Quick Definition
σκόλοψ, οπος, ὁ n.m. a stake or thorn
Strong's Definition
withered at the front, i.e. a point or prickle (figuratively, a bodily annoyance or disability)
Derivation: perhaps from the base of G4628 (σκέλος) and G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι);
KJV Usage: thorn
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, m. | -οπος
3.54 · Plants · Non-Fruit Parts of Plants
thorn, splinter a sharp projection of a woody plant (though possibly a splinter of wood) with the implication of its causing injury and discomfort In the NT σκόλοψ occurs only in the figurative expression σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί ‘thorn in the flesh,’ and this expression has been subject to a number of different interpretations (see 22.20).
22.20 · Trouble, Hardship, Relief, Favorable Circumstances · Experience Trouble, Hardship
Collocation: σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί
trouble, woe, suffering, serious inconvenience, thorn in the flesh (an idiom, literally: thorn in the flesh) something which causes serious trouble and difficulty There are a number of different interpretations of σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί in 2CO 12:7 (see discussion at 20.27).
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
σκόλοψ, -oros, 6, fr. Hom. down, a pointed piece of wood, a pale, a stake: ἐδόθη μοι σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί, a sharp stake [al. say splinter, A.V. thorn; οἵ. Num. xxxiii. 55 ; Ezek. xxviii. 24; Hos. ii. 6 (8); Babr. fab. 122, 1. 10; al. (Sir. xliii. 19)] to pierce my flesh, appears to indicate some constant bodily ailment or infirmity, which, even when Paul had been caught up in a trance to the third heaven, sternly admonished him that he still dwelt in a frail and mortal body, 2 Co. xii. 7 (ef. 1-4); [ef. W. §31, 10 N.3; B. § 133, 27. On Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” see Farrar, St. Paul, i. 652 sqq. (Excursus x.); Bp. Lghtft. Com. on Gal. p. 186 sqq.; Schaff in his * Popuiar Commentary’ on Gal. p. 331 sq.]
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
σκόλοψ skolops 1x
anything pointed; met. a thorn, a plague, 2 Cor. 12:7*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
σκόλοψ, -οπος, ὁ
[in LXX: Nu 33:55 (שֵׂךְ), Ho 2:6 (8) (סִיר), Ez 28:24 (סִלּוֹן), Si 43:19 * ;]
anything pointed, esp.
in cl., a stake
In Hellenistic vernacular, a thorn (cf. LXX, ll. c.): σ. τῇ σαρκί, II Co 12:7 (cf. MM, i., xxiii; DB, iii, 700 f.; Deiss., St. Paul, 62 f.; Field, Notes, 187).†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
σκόλοψ. The use of this word in BGU II. 3809 (iti/a.p.) (= Sevections, p..105), where an anxious mother writes to her son— εἶπέ pot, ὅτι Tov πόδαν (/. πόδα) πονεῖς ἀπὸ σκολάπου (1. σκόλοπος), “he told me that you had a sore foot owing to ἃ splinter,” would seem to support the meaning ‘‘ splinter ” or “thorn” rather than ‘‘stake” (RV marg.) in the only occurrence of σκόλοψ in the NT, 2 Cor 127. So in Sy// 802 (= 91168)®? (c. B.c. 320) a man falling from a tree περὶ σκόλοπάς τινας τοὺς ὀπτίλλους ἀμφέπαισε, and became blind, apparently not at once (κακῶς δὲ διακείμενος καὶ τυφλὸς γεγενημένος), where again we should think naturally of ‘‘splinters” or ‘‘thorns.” This meaning appears still more clearly in the magical P Osl I. 1153 (iv/a.p.), where “ 9 OKOTED the sorcerer says of the loved one—éav δὲ θέλῃ κοιμᾶσθαι, ὑποστρώσατε αὐτῇ στοίβας ἀκανθίνας, ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν κοτράφων σκόλοπας, “if she wants to lie down, strew beneath her prickly branches, and thorns upon her temples”? (Ed.). See also Artem. p. 1811! ἄκανθαι καὶ σκόλοπες ὀδύνας σημαίνουσι διὰ τὸ ὀξύ, and Babrius Fab. οχχὶ! ὄνος πατήσας σκόλοπα χωλὸς εἱστήκει : he appeals to a wolf ®f χάριν δέ μοι δὸς ἀβλαβῆ τε καὶ κούφην, ἐκ τοῦ ποδός μου τὴν ἄκανθαν εἰρύσσας (cited by Field, Motes p. 187). It may be added that LXX usage (Numb 3355, Ezek 2874, Hos 25(§), Sir 4319) strongly confirms the rendering ‘‘thorn.” We are not concerned here with the special metaph. application which Paul gives to the word in 2 Cor /.c., but for a recent defence of the view that his **thorn” was epilepsy see Wendland Av//ar, p. 125 f.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
σκόλοψ (skolops) — thorn. σκόλοψ, οπος, ὁ, anything pointed: especially pale, stake, κεφαλὴν πῆξαι ἀνὰ σκολόπεσσι [Refs 8th c.BC+], palisade, τείχεα.. σκολόπεσσιν ἀρηρότα [Refs 8th c.BC+]
2. thorn, [NT+4th c.BC+]
3. an instrument for operating on the urethra, [Refs 1st c.AD+]
4. point of a fishing-hook, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
II. tree, [Refs 5th c.BC+]