That ποτε is the keyword that makes or breaks Giuseppe's point. But can it be understood as referring to "up to that point" post the interaction with Paul?
If you mean why the ὁποῖοί ποτε ἦσαν, οὐδέν μοι διαφέρει, 'whatever they were formerly, makes no difference to me'. Paul is saying that whatever status they were reputed to have had among human beings up to that point, they stopped having that status when they interacted with Paul. He and God did not recognize it.
Does not the passage say,
so might not this be best understood as meaning that "those who were not really so superior could not fault anything I had preached"? --they added nothing to my message. On the contrary, ....
Is Paul's lack of recognition of the high status of these persons something that he implies is constant -- before and after his encounter with them -- and that the only reason for his saying that he does not hold them in any superior esteem is to address the contrary view of his readers. There is no time element here, before or after an event. It is a constant.
That it is a constant is supported, maybe?, by explaining that he "only" met these persons because of a revelation, not because of their high status?
Or is the interpretation open to question -- is the interpretation of "formerly" ambiguous?
Statistics: Posted by neilgodfrey — Thu Jun 13, 2024 12:01 am