Encyclopedia entry
Thorn
Disambiguation
The source enumerates 4 distinct subjects under Thorn. Jump to one below, or read in order.
Thorn (1)
#Heb. hedek (Prov. 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.”
Thorn (2)
#Heb. kotz (Gen. 3:18; Hos. 10:8), rendered akantha by the LXX. In the New Testament this word akantha is also rendered “thorns” (Matt. 7:16; 13:7; Heb. 6:8). The word seems to denote any thorny or prickly plant (Jer. 12:13). It has been identified with the Ononis spinosa by some.
Thorn (3)
#Heb. na’atzutz (Isa. 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.)
Thorn (4)
#Heb. atad (Ps. 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.
In the Bible
7
Verses where Thorn is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).
- 2 Corinthians 12:7
or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
- Ezekiel 28:24
For the people of Israel will no longer face a pricking brier or a painful thorn from all around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.’
- Hosea 10:8
The high places of Aven will be destroyed— it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
- Isaiah 55:13
Instead of the thornbush, the cypress will grow, and instead of the brier, the myrtle will spring up; this will make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”
- Job 41:2
Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?
- Micah 7:4
The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation. Now is the time of their confusion.
+1 more verse naming Thorn.
Scripture on Thorn
14
Entries that reference Thorn
1
Voices on Thorn
11
Surfaced by name match — accuracy varies by title clarity.
Sources · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.