1 Corinthians 6:1

Dare any of you? (tolmai ti umwn;). Does any one of you dare? Rhetorical question with present indicative of tolmaw, old verb from tolma, daring. Bengel: grandi verbo notatur laesa majestas Christianorum. "The word is an argument in itself" (Robertson and Plummer). Apparently Paul has an actual case in mind as in chapter 1 Corinthians 5:1 ff. though no name is called. Having a matter against his neighbour (pragma ecwn pro ton eteron). Forensic sense of pragma (from prassw, to do, to exact, to extort as in Luke 3:13 ), a case, a suit (Demosthenes 1020, 26), with the other or the neighbour as in Luke 10:24 ; Luke 14:17 ; Galatians 6:4 ; Romans 2:1 . Go to law (krinesqai). Present middle or passive (ch. Romans 3:4 ) in the same forensic sense as kriqhnai in Matthew 5:40 . Krith, judge, is from this verb. Before the unrighteous (epi twn adikwn). This use of epi with the genitive for "in the presence of" is idiomatic as in 2 Corinthians 7:14 , epi Titou, in the case of Titus. The Jews held that to bring a lawsuit before a court of idolaters was blasphemy against the law. But the Greeks were fond of disputatious lawsuits with each other. Probably the Greek Christians brought cases before pagan judges.