For I suppose I was not the least behind the very chief apostles.
All Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 11:5 Go To 2 Corinthians 11
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest Apostles. Beza says: "If Paul was in no way inferior to the chiefest Apostles, therefore Peter was not his superior in power and authority, and consequently he is not the Prince of the Apostles and of the Church." I answer that Paul yielded to none in any of the things just mentioned, such as in preaching Christ, in the gifts of the Spirit, in the genuineness of his Gospel, in the labours he bore, and in apostolical gifts in general. The question of power and primacy, therefore has no place here. Were he here to claim it for himself, it would be a sign of the most foolish ambition. Moreover, although by the phrase the very chiefest Apostles, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Å’cumenius, understand Peter, James , and John , and this interpretation seems more simple and true, yet very many later writers understand it to refer to the false apostles, who boasted of their greatness. In this case S. Paul is speaking ironically.
