σκόλοψ

From the study of 2 Corinthians 12:7

Range of meaning

Anything pointed. In early and classical Greek it most often means a sharpened stake: a palisade post (Homer, Odyssey 7.45), a stake for displaying heads (Iliad 18.177), and the root of the verb for impaling (anaskolopizō). In later everyday Greek and in the Greek Old Testament it more often means a thorn, prickle or splinter, something small and sharp that lodges in the body and festers (BDAG: 'something pointed… thorn, splinter').

Against the English

Nearly all English versions say 'thorn'. Some popular writers and a few scholars prefer 'stake', which makes the image more violent (even hinting at impalement or the cross). 'Thorn' fits Paul's period and his Greek Bible better. Either way, the point is a sharp, painful thing stuck in him that he cannot pull out.

How it drifted

The English phrase 'a thorn in the flesh/side' became a proverb for any nagging annoyance, often a difficult person. That waters down the image, though the 'difficult person' sense is, ironically, close to one ancient reading.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek Old Testament: Num 33:55 (Canaanites left in the land will be 'thorns [skolopes] in your eyes'); Ezek 28:24 ('a thorn of bitterness' for Israel's hostile neighbours); Hos 2:6 (2:8 Greek, hedging her way with thorns); Sir 43:19 (frost like thorn points). Moulton–Milligan note everyday papyrus use for a splinter or thorn. In two of the three main Old Testament uses the thorn stands for hostile people.