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Everybody has one. The coworker who undoes your work. The bill that comes back every month. The pain in your back that the doctor shrugs at. The worry that wakes up before you do.
We call it a “thorn in my side.” We say it with a tired laugh, as if it were just an expression.
But the thorn in my side meaning goes back much further than most people know. The phrase comes from the Bible, and it comes from two very different places. One is a warning about people who would not leave. The other is a man begging God, three times, to take something away.
The second one is the reason this phrase is worth a few minutes of your day.
Thorn in My Side Meaning: Where the Phrase Comes From
Today, “a thorn in my side” means a person or problem that keeps bothering you and will not go away. It is not a disaster. It is the small, sharp, constant thing. You can live with it. You just never stop feeling it.
That is almost exactly how the Old Testament uses it.
When the people of Israel were about to enter their new land, they were told to clear it fully. If they left things half done, the people they let stay would become a problem that never ended:
“But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.”
— Numbers 33:55 (KJV)
Joshua repeated the warning near the end of his life, calling them “scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes” (Joshua 23:13). And in Judges 2:3, after the people did leave the job half done, the angel of the LORD tells them the result: “they shall be as thorns in your sides.”
Notice two things. First, in the Old Testament the thorns are people. Second, they are the kind of trouble that grows out of a choice you made and cannot easily undo. That is still the feeling behind the phrase today: the thing you let in, or let stay, that now pokes you every day.
Paul’s “Thorn in the Flesh”: The Second Source
The other source is the one most Christians think of. It is in Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, and it starts somewhere you would not expect: with the most amazing experience of his life.
Paul says that fourteen years earlier he was “caught up to the third heaven” and “into paradise,” where he “heard unspeakable words” (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). (We looked closely at that strange passage, and why Paul refused to describe it, in Near-Death Experiences in the Bible: What Paul Refused to Tell.)
Then, right after the high point, comes the thorn:
“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.”
— 2 Corinthians 12:7-8 (KJV)
“Thrice” means three times. Paul asked. Then he asked again. Then he asked a third time.
It was probably not a little thorn
The Greek word Paul uses is skolops. It can mean a thorn or splinter, but it can also mean a sharpened stake. So when we picture a tiny rose prick, we may be picturing it too small. Paul is describing something that hurt.
Nobody knows what it was
People have guessed for two thousand years. Some think it was an illness. Some point to Galatians 4:13-15, where Paul mentions an “infirmity of the flesh” and says the Galatians would have “plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me,” and wonder if his eyesight was failing. Others notice that Paul calls it a “messenger” and think it may have been a person, or a group of people, who opposed him wherever he went. That last guess would make it very close to the Old Testament “thorns in your sides,” which were people too.
The honest answer is that Paul never says. And that may be a gift. Because he never names his thorn, anyone can read this passage and find their own in it.
The word “buffet” is a clue
Here is a detail most readers walk right past. “To buffet” means to strike with the fist. It is the same Greek verb Matthew uses about Jesus on the night of His trial: “Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him” (Matthew 26:67).
Paul’s thorn did to him a small version of what was done to Jesus. Paul was not being punished. He was being placed, without asking for it, in the same kind of suffering his Lord had walked through.
The Answer Paul Got
After three prayers, Paul finally got a response. It was not the one he asked for:
“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.”
— 2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV)
Read it slowly. The thorn did not leave. Paul never says it left. So in one sense, the request was not granted.
But the answer was not a plain “no,” either. A “no” closes a door. This answer opened one. Paul asked for the thorn to go. What he received was a promise about himself: you will have enough grace for this, and my strength will show up in the exact place where you are weak.
There is one more small detail in the Greek. The verb “he said” is in a tense that points to something spoken in the past that still stands. A good way to hear it is: “He has said to me.” Paul is not remembering a word that faded. He is pointing to an answer that was still holding him up as he wrote.
Three prayers, and the garden
Paul is not the only one in the New Testament who prayed three times for something hard to be taken away.
On the night before He died, Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane for the cup to pass from Him. Matthew says He went back and “prayed the third time, saying the same words” (Matthew 26:44). That cup did not pass either. And yet the story did not end in that garden.
Paul never says he was thinking of Gethsemane. But anyone who knew the story of Jesus would hear the echo. Paul’s unanswered prayer put him in the most honored company there is.
“The thorn stayed. So did the grace. Paul decided that was enough.”
What Your Thorn in the Side Might Mean Today
So here is the turn. We usually use “thorn in my side” as a complaint. The Bible lets you use it as a prayer.
Look at what Paul did. He did not pretend the thorn was nice. He called it a messenger of Satan. He did not stop praying after one try. He asked three times, and that is not a lack of faith. That is faith that takes God seriously enough to keep asking.
But at some point, Paul heard an answer and let it change the question. He stopped asking only “Will you take this away?” and started asking “What will you do with me while it stays?”
That is the shift. Your thorn may be a person, a pain, a debt, or a weakness you are tired of. It may go away tomorrow. It may not. Either way, you are not left alone with it. The same grace that held Paul is offered to you, sized for today.
And notice the very last line of the passage: “for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). Paul is not saying weakness is good. He is saying weakness is where he finally stopped carrying everything alone.
If your thorn is a body that hurts, you may find this helpful too: Prayer for Chronic Pain: Strength Sized for One Day.
Actions to Take
- Name your thorn in one sentence. Open the notes app on your phone or grab any scrap of paper. Write: “My thorn right now is ____.” Just naming it often takes some of its power away.
- Pray Paul’s two questions. Take two minutes. First, ask honestly for it to be taken away. Then ask the second question out loud: “And if it stays, what do I need from you for today?” Be still for one minute after you ask.
- Find one place it is making you strong. Think of one way this thorn has made you kinder, more patient, or more honest with someone else who is struggling. Then send that person a short message today: “Thinking of you. How are you really doing?”
Journaling Prompts
- If you are honest, how many times have you asked God to take your thorn away, and what did you feel the last time you asked?
- What would change in you if the thorn stayed, but you truly believed there would be enough grace for each day of it?
- Where in your life are you strongest right now, and is it possible that strength grew in the same soil as your weakness?
A Prayer for When the Thorn Stays
God, you know exactly what is pressing into my side right now, and you know how many times I have asked you to take it away. I am asking again, because I trust you enough to keep asking. But if it stays, please let your grace be enough for me today, not next month, just today. Show me where your strength can show up in the place I feel weakest. And help me not to carry this alone anymore. Amen.
Discussion Question
Do you think Paul was better off never telling us what his thorn was, or would it help you more to know exactly what he was carrying? Tell us what you think in the comments.
Share This
- “Thorn in my side” comes from the Bible. Paul asked God three times to take his away. It stayed. The answer he got instead: “My grace is sufficient for thee.” I needed that today.
- I always thought an unanswered prayer meant God said no. Paul asked three times. The thorn stayed, but the answer wasn’t silence. It was grace, enough for one day at a time.
- When I am weak, then am I strong. Not because weakness is good, but because it is where I stop carrying everything alone. (2 Corinthians 12:10)
Questions and Answers
What does “thorn in my side” mean?
“Thorn in my side” means a person or problem that keeps causing trouble and will not go away. It describes something constant and irritating rather than a single disaster. The phrase comes from the Bible, where Numbers 33:55, Joshua 23:13 and Judges 2:3 warn that people left in the land would become “thorns in your sides.”
Where is “thorn in my side” in the Bible?
The wording closest to the modern phrase is in the Old Testament: Numbers 33:55 and Judges 2:3 in the King James Version both say “thorns in your sides,” and Joshua 23:13 says “scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes.” The related phrase “thorn in the flesh” comes from the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7.
What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh?
Nobody knows what the apostle Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, because Paul never says. Common theories include a chronic illness, poor eyesight (based on Galatians 4:13-15), or a person or group who opposed his work, since Paul calls the thorn “the messenger of Satan.” The Greek word Paul uses, skolops, can mean a thorn, a splinter, or a sharpened stake.
Did God answer Paul’s prayer about the thorn in the flesh?
Yes, but not in the way Paul asked. In 2 Corinthians 12:8-9, Paul asked the Lord three times to remove his thorn in the flesh. The thorn was not removed. Instead, Paul received the answer “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness,” and he chose to accept it gladly.
What does “my grace is sufficient for thee” mean?
“My grace is sufficient for thee” (2 Corinthians 12:9, KJV) means that God’s help will be enough to carry a person through a hardship, even when the hardship itself is not taken away. The verse continues “my strength is made perfect in weakness,” meaning God’s strength is seen most clearly in the places where a person is weakest.
Still have questions about a verse or a phrase like this? You can explore it further with our free Bible Answers AI assistant (it opens in ChatGPT).
