THORN

Thorn. 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.”

(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.

(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.)

(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.

---

THORN. → The ground cursed with Ge 3:18 → Used
* As an awl Job 41:2
* For fuel Ps 58:9; 118:12; Ec 7:6
* Hedges formed of Ho 2:6; Mic 7:4
* Crown of, mockingly put on Jesus' head Mt 27:29; Mr 15:17; Joh 19:2,5

→ FIGURATIVE
* Of afflictions Nu 33:55; 2Co 12:7
* Of the adversities of the wicked Pr 22:5
* Of the evils that spring from the heart to choke the truth Mt 13:7,22

---

thorn. Thorn, n. a small and prickly tree, a difficult point

---

Thorn (?), n. [[AS. þorn; akin to OS. & OFries. thorn, D. doorn, G. dorn, Dan. torn, Sw. törne, Icel. þorn, Goth. þaúrnus; cf. Pol. tarn, Russ. tern' the blackthorn, ternie thorns, Skr. tṛṇa grass, blade of grass. √53.]] 1. 1. A hard and sharp-pointed projection from a woody stem; usually, a branch so transformed; a spine.
2. 2. (Bot.) Any shrub or small tree which bears thorns; especially, any species of the genus Cratægus, as the hawthorn, whitethorn, cockspur thorn.
3. 3. Fig.: That which pricks or annoys as a thorn; anything troublesome; trouble; care.
There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. 2 Cor. xii. 7. The guilt of empire, all its thorns and cares, Be only mine. Southern. 4. 4. The name of the Anglo-Saxon letter �, capital form �. It was used to represent both of the sounds of English th, as in thin, then. So called because it was the initial letter of thorn, a spine.
Thorn apple (Bot.), Jamestown weed. — Thorn broom (Bot.), a shrub that produces thorns. — Thorn hedge, a hedge of thorn-bearing trees or bushes. — Thorn devil. (Zoöl.) See Moloch, 2. — Thorn hopper (Zoöl.), a tree hopper (Thelia cratægi) which lives on the thorn bush, apple tree, and allied trees.