Thorn: 1. Heb. hedek
(Proverbs 15:19) rendered "brier" in
(Micah 7:4) Some
thorny plant, of the Solanum family, suitable for hedges. This
is probably the so-called "apple of Sodom," which grows very
abundantly in the Jordan valley. "It is a shrubby plant, from 3
to 5 feet high, with very branching stems, thickly clad with
spines, like those of the English brier, with leaves very large
and woolly on the under side, and thorny on the midriff."
2. Heb. kotz
(Genesis 3:18; Hosea 10:8) rendered akantha by the LXX. In the
New Testament this word akantha is also rendered "thorns"
(Matthew 7:16; 13:7; Hebrews 6:8) The word seems to denote any thorny or
prickly plant
(Jeremiah 12:13) It has been identified with the
Ononis spinosa by some.
3. Heb. na'atzutz
(Isaiah 7:19; 55:13) This word has been interpreted as
denoting the Zizyphus spina Christi, or the jujube-tree. It is
supposed by some that the crown of thorns placed in wanton
cruelty by the Roman soldiers on our Saviour's brow before his
crucifixion was plaited of branches of this tree. It overruns a
great part of the Jordan valley. It is sometimes called the
lotus-tree. "The thorns are long and sharp and recurved, and
often create a festering wound." It often grows to a great size.
(See CROWN OF THORNS)
4. Heb. atad
(Psalms 58:9) is rendered in the LXX. and Vulgate by
Rhamnus, or Lycium Europoeum, a thorny shrub, which is common
all over Palestine. From its resemblance to the box it is
frequently called the box-thorn.
