# because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations "because those revelations were so much greater than anything anyone else had ever seen" # a thorn in the flesh was given to me "God gave me a thorn in the flesh" or "God allowed me to have a thorn in the flesh" # a thorn in the flesh Here Paul's physical problems are compared to a thorn piercing his flesh. Alternate translation: "an affliction" or "a physical problem" # a messenger from Satan "a servant of Satan"