2 Corinthians 11:16

Paul apologized again for having to resort to mentioning these experiences (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:1). He did so to prove to the skeptical minority in the church that he had suffered as much as, if not even more than, the false apostles. The false teachers had impressed the "wise" Corinthians with their boasts. Consequently Paul answered these fools according to their folly (Proverbs 26:5). However, he stressed that he was not a fool but was only speaking as one (i.e., boasting) to make his point.

"The key term is aphron, ’fool’: not a dim-witted person or clown, a jester (as in ’play the fool’), but in the technical sense of the person in hellenistic-Roman society who had lost the correct measure (metron) of himself and the world around him . . ." [Note: Martin, p. 362.]