Translation
For at this time we see [things] in a riddle
Go to footnote numberby
Go to footnote numberlooking into a mirror of polished metal, but then face to face. At this time I know [only] a portion of the whole, but then I will know fully, as also I have been fully known.
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
For right now we are trying to see our life with God clearly, but we can’t, everything is obscure because we are trying to look into a mirror of polished metal which is blurry at best, but later we will see Him in person, up close and personal. Right now, I know only a small part of what can be known about God, but then I will know everything I will need to know as fully as He knows me.
Footnotes
1: “in a riddle”:
This is the Greek word from which we get out English word “enigma” which means “a mystery or a riddle.” It refers to something obscure, unclear.
2
The preposition used here means “through or by means of.” This is a bit different than the preposition “in.”
3: “have been fully known”:
This verb is in the Aorist tense, which is one of the past tenses of Greek. It can serve as a simple past; it can give greater force to the past action; it can focus on the finished nature of that past action (the latter does not apply here). Most translators who render its usage here as some type of past tense rather than a present tense, choose to highlight the forcefulness of the verb by including an English adverb such as “fully, completely, etc.”