Least of the apostles: “all” (Good News Bible) is implied and may be added to make the meaning clear.

Unfit: literally “who am not worthy.” The word translated “worthy” conveys the idea of adequacy, and in this context refers to competence for a particular work or office. The clause can also be translated “I am really disqualified from being an apostle.”

To be called: in some languages this may be translated as “for people to call me an apostle.”

Persecuted: the Greek root means “run after,” implying in order to harm someone.

Church of God here is singular. Paul persecuted Christians both in Jerusalem and in other places (Acts 8.3; 9.1-2), and so a term for church should be used here that is not limited to one location.

The church of God here means members of the Christian community in general, not a particular local church. An alternative translation model for this final clause is: “because I caused the Christians to suffer.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .