What Was Paul’s Thorn In The Flesh?

In 2 Corinthians 12:7–8 Paul speaks of receiving a “thorn in the flesh.” This problem prompted him to seek the Lord three times to remove it. What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh?

Thorny Answers

Interpreters speculate over what this “thorn in the flesh” might mean. Some associate it with a recurrent illness or physical limitation Paul suffered. They sometimes connect it to Galatians 4:13–15. Here Paul says that he first preached to the Galatians in the “weakness” of his flesh. He commends the Galatians for welcoming him at that time; they would have plucked out their own eyes and given them to him!

These words suggest to some that Paul suffered some sort of eye ailment or had bad eyesight. However, it is likely that “to pluck out your eyes” is a figure of speech similar to people saying today that they would give their “eye teeth” to have something.

Others suggest that Paul had recurring headaches, or epilepsy, or depression, or malaria, or a sexual temptation.[1] Philip Hughes summarizes various speculations about the thorn this way:

“hysteria, hypochondria, gallstones, gout, rheumatism, sciatica, gastritis, leprosy, lice in the head, deafness, dental infection, neurasthenia, an impediment of the speech, and remorse for the tortures he had himself inflicted on Christians prior to his conversion; and no doubt there will be fresh proposals in years to come, for this is a matter which is unlikely to be regarded as closed while there are minds to speculate on it.”[2]

So many possibilities! But there is a better and more obvious answer.

A Messenger of Satan

Paul says it was “a messenger from Satan” that attacked him, and this is what he seems to identify as his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor 12:7–8). This attack takes place when our apostle was having his “third heaven” experience in 2 Cor 12:1–6. We sometimes wrongly assume that the heavenly realms are only full of “good angels” and never malignant forces. But that is not the case in Jewish thinking. Demonic spirits are believed to be in the air and heavens; not in a hot place below the earth!

Heavenly ascents are popularly envisioned in Jewish apocalyptic literature, which can list three, five, seven, even ten levels of heaven (compare the Testament of Levi 2.7–3.10). Sometimes in these ascents, opposing forces try to prevent the godly visionary from ascending further up. This happens, for example, in the ancient book entitled, The Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah. In this book, Satan and his forces stand at the portals of Isaiah’s entry into the different heavenly levels (Asc. Isa. 7; 10).

The messenger from Satan was able to “beat” Paul. Our apostle uses this term (kolaphizo) to describe his being physically beaten (1 Corinthians 4:11). It is the same word used to describe the beating Jesus suffered before he was crucified (Matt 26:67; Mark 14:65).

Paul cried out to the Lord three times to remove the “thorn,” perhaps more accurately identified in Greek as a “stake” (skolops). After the third request, when Paul is presumably in the third heaven, the Lord says to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).

This all seems to have happened during Paul’s third heaven experience. It is not clear that this “thorn,” the recurring demonic attack during this experience, continued after that experience. What we do know is that persecution and suffering characterized Paul’s ministry (2 Cor 12:10). His “thorn in the flesh” experience, then, may be seen as analogous to his hardships as a minister.

Paul discloses this experience not so that we could focus on the attack; we are to focus on Jesus’s words instead. The Lord’s revelatory word of grace to Paul becomes the apostle’s raison d’etre when proclaiming the gospel. He can now “boast” in the weaknesses of his many sufferings and persecutions, knowing that such weakness brings on the power of Christ to pitch its tent on him (12:9–10). He also discloses this experience as a way to establish his authority and competency as an apostle, against his boastful rivals.

Lessons to Be Learned from the “Thorn” in the Flesh

Sometimes our most blissful experiences with the Lord follow, precede, or are accompanied by hardships and suffering.
The Lord says, “no” to Paul’s request to remove the thorn. Do we recognize that sometimes God’s answer to our prayers may be “no”? And that he might have a higher purpose for us in our predicament, as he did Paul?
The Lord also promises: “my grace is sufficient for you.” Despite our suffering, God is with us to comfort us, just as he was with Paul despite all his hardships and experiencing persecution.
Like Paul, the Lord may want us to learn that there is strength and power in humility, weakness, and suffering. As Paul says, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”