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.

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