A comparative particle meaning 'as if' or 'as it were,' introducing hypothetical or approximate comparisons. Paul uses it in 1 Corinthians 15:8 to describe his encounter with the risen Christ: 'Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.' The term across languages (Spanish 'como-si', French 'comme-si', German 'gleichsam', English 'as-if') signals that Paul's apostolic calling was abnormal—like a premature birth, outside the natural sequence of apostolic appointments.