What Was Paul’s Thorn In The Flesh?

The Apostle Paul told us that the Lord gave him a thorn in the flesh, in order to keep Paul humble:

2 Corinthians 12:7: “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.
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9 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.
10 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.”

This passage says that God gave Paul so many extraordinary revelations that the apostle was in danger of being “exalted above measure”. In order to keep this from happening the Lord blessed him with a serious problem. Paul asked the Lord three times for it to be removed, but the Lord refused, saying “My grace is sufficient for thee”.

In this passage Paul does not come out and say what this “thorn in the flesh” actually was. In fact, Paul doesn’t explain the nature of this “messenger of Satan” anywhere else in the New Testament. This has led many people to wonder what, exactly, Paul was suffering from.

It is my opinion that Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” may have been poor eyesight, or some other eye-related problem. The Bible does not come out and state this directly, but it does offer a few clues. The first one is the famous scene in Acts where Paul was brought before the High Priest, in order to answer charges that he had been causing a disturbance in the Temple. This is how that scene played out:

Acts 23:1: “And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
2 And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.
3 Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?
4 And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God’s high priest?
5 Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.”

This particular scene is quite well-known. The High Priest commanded that Paul be punched, and Paul immediately shot back “God shall smite thee” – only to become apologetic once he found out that he was talking to the High Priest. What is remarkable about this is that Paul was not only a Pharisee, but a “Pharisee of Pharisees”. He should definitely have been able to recognize the High Priest! Even if he didn’t know him personally (which he probably did, given the incredible legalistic zeal he once had), the High Priest would not have been hard to spot – and yet Paul missed him entirely! Someone actually had to tell Paul which one of them was the High Priest, and that is quite astonishing.

After all, this is what Paul told King Agrippa:

Acts 26:4: “My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;
5 Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.”

In other words, Paul was not only a Pharisee, but he was a famous Pharisee. Verse 5 tells us that “all the Jews” knew how zealous he was. Before his conversion Paul was not an obscure man. In fact, look at Acts 9:

Acts 9:1: “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.”

Where did Paul (previously Saul) get permission to go around hunting down Christians? From the High Priest. It’s inconceivable that Paul would not have recognized the High Priest, and yet that is exactly what happened. Even if the High Priest had changed between Paul’s days as a Pharisee and his arrest in Jerusalem (and given the many years that passed between those two events, that is quite possible), he still should have been quite easy to spot. It would be something like going to court and not being able to tell which person in the room was the judge!

But Paul’s astonishing lack of ability to recognize the High Priest is not the only evidence for this. Take a look at what Paul said in his letter to the Galatians:

Galatians 4:15: “Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.”

Paul said that the love of the Galatians was so great that they would have given Paul their eyes. If Paul had poor vision or other eye-related problems then that statement would make perfect sense: the Galatian church wanted to meet the great need in Paul’s life.

Besides, do you remember what happened when Paul met God on the road to Damascus?

Acts 9:3: “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.”

After Paul met Jesus he was struck blind. It’s true that God sent someone to lay hands on Paul and heal him, but it’s still interesting all the same.

This is something we will probably never know, but perhaps – just perhaps – this is the “thorn in the flesh” that God sent to afflict Paul.