Verse 21
‘I speak by way of disparagement, as though we had been weak. Yet in whatever any is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also.’
By saying this he is disparaging them for bearing with fools who are characterised by brashness, in contrast with whom he had been thought of as weak. (Or the disparagement may be of himself for having been weak). Those whom they elect to follow are the exact opposite of Paul, brashly strong, demanding, belligerently authoritative. He is revealed in contrast as ‘weak’, although not really weak.
But now he is about to reveal that in whatever these fine fellows are bold, he has equal right to be bold (although, he admits, such comparisons are foolish, and not to be encouraged in other circumstances).
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