The Greek verb egkrino means to reckon among, classify alongside, or consider oneself equal to a group. It appears in 2 Corinthians 10:12 in Paul's ironic contrast between himself and self-commending teachers who measure themselves by themselves.
Paul's use of egkrino is devastatingly ironic: 'We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.' Self-referential comparison — using your own group as the standard for excellence — produces spiritual blindness and pride. True apostolic authority is not self-certified but demonstrated by changed lives and divine approval. Paul boasts not in his own credentials but in his weakness (2 Corinthians 11–12), because that is where Christ's power is made perfect. The antidote to self-classification is cruciformity: being found in Christ, not in one's own righteousness (Philippians 3:9).