In 11:22 it is revealed that the superapostles are of Jewish ancestry as can be seen when Paul says, “Are they Hebrews? So am I.” It can also be assumed that the superapostles were very skilled orators because Paul acknowledges that “[he] may be untrained in speech, but not in knowledge” (2 Corinthians 11:6) Erhman says the superapostles were teaching the Corinthians that they were already enjoying the benefits of salvation. This goes against Paul’s teaching that this is the age of suffering and evil for Christians because so many oppose them and that “Those who boast of their power and wisdom do not understand that the end has not yet come, this is an age of weakness in which God’s wisdom appears foolish.” (Erhman 230) The superapostles do not have an apocalyptic view of the world and think that believers in God have already been glorified and saved.

The superapostles view Paul as weak. In 10:1-6 Paul says he doesn’t have to be powerful in the traditional human way but that he is powerful through his obedience to God, which may be perceived to others as weakness. Paul also responds to criticism that his words are too harsh while his physical presence is weak. He says in 10:10-11 “For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.” Let such people understand that what we say by letter when absent, we will also do when present.” Paul tells the Corinthians that everything he says in his letters he will also carry out in person and that the Corinthians should not take his words lightly

In 11:13-14 Paul says “For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” Paul is very straightforward in his opinion of these superapostles and basically characterizes their work as the work of Satan. In 12:11 Paul says to the Corinthians “Indeed you should have been the ones commending me, for I am not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.” By this, Paul means that he is one of Christ’s true apostles and that he, like the superapostles has also performed miracles but his were done through God’s power while theirs was done through Satan’s.

What Paul means by his paradox of “power is made perfect in weakness” is that to be a true apostle and follower of Christ, you have to suffer in his name. From verses 23-27 in Chapter 11 he boasts of all the hardships he has had to endure because of his beliefs. Erhman says that Paul claims that God made him weak (12:7) so that only God’s power would shine through his ministry and any power he had (miracles) was coming through God. I think Paul hoped this argument would bring the Corinthians back to him and that they would see that the superapostles’ message was false. He hoped they would understand that power can only come from God and if the superapostles are claiming to have their own powers, they are clearly not of God.