“Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.”
Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign — and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! — Paul's irony is biting. The Corinthians behave 'already' (ēdē) as if the kingdom is fully manifest, as if they 'reign' (basileuō). Yet the present age continues; trials, apostolic weakness, and opposition persist. They are spiritually intoxicated, mistaking present spiritual gifts for final salvation. Paul's wish ('Would that you reigned!') is sarcastic: if they truly reigned, apostles would too.
Church Fathers on 1 Corinthians 4:8
“Already you are filled, already you are rich:” that is, you want nothing henceforth; you have become perfect; you have attained the very summit; you stand, as you think, in need of no one, either among Apostles or teachers. “Already you are filled.” And well says he “already;” pointing out, from the time, the incredibility of their statements and their unreasonable notion of themselves. It was therefore in mockery that he said to them, “So quickly have you come to the end;”…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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