New Living Translation
1 Corinthians 4:8
8You think you already have everything you need. You think you are already rich. You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom without us! I wish you really were reigning already, for then we would be reigning with you.
1 Corinthians 4:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)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!
- English Standard Version (ESV)Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!
- New King James Version (NKJV)You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us—and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you!
Context of 1 Corinthians 4:8
6Dear brothers and sisters, I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I’ve been saying. If you pay attention to what I have quoted from the Scriptures, you won’t be proud of one of your leaders at the expense of another. 7For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift? You think you already have everything you need. You think you are already rich. You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom without us! I wish you really were reigning already, for then we would be reigning with you. 9Instead, I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike. 10Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed.
Read all of 1 Corinthians 41 Corinthians 4:8 word by word
ἤδη κεκορεσμένοι ἐστέ, ἤδη ἐπλουτήσατε, χωρὶς ἡμῶν ἐβασιλεύσατε· καὶ ὄφελόν γε ἐβασιλεύσατε, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς ὑμῖν συμβασιλεύσωμεν.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Nowἤδηēdē · alreadyG2235
- ye areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- fullκορέννυμιkorennumi · to satisfyG2880
- ye are richπλουτέωplouteō · be richG4147
- ye have reigned as kingsβασιλεύωbasileuō · to reignG936
- withoutχωρίςchōris · withoutG5565
- usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- I would to Godὄφελονophelon · I wish!G3785
- ·γέge · indeedG1065
- thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
- might reignσυμβασιλεύωsumbasileuō · to reign withG4821
- with youσύsu · youG4771
Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 4:8
- 1 Corinthians 1:5Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge.
- 1 Corinthians 3:1Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ.
- 1 Corinthians 5:6Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?
- Proverbs 13:7Some who are poor pretend to be rich; others who are rich pretend to be poor.
- Proverbs 25:14A person who promises a gift but doesn’t give it is like clouds and wind that bring no rain.
- Isaiah 5:21What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever.
- Luke 1:51His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
- Luke 6:25What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger awaits you. What sorrow awaits you who laugh now, for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow.
- Romans 12:3Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
- Romans 12:16Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
- Galatians 6:3If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.
- Revelation 3:17You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
- 1 Corinthians 4:18Some of you have become arrogant, thinking I will not visit you again.
- Acts 20:29I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock.
- Philippians 1:27Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.
- Philippians 2:12Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 4:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8Now ye - Corinthians are full of secular wisdom; now ye are rich, both in wealth and spiritual gifts; ( 1 Corinthians 14:26;): ye have reigned as kings, flourishing in the enjoyment of these things, in all tranquillity and honor; without any want of us: and I would to God ye did reign, in deed, and not in conceit only, that we also, poor, persecuted, and despised apostles, might reign with you. - Whitby. Though this paraphrase appears natural, yet I am of…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Now ye are full - It is generally agreed that this is spoken in irony, and that it is an indignant sarcasm uttered against the false and self-confident teachers in Corinth. The design is to contrast them with the apostles; to show how self-confident and vain the false teachers were, and how laborious and self-denying the apostles were; and to show to them how little claim they had to authority in the church, and the real claim which the apostles had from…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-13Verses 7-13 We have no reason to be proud; all we have, or are, or do, that is good, is owing to the free and rich grace of God. A sinner snatched from destruction by sovereign grace alone, must be very absurd and inconsistent, if proud of the free gifts of God. St. Paul sets forth his own circumstances, ver. 9 Allusion is made to the cruel spectacles in the Roman games; where men were forced to cut one another to pieces, to divert the people; and where…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-13Paul points out the difference between himself and the Corinthians. Their attitudes show worldly wisdom, while his shows God's wisdom. The Corinthians were proud and thought they had achieved everything, but they still had much to learn (see Revelation 3:17–18; compare with Philippians 3:12–14). If they had truly achieved everything, they would share in Paul's suffering (1 Corinthians 4:11–13). Unlike the Corinthians, who were proud of their achievements…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. Irony. Translate, "Already ye are filled full (with spiritual food), already ye are rich, ye have seated yourselves upon your throne as kings, without us." The emphasis is on "already" and "without us"; ye act as if ye needed no more to "hunger and thirst after righteousness," and as if already ye had reached the "kingdom" for which Christians have to strive and suffer. Ye are so puffed up with your favorite teachers, and your own fancied spiritual…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Corinthians 4:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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