What is Paul’s Thorn?

Not a sin, disease, or a demon but persecutions for Christ's sake

In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul mentions a thorn that God would not remove:


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.

Many have speculated that this thorn was pride or that the thorn was a disease or demon to keep Paul from the sin of pride. Some may have used this verse to say that God does not always want people to be healed. But given the context of 2 Corinthians, I believe the thorn was someone who persecuted Paul and made him look “weak”. I might even speculate and say that that the “messenger” (agellos) of Satan was the govenor under King Aretas (2 Cor. 11:32) since I believe Paul was still speaking about events that happened 14 years previously (2 Cor. 12:2) when speaking of this messenger of Satan.

Paul’s messenger of Satan “buffeted” him. This term in Greek, "kolaphizō", refers often, if not always, to the persecution of the Church and of Jesus. And persecution was a main theme of Paul’s letter:

2 Cor. 11:23-26 (see also 1:5,8-10, 5:1-3 and 6:4-10)
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I [am] more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty [stripes] save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; [In] journeyings often, [in] perils of waters, [in] perils of robbers, [in] perils by [mine own] countrymen, [in] perils by the heathen, [in] perils in the city, [in] perils in the wilderness, [in] perils in the sea, [in] perils among false brethren;

Also, God was not concerned about Paul “exalting” himself but that others would exalt Paul and not Him. If Paul is seen as strong and did powerful works, then people would think that it was Paul doing the powerful works, but if Paul was seen as weak and did powerful works, then people would know that it was God doing it and that God’s favor was on Paul – just as God says, “My grace (grace=favor) is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” The Corinthians thought Paul was inferior to the false apostles because of the persecution and hardships he was experiencing but Paul boasts in those experiences because God is shown as strong in them.

"Thorn" was also used in the Old Testastament

Paul may have been making an allusion to the Old Testament in his use of the word "thorn". When the Israelites refused to expel the native people out of Canaan, God made them a thorn to Israel:

Numbers 33:55
But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.

Joshua 23:12-13
But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you.

Judges 2:3
Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."

"Thorn" was used as an analogy in Judges because of Israel's agrarian culture. God had given them a land of milk and honey, a fruitful land. There were no thorns in the land so God made the nations they failed to expel, to be like thorns.

The nations left in Israel by God also had a purpose: To test the Israelites.

Judges 2:20-23
Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did." The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

Paul may have had that in mind when he mentions that they did not fail the test.

2 Corinthians 13:5-7
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed.

The "thorns" that God left in Israel also taught the Israelites warfare.

Judges 3:1
These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience)

Warfare in Israel meant that, in their weakness, God would defeat their enemies. This point is played out over and over, especially in Judges. And Paul may have had that point in mind when talking to the Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 10:3
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.