2 Corinthians 12:7

or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul writes to the Corinthian church in a letter addressing his apostolic ministry and recent visionary experiences. He places this statement immediately after refraining from boasting about his visions and just before describing his repeated pleas for relief from the affliction.

The words — ὑπερβολῆς (huperbolēs) means surpassingness or excess, and Διὸ (Dio) means therefore. These terms directly connect the magnitude of the revelations to the purposeful reason for the affliction.

The thread — The thorn metaphor appears in Numbers 33:55 and Judges 2:3 as a symbol of persistent, painful opposition from unremoved inhabitants. These passages establish a biblical pattern where thorns represent enduring trials that test obedience and expose reliance on human strength.

Why it lands — The text states that the affliction was given specifically to prevent conceit following great revelations. It requires the reader to accept limitation as a deliberate safeguard against spiritual pride and to seek divine power within weakness rather than in self-sufficiency.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Numbers 33:55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you settle.
Judges 2:3 So now I tell you that I will not drive out these people before you; they will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.”
2 Chronicles 32:25 But because his heart was proud, Hezekiah did not repay the favor shown to him. Therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
Genesis 32:31 The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.
1 Corinthians 5:5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.
Galatians 4:13 You know that it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.
Daniel 5:20 But when his heart became arrogant and his spirit was hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken from him.
1 Timothy 3:6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same condemnation as the devil.
Deuteronomy 8:14 then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
2 Chronicles 26:16 But when Uzziah became powerful, his arrogance led to his own destruction. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.