Note 6 at 2 Cor. 11:23: Paul would never have put himself ahead of others like this normally. That's the reason he keeps interjecting the statement that he is speaking like a carnal or lost man would (see note 2 at v. 1, p. 1033). Normally, all of Paul's boasting would have been in the Lord (2 Cor. 10:17), for any good thing that was in Paul came from the Lord (1 Cor. 4:7).

Note 7 at 2 Cor. 11:23: This is quite a statement! Paul says he can't even count the number of stripes he had received. In the next verse, he mentions five times that he received 39 stripes (a total of 195) from the Jews, but his statement here leaves no doubt that there must have been many other times he was whipped. In Acts 16:23, the scripture says the Gentiles, "laid many stripes upon them."

The book of Acts contains only this one example of Paul being whipped (Acts 16:23). Yet Paul's statements here leave no doubt that there were many more whippings than what the narrative of Acts records. Apparently the book of Acts only "scratches the surface" of what Paul endured and accomplished.

Note 8 at 2 Cor. 11:23: Just as with the stripes Paul mentioned in this verse (see note 7 at this verse, above), there must have been many more times that Paul was imprisoned than what was recorded in the book of Acts. Acts only lists two times Paul was in prison (Acts 16:24 and Acts 21:33-see note 8 at Acts 24:27, p. 718), although the second imprisonment lasted for years (see note 2 at Acts 28:30, p. 737).

Note 9 at 2 Cor. 11:23: There is only one instance recorded in Acts where Paul was possibly killed and resurrected (see note 3 at Acts 14:20, p. 658). However, he was in many situations that could have resulted in death if the Lord had not intervened.