UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: to strike with the fist, to beat with the fist

Semantic entry: 19.7

Semantic domains: Physical Impact

Subdomains: Hit, Strike

Definition: to strike or beat with the fist, either once or repeatedly

Sense 2: to cause harm to

Semantic entry: 20.27

Semantic domains: Violence, Harm, Destroy, Kill

Subdomains: Harm, Wound

Definition: (a figurative extension of meaning of κολαφίζω[a] ‘to beat with the fist,’ 19.7: κολαφίζω) to cause injury or weakness or possibly a circumstantial difficulty

Notes: Though differences of interpretation exist concerning the meaning of ‘a thorn in my flesh’ (RV CO2 12:7 · LV CO2 12:7 · Read together CO2 12:7), especially since some scholars have felt that this must refer to some kind of physical disability, it seems more likely to assume that it refers to some special personal circumstance such as the opposition Paul encountered in preaching the gospel, a reference suggested by RV CO2 12:10 · LV CO2 12:10 · Read together CO2 12:10 (see also 22.20: σάρξ / 22.20: σκόλοψ).|Without some clear understanding of the reference of ‘a thorn in my flesh,’ it is difficult to determine precisely how κολαφίζω is to be interpreted in RV CO2 12:7 · LV CO2 12:7 · Read together CO2 12:7.