Czy Pawłowy „oścień dla ciała” to choroba oczu? Analiza 2 Kor 12,7–10

Dawid Bujas

doi:10.21697/ct.96.1.02

Published: 2026-02-17

Vol. 96 No. 1 (2026)

Is Paul’s “Thorn in the Flesh” an Eye Disease?

Analysis of 2 Corinthians 12:7–10

Dawid Bujas

Collectanea Theologica

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.96.1.02

Abstract

This article investigates the meaning of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Corinthians 12:7 through rhetorical analysis, examining a wide range of rhetorical figures used in the passage. Interpretations of the expression under study are grouped into three primary categories: internal (spiritual and psychological struggles), physical (diseases and disabilities), and external (hostility from opponents). The study evaluates these explanations in light of linguistic, historical, and medical evidence. Special attention is given to the hypothesis that Paul suffered from an ophthalmological condition, such as trachoma. By analyzing the rhetorical structure of the passage, the article aims to clarify the function and implications of this ambiguous expression.

Keywords:

rhetoric, Paul, thorn, trachoma

Download files

PDF (Język Polski)

Citation rules

Bujas, D. (2026). Is Paul’s “Thorn in the Flesh” an Eye Disease? Analysis of 2 Corinthians 12:7–10. Collectanea Theologica, 96(1), 23–46. https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.96.1.02

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

References

Abernathy, David. 2001. “Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh: A Messenger of Satan?” Neotestamentica: Journal of the New Testament Society of South Africa 35 (1/2): 69–79.
Google Scholar

Arystoteles. 2004. Retoryka. Translated by Henryk Podbielski. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Google Scholar

Bammel, Ernst. 1985. “κολαφίζω.” In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Abridged in One Volume, edited by Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, 400. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Google Scholar

Barnett, Paul. 1997. The Second Epistle to the Corinthians. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Google Scholar

Bullock, John David. 1978. “The Blindness of Saint Paul.” Ophthalmology 85 (10): 1044–53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0161-6420(78)35590-1
Google Scholar

Chwiła, Dorota. 2021. “Znaczenie «ościenia dla ciała» (2 Kor 12,7–10) w retoryce św. Pawła.” Warszawskie Studia Teologiczne 34 (1): 6–18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30439/WST.2021.1.1
Google Scholar

Cornelius a Lapide. 1891. Commentaria in Scripturam Sacram. Vol. 18. Parisius: Ludovicus Vives.
Google Scholar

Drabik, Lidia, Agnieszka Łodzińska, Katarzyna Sarna, Rafał Sarna, and Anna Stankiewicz, eds. 2021. Słownik języka polskiego PWN. Warszawa: PWN. DOI: https://doi.org/10.53271/2022.043
Google Scholar

Eadie, John. 1869. A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.
Google Scholar

Forbes, Christopher. 1986. “Comparison, Self-Praise and Irony: Paul’s Boasting and the Conventions of Hellenistic Rhetoric.” New Testament Studies 34 (4): 1–30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0028688500013485
Google Scholar

Garland, David E. 2021. 2 Corinthians. Christian Standard Commentary. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group.
Google Scholar

Guthrie, George Howard. 2015. 2 Corinthians. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
Google Scholar

Harris, Murray John. 2013. The Second Epistle to the Corinthians. The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Chicago, IL: Eerdmans.
Google Scholar

Heckel, Ulrich. 1993. Kraft in Schwachheit: Untersuchungen zu 2. Kor 10–13. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 56. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
Google Scholar

Hiramatsu, Kei. 2022. “Theology of the Crown of Thorns for the Outcast and Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh in Second Corinthians 12:7.” Asia Journal of Theology 36 (1): 72–88. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54424/ajt.v36i1.28
Google Scholar

Hisey, Alan, and James S. P. Beck. 1961. “Paul’s «Thorn in the Flesh»: A Paragnosis.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 29 (2): 125–29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/XXIX.2.125
Google Scholar

Keener, Craig S. 2005. 1–2 Corinthians. Cambridge: University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511802980
Google Scholar

Kett, Cyril Woodforde. 1941. “The Thorn in the Flesh of St. Paul.” Clinical and Experimental Optometry 24 (4): 187–89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1444-0938.1941.tb01216.x
Google Scholar

Kowalski, Marcin. 2013a. “Sługa słowa i chluba Koryntu. Analiza literacko-retoryczna argumentacji Pawła w 2 Kor 1–7.” The Biblical Annals 3 (2): 309–38.
Google Scholar

Kowalski, Marcin. 2013b. Transforming Boasting of Self into Boasting in the Lord. The Development of the Pauline Periautologia in 2 Cor 10–13. Studies in Judaism. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Google Scholar

Kowalski, Marcin. 2014. “Jak chwaląc siebie oddać chwałę Panu? Strategia i dynamika Pawłowej mowy w 2 Kor 10–13.” Zeszyty Naukowe Stowarzyszenia Biblistów Polskich 11:333–54.
Google Scholar

Kowalski, Marcin. 2025. “Małżeństwo i celibat w 1 Koryntian 7. Perspektywy badawcze.” Collectanea Theologica 95 (1): 17–67. http://doi.org/10.21697/ct.2025.95.1.02. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.2025.95.1.02
Google Scholar

Kwintylian, Marek Fabiusz. 2012. Kształcenie mówcy. Księgi VIII 6 – XII. Translated by Stanisław Antoni Śnieżewski. Biblioteka Aretuzy 8. Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka.
Google Scholar

Lambrecht, Jan. 2006. Second Corinthians. Sacra Pagina 8. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.
Google Scholar

Langkammer, Hugolin. 2017. “Tak zwana mowa błazna świętego Pawła (2 Kor 11, 16–12, 13).” The Biblical Annals 45 (1): 135–48.
Google Scholar

Lietzmann, Hans. 1969. An die Korinther I, II. Handbuch zum Neuen Testament 9. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
Google Scholar

Loubser, Johannes Albertus. 2000. “Paul and the politics of apocalyptic mysticism: An exploration of 2 Cor 11:30–12:10.” Neotestamentica 34 (1): 191–206.
Google Scholar

Macaya Pascual, Antonio, Ignacio Manresa Lamarca, and Jaime Piquero Casals. 2022. “Saint Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh: A Dermatological Weakness?” Scientia et Fides 10 (1): 9–27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12775/SetF.2022.001
Google Scholar

Matera, Frank J. 2013. II Corinthians: A Commentary. The New Testament Library. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox.
Google Scholar

McCant, Jerry Walter. 1988. “Paul’s Thorn of Rejected Apostleship.” New Testament Studies 34 (4): 550–72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0028688500021123
Google Scholar

Moss, Candida Rebecca. 2012. “Christly Possession and Weakened Bodies: Reconsideration of the Function of Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh (2 Cor. 12:7–10).” Journal of Religion, Disability & Health 16 (4): 319–33. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15228967.2012.731987
Google Scholar

Muszytowska, Dorota. 2009. Apostoł Chrystusa Jezusa. Obraz apostoła w 2 Kor w świetle analizy epistolarnej i retorycznej. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego.
Google Scholar

Muszytowska, Dorota. 2010. “Wykluczenie ze wspólnoty wierzących w świetle 1 Kor 5,5.” Verbum Vitae 18:167–84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31743/vv.2018
Google Scholar

Muszytowska, Dorota. 2011. “Żona zbawiająca męża (1 Kor 7,16)?” Verbum Vitae 19:149–75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31743/vv.2030
Google Scholar

Nuki, Paul. 2018. “Disease of thorns: the battle to eliminate trachoma.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/battle-to-eliminate-trachoma/.
Google Scholar

Osiński, Maciej. 2010. “Zakażenia chlamydialne jako interdyscyplinarny problem kliniczny. Chlamydiozy w różnych dyscyplinach medycznych.” Medycyna Rodzinna 3:16–28.
Google Scholar

Paciorek, Antoni. 2017. Drugi List do Koryntian. Nowy Komentarz Biblijny. NT 8. Częstochowa: Edycja Świętego Pawła.
Google Scholar

Pedanios Dioscorides. 1829. De materia medica libri quinque. Vol. 25. Medicorum Graecorum Opera Quae Exstant. Lipsia: Carolus Cnoblochius.
Google Scholar

Peterson, Brian K. 1998. Eloquence and the Proclamation of the Gospel in Corinth. Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series 163. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press.
Google Scholar

Plummer, Alfred. 1915. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. 5th ed. International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.
Google Scholar

Rączka, Jan Władysław. 2024. “Zakład leczniczo-wychowawczy UJ w Witkowicach pod Krakowem.” Folia Historica Cracoviensia 6:129–42. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15633/fhc.1415
Google Scholar

Rubinkiewicz, Ryszard, and Andrzej Kondracki, eds. 2010. Apokryfy Starego Testamentu. Prymasowska Seria Biblijna. Warszawa: Vocatio.
Google Scholar

Schweizer, Eduard. (1985). “σάρξ.” In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Abridged in One Volume, edited by Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, 400. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Google Scholar

Segalla, Giuseppe. 1988. “Struttura e unità della 2 Corinzi.” Teologia 13 (3): 189–218.
Google Scholar

Spengel, Leonhard von. 1856. Rhetores Graeci. Ex Recognitione Leonardi Spengel. Vol. 3. Bibliotheca scriptorum graecorum et romanorum Teubneriana. Lipsia: B. G. Teubneri.
Google Scholar

Stępień, Adrian. 2022. “Oścień z powodu ciała (2 Kor 12, 7–10). Kontekst, struktura, miejsce i funkcja w argumentacji Pawła.” Łódzkie Studia Teologiczne 31 (1): 97–113. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52097/lst.2022.1.97-113
Google Scholar

Sundermann, Hans-Georg. 1996. Der schwache Apostel und die Kraft der Rede: eine rhetorische Analyse von 2 Kor 10–13. Europäische Hochschulschriften. Reihe XXIII, Theologie 575. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Google Scholar

Taylor, Hugh R. 2008. Trachoma: A Blinding Scourge from the Bronze Age to the Twenty-First Century. South Yarra, VIC: Haddington Press.
Google Scholar

Wan, Sze-kar. 2000. Power in Weakness: The Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. The New Testament in Context. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International.
Google Scholar

Witherington III, Ben. 1995. Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Google Scholar

Wojnicki, Arkadiusz. 2023. “Przez oścień i słabość do mocy i łaski. Słowo Pana w 2 Kor 12,9 jako retoryczno-teologiczny klimaks Pawłowej «mowy głupca».” Resovia Sacra 29:645–62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52097/rs.2022.645-662
Google Scholar