Note 17 at 1 Cor. 15:9: Paul certainly was not the least apostle as far as his accomplishments went. Scripture records him as reaching more people with the gospel than any of the other apostles. Paul said of himself, "For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles" (2 Cor. 11:5), and "...in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing" (2 Cor. 12:11). Therefore, Paul's statement here must be interpreted as being a reference to him being the least deserving of all to be an apostle because of his persecution of the church.