Paul’s thorn in the flesh, What was It

Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” has been just that for many Christian bible teachers and ministers through the years. It is unfortunate that so many erroneous theories about it have been assumed without proof by sincere believers.

I have heard Christians say all kinds of things about it, like; It was his eye problem, or another physical condition, or even sinful lusts. I even heard that he was an ugly hunchback man and that was his thorn Many even say that God gave him this affliction to test him or to keep him humble (This has some merit based on the context verse). What is the truth about it?

When we handle the Word of God, we must be diligent not to inject our own opinions into its meaning. This is called Eisegesis. As we will see, by applying sound principles of biblical Exegesis will yield a clear, concise, and correct answer to this question and other biblical truths that have a? mark behind them.

Let’s first take a look at the verse in which this phrase is found, and the subsequent verses that help frame its context.

(II Corinthians 12:7-10) KJV
” And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong”.

What can we see in these verses? First, it is clear that the “thorn in the flesh” was not a literal thorn, but a figurative way of describing whatever it actually was. Second, It is clear that it was “a messenger of Satan,” which means that it certainly was not God who pricked Paul with it but He did allow it as He did with Job. Had it come from God, why would Paul have asked the Lord Jesus to take this “thorn” out of his life?

In response, the Lord told Paul that He would give him the grace and strength to deal with this problem. So whatever it was, the Lord did not just “delete” it from his life. Paul then said that for Christ’s sake he would “boast in infirmities”. This word used in The KJV is the basis that some infer that it was a sickness or physical condition. You can’t just pick out one of the five adjectives used here and make it the one of focus to be his condition. Reproaches, needs, persecutions, and distresses are the other 4. He was counting on the Lord’s strength to make up for his weakness.

In his excellent book, Christ The Healer written in the early 1900s, F. F. Bosworth does a superb job of showing what Paul’s “thorn” really was. He points out that the word “messenger” in (v. 7) is the Greek word angelos, which is used 188 times in the bible, and is translated “angel” 181 times and “messenger” 7 times. In each case, the angelos was a being, either spirit or human (p. 194).

Bosworth also notes that the word “buffet”in (v. 7) means “to strike blow after blow.” He cites Rotherham’s translation: “…that he might be buffeting me,” and notes that Weymouth’s translation reads: “Satan’s angel dealing blow after blow.” He then rightly concludes that if Paul’s “thorn” had been sickness, it would have to have been many sicknesses, or the same sickness over and over, and he points out that Rotherham uses the personal pronoun “he” rather than “it” in (v. 8) to agree with the word “messenger.” And he quotes Weymouth: “As for this, three times I besought the Lord to rid me of him.” Again we see reference to a being or person rather than a disease, a handicap or sickness. (p. 194).

Before we look at other biblical uses of the key word, “thorn,” let us get a “running start” toward (II Corinthians 12:7), beginning in Chapter 10. In verse 2, Paul speaks of “some “people,” who he expected to make known the task about their opposition to him. A study of Chapters 10-13 shows that there were many “false apostles” in Corinth who spoke against Paul and boasted of their own spirituality as they tried to win the allegiance (and the financial support) of the Corinthian Church.

In fact, the word “boast,” which we saw above in II Corinthians 12:9, helps us follow the contextual trail through these chapters. Those whom Paul twice, sarcastically called “super-apostles” vs.11(NIV) were telling the Corinthian believers Paul had ministered to that he was leading them astray, and boasting that he was the one with true knowledge and spiritual insight.

Paul thus spends most of Chapters 10-13 making his case as to how the Lord had worked in him and given him the authority to build up the Corinthian Church. He calls this “boasting,” and contrasts it to the boasting of his opponents.

Consider the following verses, and note the references to people who opposed Paul. (all scripture quotes from the KJV unless otherwise noted:

(2 Corinthians 10:11 and 12)
” Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.

For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise”.

(2 Corinthians 11:4 and 5)
(”For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.”

(2 Corinthians 11:12-15)
“But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works”.

Do you think that those people opposing Paul could be called “messengers of Satan”? It sure looks that way, doesn’t it? Let me point out that God never promises that He will take away all of the “buffeting” that comes from satanically-inspired human opposition. Rather, as the Lord Jesus told Paul, He will stand with us and help us bear up to such persecution, which, in fact, He guarantees will come our way (2 Tim. 3:12).

In that vein,

I should point out that in 12:7 where the KJV reads, “lest I should be exalted above measure,” the NIV curiously reads, “To keep me from becoming conceited.” It Was God who had given Paul the “abundance of the revelations.” Why did He do so? To lift Paul up amidst the spiritual battle raging around him, to encourage him to stay in the fight and not be discouraged, to “exalt” him big time. Chapter 12 says that God even showed Paul some of the glories of Paradise. Wow what a priviledge!

As usual, we see here the battle of good vs. evil, that is, God vs. the Devil. God was trying to bless and exalt Paul, and Satan was trying to destroy him via the “thorn in the flesh.” Here;(1 Thessalonians 2:18) comes to mind which says; “Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us.” Some Christians teach that God uses Satan to further His own ends, but the Word of God says just the opposite; God does not do evil so that good may come. That said, what then is the “thorn”? When we are searching for the meaning of a biblical word or phrase, one principle that is key to finding the answer is to see how the word or phrase is used elsewhere in the Bible. God, the Author of both language and Scripture, has a purpose for everything He says, when He says it, where He says it, how He says it, and to whom He says it. As seekers of the truth it is our duty to adhere to the linguistic principles that the Author of language set in His Word. We dare not engage in groundless speculation about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” or anything else in Scripture..

The word “thorn” appears 7 times, and “thorns” 47 times in the KJV. Not all are pertinent to the study, but here are those that are:

(Numbers 33:55)
'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell” (Judges 2:3)—same usage.

(Joshua 23:13)
“Know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD your God has given you”.

(Ezekiel 2:6)
”And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.”

(Ezekiel 28:24)
“And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.”

After reading all the above verses, it is clear that The Word of God uses “thorn” to refer to people. Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was the many human “messengers” that Satan sent against him to stop him from making known the Gospel of Christ. There is no verse of Scripture giving any indication that the “thorn” was anything other than people, and certainly no verse saying it was a sickness. Let’s allow Paul to describe that opposition in his own words:

(2 Corinthians 11:24-26)
”From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.
Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;
in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren”.

In the battle between God and Satan, each employs human beings to do their bidding. The difference is that the true God acts only in conjunction with our freedom of will, that is, He must wait on us to obey Him before He can work with us. On the other hand, Satan, the false “god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4) demonizes those who open their minds to him and controls them to do the kinds of things that people did to Paul. At the same time, he works to arrange the circumstances in our lives so as to tempt us to respond according to our “flesh” (sin nature) rather than leaning on the Spirit of God within us and allowing the Lord’s strength to be manifest in our lives.

And therein lies the great truth that Paul sets forth in the three verses following his reference to the “thorn,” which I will repeat here:

(2 Corinthians 12:8-10)
”Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong”.

As frail human beings, living in an evil world and beset with the sin nature we inherited from Adam, it is imperative that we face both the “sin that dwells in us”(Romans 7) and the spiritual opposition around us, and recognize our complete inadequacy to deal with these in our own strength, and draw upon the power of God. It is recognizing and embracing our weakness that drives us to our Savior, who will then sustain and energize us. It is in and of Christ that we boast. Truly, His grace is sufficient for us, just as it was for Paul. After arriving at this conclusion this verse immediately came to mind (Gal. 6:7) (what you sow you will reap) This was a revelation given to Paul at a later time. (In Paul’s early life he was a fierce persecutor of followers of Christ. (Gal. 1:15) aul did have a serious eye problem but based on my study and findings it does not appear to have been his thorn in the flesh.

 

Special NOTE: Paul did have a physical disability as mentioned in Galatians 4:13-15 but it was NOT the thorn in his flesh that he talks about in, 2Co_12:7.

HE WAS REAPING WHAT HE HAD SOWN AGAINST THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST

He did not receive the revelation of Galatians  6:7 until a later date and it says;

  "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

 

 

 

 

 

9 HE RECEIVED GREAT PERSECUTION FROM MESSENGERS FROM SATAN AGAINST CHRISTIANS JUST AS HE HAD BEEN doing IN THE PAST

Researched and compiled by Rev. George Pryor M.Th.

Pastor Emeritus.

revgap@gmail.com

Updated 11/19/23