By the abundance of revelations: these words may connect with the end of verse 6 and indicate why others would think highly of Paul (so New Jerusalem Bible; see comments on 12.6), or they may indicate the reason that Paul might be tempted to be puffed up with pride (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible). The Greek syntax at the beginning of verse 7 is extremely difficult; either scribes copied incorrectly or else Paul wrote garbled Greek here. The general sense, however, seems clear, depending on whether one begins a new sentence at the beginning of verse 7 or after the first five Greek words in verse 7, as in New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, and the other translations and Greek texts mentioned in verse 6.
A thorn was given me in the flesh: most interpreters agree that the implicit agent of the verb was given is probably God. Whether God or Satan is understood as the agent, Paul at least believes that God permitted it, as in the case of Job in the Old Testament. Good News Translation translates this as “I was given a painful physical ailment.” Indeed, scholars have proposed all sorts of physical ailments on the slightest of biblical evidence: some kind of eye disease, malaria, epilepsy, severe headaches, defective speech, and so forth. Yet the word flesh does not necessarily refer here to the physical body. It may be a synonym for “physical existence in general.” Understanding flesh in this way, other interpreters have suggested that the thorn referred to Paul’s opponents. See Num 33.55 in the Septuagint, where Israel’s enemies are described as “thorns” in the eyes of the Israelites. Because of the uncertainty regarding the identity of Paul’s thorn in the flesh, translators who choose to be as specific as Good News Translation may wish to have a note such as the following:
• The Greek is literally “a thorn in the flesh was given me.” While many scholars think this refers to a physical problem, Paul may have been referring to persecutions and opposition from his opponents.
A messenger of Satan: on Satan see 2.11 and 11.14. The word translated messenger may also be rendered “angel” (Anchor Bible, New American Bible, Knox, and Contemporary English Version). In 11.15 Paul speaks of Satan’s “ministers.”
To harass is literally “to strike with a closed fist.” But the verb is obviously used more figuratively here. So it may legitimately be translated “abuse” or “torment.” Some scholars feel that the persistence indicated by the present tense should be made evident in translation by saying something to show continuous action; for example, “to torment me continually” or “to keep on harassing me.”
Some manuscripts omit the words to keep me from being too elated at the end of this verse (see New International Version). The editors of the UBS Greek New Testament think it likely that a scribe omitted these words as an unnecessary repetition from the beginning of the verse, and so it is better to retain them.
Because of the complexities of this verse, it will probably require considerable restructuring in the receptor language. Here is a possible model:
• But I must not become too proud about the wonderful things that God has shown me. That is why he gave me a very difficult problem to deal with. It was as if a person with a message from Satan intended to beat me and keep me from being too proud.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellingworth, Paul. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .