, are the reasons why they have deserved to be judged by man.
" "Know ye not that we are to judge angels? " Again, of how open censure (does) the free expression (find utterance), how manifest the edge of the spiritual sword, (in words like these): "Ye are already enriched! ye are already satiated! ye are already reigning!" and, "If any thinks himself to know, he knoweth not yet how it behaves him to know I" Is he not even then "smiting some one's face," in saying, "For who maketh thee to differ? What, moreover, hast thou which thou hast not received? Why gloriest thou as if thou have not received? " Is he not withal "smiting them upon the mouth," (in saying): "But some, in (their) conscience, even until now eat (it) as if (it were) an idol-sacrifice.
A commentator
Theodoret of CyrusCOMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 195 · Written before 458.
proposed
By "angels" here, Paul means demons who once were angels.
11 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers4 voices
Who can conceive of such a miracle? Who can mentally grasp such great glory?… All participate with Christ in judgment who do not oppose his commands, for with the devoted they too will share in his decisions.
Know ye not that we shall judge angels? And again; The saints shall judge the world.
"Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more, things which pertain to this life?" Some say that here the priests are hinted at, but away with this. His speech is about demons. For had he been speaking about corrupt priests, he would have meant them above when he said, "the world is judged in you:" (for the Scripture is wont to call evil men also "The world:") and he would not have said the same thing twice, nor would he, as if he was saying something of greater consequence, have put it down afterwards. But he speaks concerning those angels about whom Christ saith, "Depart ye into the fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels." And Paul, "his angels fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness." For when the very incorporeal powers shall be found inferior to us who are clothed with flesh, they shall suffer heavier punishment. But if some should still contend that he speaks of priests, "What sort of priests?" let us ask. Those whose walk in life has been worldly, of course. In what sense then does he say, "We shall judge angels, much more things that relate to this life?" He mentions the angels, in contradistinction to "things relating to this life": likely enough; for they are removed from the need of these things, because of the superior excellence of their nature.
A commentator
Severian of GabalaPAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH · Written before 425.
proposed
Paul is not talking here about real angels but about the priests and teachers of the people who will be judged by the saints because of their false teaching about Christ.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Angels he calls the demons. So then, we shall judge even the demons if, despite being clothed in flesh, we prove ourselves more perfect than they who have no flesh.
Then when he says, Do you not know that we, namely, the faithful of Christ, will judge angels? This can be understood of bad angels, who will be condemned by the saints, by whose virtue they were overcome. Hence the Lord says in Lk (10:19): …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He will come to judgment with all his saints, 1 Thess. iii. They themselves are indeed to be judged (see Matt. xxv. 31-41 ), but they may first be acquitted, and then advanced to the bench, to approve and applaud the righteous judgment of Christ both on men and angels.
Know ye not that we shall judge angels,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Shall judge angels - All the angels that shall be judged, good or bad. Probably the reference is to fallen angels, as there is no account that holy angels will then undergo a trial. The sense is, “Christians will be qualified to see the justice of even the sentence which is pronounced on fallen angels. They will be able so to embrace and comprehend the nature of law, and the interests of justice, as to see the propriety of their condemnation.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
judge angels--namely, bad angels. We who are now "a spectacle to angels" shall then "judge angels." The saints shall join in approving the final sentence of the Judge on them (Jude 6). Believers shall, as administrators of the kingdom under Jesus, put down all rule that is hostile to God.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Know ye not that we shall judge angels? - Dr. Lightfoot observes that “the apostle does not say here, as he said before, the saints shall judge the angels, but We shall judge them. By angels, all confess that demons are intended; but certainly all saints, according to the latitude with which that word is understood, i.e. all who profess Christianity, shall not judge angels. Nor is this judging of angels to be understood of the last day; but the apostle speaks of the ministers of the Gospel, himself and others, who, by the preaching of the Gospel, through the power of Christ, should spoil the devils of their oracles and their idols, should deprive them of their worship, should drive them out of their seats, and strip them of their dominion. Thus would God subdue the whole world under the Christian power, so that Christian magistrates should judge men, and Christian ministers judge devils.”
The words behind it
8 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| οὐκ | ouk | Surely | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| οἴδατε | oidate | you know | ||
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| ἀγγέλους | angelous | angels | G32 → | 175 times |
| κρινοῦμεν; | krinoumen | we will judge? | G2919 → | 114 times |
| μήτι | meti | Surely not ever | G3385 → | |
| γε | ge | even | G1065 → | 27 times |
| βιωτικά; | biotika | [the] things of this life? | G982 → |
οὐκSurely
oukG3756 →1664 times
οἴδατεyou know
oidate
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
ἀγγέλουςangels
angelousG32 →175 times
κρινοῦμεν;we will judge?
krinoumenG2919 →114 times
μήτιSurely not ever
metiG3385 →
γεeven
geG1065 →27 times
βιωτικά;[the] things of this life?
biotikaG982 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jude 1:6And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
- 2 Peter 2:4
Through
2 Peter 2:4For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
it leads to
- Matthew 25:41
Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jude 1:6
And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
- Romans 8:32
He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
- Revelation 20:1–3
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain.
- Revelation 12:7–9
Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
- Matthew 25:41
Through
Luke 8:14The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does…
it leads to
- 1 John 2:15–17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- 1 John 2:15–17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
On this verse
About 1 Corinthians
This page draws on 19 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Cassiodorus, EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 5; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 16; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Severian of Gabala, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH; Tertullian, Against Marcion Book II; Tertullian, On Repentance; Tertullian, On the Apparel of Women Book I; Tertullian, On Modesty; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 195; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.