1 Corinthians 4:15

For though ye have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel.

Ten thousand tutors ... An element of humor is in this, for certainly that many tutors is too many; and if the word is rendered "guides," as by some, it would still be far too many. Just how many guides could one follow, anyway? As McGarvey said, "The large number rebukes their itch for teachers."[33] The meaning both of "tutor" and of "guide" derives from the Greek word here, [@paidagogos], "who was a slave who escorted his master's child to school."[34] Of course, such an attendant might form a strong attachment for a child, but his love would never approach that of a father.

I begat you through the gospel ... This is used loosely in a metaphorical sense; because in the highest sense, people are begotten only by the gospel. As Farrar put it: "We are begotten only by the will of God, by that word of truth (James 1:18), to which Paul alludes here in the words `through the gospel.'"[35]

[33] J. W. McGarvey, Commentary on First Corinthians (Cincinnati: Standard Publishing Company, 1916), p. 70.

[34] Donald Guthrie, The New Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing House, 1970), p. 1057.

[35] F. W. Farrar, op. cit., p. 136.