a. Competition and commendation (10:12-18)

Paul rejects comparison as a means of commending himself (10:12; see Gal 6:3-4). It was standard practice in the rhetoric of his day to compare and contrast oneself with others as a basis for self-advertisement. Itinerant preachers and teachers especially abused the practice as a means of advancing themselves at the expense of their competitors. Accordingly, many serious philosophers disavowed such pretentious boasting as inappropriate (see Talbert, 114). For similar reasons Paul refuses to boast beyond proper limits (v.13).