There is no intention in this list to rank the gifts. The terms “first” (prōton), “second” (deuteron), “third” (triton), “then” (epeita), are merely used to enumerate a sequence (AGD, 726). If Paul were ranking gifts here, he would be involved in the very problem he is seeking to combat in the Corinthians’ behavior. He would be saying that he, because of his apostleship, outranked them because they were not apostles. This kind of one-upmanship is the very thing that Paul wants to avoid. In vv. 29–30