<p>4:15 <i>F</i><i>or though you have ten thousand would be teachers in Christ</i><i>- </i>Or &quot;instructors&quot;.Paul began the letter by expressing concern that they were listening to human wisdom more than spiritual truth. These &quot;instructors&quot; refer to the teachers they had amassed to themselves. But he doesn't use the expected word for 'teacher'. Instead he says they were no more than a <i>paidogogos</i>, a slave who had to take the little children to school, where they would be taught by the teacher (cp. Jesus). This was Paul's <i>hope</i> for the Corinthians; and his hope for Corinth is a powerful exhortation to us. But I mentioned earlier on 3:10 that Paul seems to have in mind Matthew's account of the great commission; the basic Gospel was to be taught, people baptized into it, and then the converts instructed in all that the Lord had commanded them. Perhaps Paul is drawing a similar contrast here between him as their &quot;father&quot;, and the instructors who came after him.</p><p><i>You have not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus it was me who begat you through the gospel</i>- See on :14<i> But to encourage you. </i>Paul is not lamenting that they have &quot;not many fathers&quot; as if he wished they had more fathers than teachers; his point is that he is their singular father. Although he had not baptized many of them, he considered them his spiritual children. This would humanly speaking explain his endless patience and passionate care for them.</p>