<p>10:13 <i>But we will not boast beyond our measure but rather according to the measure of the province which God apportioned to us- a measure to reach even to you</i>- The image of 'measuring' according to the measure God had given Paul connects with how the false teachers measured themselves according to measures and benchmarks of their own creation (see on :12 <i>Measuring themselves</i>). Paul considered they were geographically and spiritually within a measure or allotted territory given to him and therefore they should respect him and not follow the false teachers. Whether he was specifically given such an allotment of authority is not recorded. We wonder whether Paul is now using every possible argument he can to get the Corinthians onside with him, rather as we saw him doing in appealing for them to donate to his Jerusalem Poor Fund. We recall from 1 Cor. 1 that Paul initially claimed to be approaching the Corinthians with only a Christ-centered attitude, stating he had baptized few of them, and all following of personal preachers was wrong. But his desperate appeal for authority at this final stage of the correspondence seems rather more human than that initial approach. Christ is not &quot;divided&quot;, Paul had originally argued (1 Cor. 1:13), but now he uses the same word to say that God had apportioned (s.w. &quot;divided&quot;) to him and his team the authority and responsibility for Corinth.</p>