Verse 11
I am become foolish: ye compelled me; for I ought to have been commended by you: for in nothing was I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I am nothing.
I am become foolish ... Paul says, "You have compelled me to boast of myself, whereas in truth you should have been recommending me yourselves, especially since I certainly rank as high as those super-super apostles of yours!"
Chiefest apostles ... For exegesis on this, see under 2 Corinthians 11:5.
Hughes has a wonderful paragraph on this passage in which the unity of the epistle is demonstrated to be proved and strengthened by what is said here. For those interested in pursuing this further, see op. cit., p. 455. The allegations of critics on this subject are actually worthy of very little consideration.
I am nothing ... Paul's meaning is that "as a mere man" he is nothing; but as "an apostle of Christ," he possessed the mighty weapons necessary to the overthrow of every evil and the establishment of the Lord Jesus as the singular hope of all people, in all times and places.
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