Thistles, thorns

There is probably no country on earth of the .same extent which has so many plants with prickles and thorns as the Holy Land. One would be tempted to believe that this is a providential provision to protect them from the ravages of goats, asses, and camels, were it not that the mouths of these creatures are provided with a mucous membrane so tough that it seems impervious to thorns.

One of the spec- tacles most striking to a stranger in this land of surprises is that of a flock of goats, browsing in a patch of Eryngiums, or Cirsium.i, or prickly Cen- taureas, and crunching down the heads, a couple of inches in diameter, composed of stiti' thorns, and then masticating them with evident relish. The camel deals even with the noli-me-tangcre spheres of the Echinops, the huge heads of the Onopurdon, Carlina, and Ci/nara, and the thornj' plates of the Indian tig.

Zilla mtjagroides, Forsk., a most im- practicable crucifer, with a juice as pungent as its long stiir thorns, is the favourite desert food of the camel. He tears oil' and devours the twigs of the thorny Astragali. Only a few thorny plants, with little succulence to tenjpt, and with extraordinary defensive armour, such as the acacia trees, the buckthorn, and some of the more erinaceous Astra- gali of the alpine regions, and Calycotome villosa, escape the devourers.

Notwithstanding this, the thorns flourish and multiply, and, in many places, take possession of the land. Thistles grow to a height of 10-15 ft. Thorny Astragali cover acres of ground on the high mountains. Poteriuin s/nnusum, Bhamnus punctata, and Calycotome villosa are everyNvhere. So abundant is the first of these, the thorny burnet, in one region of Her- nion, as to give its name to the district, which is c.-iUed MuMta'at el-BillAn, i.e. District of the Thorny Burnet.

A large part of the lime pro- duced in the country is burned with this shrub, which is 'cut up' (Is 33'-) With pruniiig-hooks. It is then bound in huge bundles, and transported on the backs of men or animals to the kilns. Often an acre or more around a limekiln is seen covered with these large heaps of most combustible fuel. It produces a high heat, .and makes excellent lime. The.se and other thorns iire also used in ovens, and for culinary purposes (Ee 7").

Owners of asses thresh out various species of thistles and thorns, and use tliem for feeding their beasts. It is probably in allusion to this custom that Gideon is said to have ' taught [tUre.^hcd] the men of Succoth (along) with thorns of the wilderness and briers '(Jg 8"').* It is not strange that, with such a number of ])rickly plants as exist in Palestine, there should have been many names in Hub. to express them. Few or none of these denote species, and the VS.S have not attempted to tr.

tiiem with any uniformity. We subjoin an analy.sis of these terms. 1. 1V!N 'titOd, id/ivo!, rhaiiniits, occurs twice as the name of a plant (Jg •J''*' " AV 'bramble,' m. ' thistle,' RV ' bramble,' m. ' thorn,' Ps 58" ,VV and RV 'thorns'). It occurs once as a proper name in the expression ' the threshing-floor of Atad' (Gn SO'"-"). _ The Arab. \l(ad is defined as the branches of the 'au.mj.

The 'atisaf is ' a species of thorn, having a round red fruit, like the car- nelian bead, which is sweet, and is eaten,' or 'a • On the text of this verse and on its interpretation and Itii relation to v.T, see, above all, Moore's note, aU toe. 752 THISTLES, THORNS THISTLES. THORNS Bpeciea of thorn trees, having a bitter red fruit, in which is acidity . . when it grows large it is called gharkad . , . some regard it as tlie 'ulleik.'

It is clear that the term 'ausaj, and therefore 'dtdd, must have been applied to a number of plants. 'Ulleik most commonly signifies the bramble or blackberry, but also the smilax, and other prickly climbers. The gharkad is Nitraria tridentata, Desf., a plant confined to salt marshes, of which the fruit is called in Arab, 'enab-edh-dhtb, i.e. 'wolf's grapes.' Dioscorides {Ainrenna, ii. 232) seems to include a number of plants in his vagxie description of 'ausaj.

The other descriptions would apply to the boxthom, of which there are 3 species in the Holy Land, Lycium EuropcBum, L., L. Arabicum, Schw., and X. Barbarum, L., all of which have tliorns and red berries. Or they would, in part at least, apply to the jujube, of which there are also several species, Ziztjplius vulgaris, L., the 'enndb, Z. Lotus, L. , and Z. Spina Christi, L., the ncbk or sidr.

All of these would have been included under the term Rhamnus, the buckthorn, a genus from which Zizyphus has been set off in modern botany. This genus contains one thorny species, R. punrtnta, Boiss., with its variety Pales- ttna, which is found everywhere in Palestine and Syria. This species would admirably suit the needs of the passages. It is a thorny shrub, 2-6 ft. high, with obovate- oblong to elliptical leaves less than an in. long and about ^ in.

wide, insig- nificant flowers, and small fruits. It is well known under the Arab, name 'a/ram, is used for light fuel, and suits exactly the contrast intended in Abinie- lech's speech between the 'dtdd and the lordly cedar. To speak of sitting under the shadow of this contemptible straggling bush is the acme of irony. Being far more general than the boxthorn, especially in the hill, country where Abimelech spoke, it is more likely to have been in his mind. The bo.

xthorn would never have been spoken of by the Greeks as fid/xvos, which is the classical name of the buckthorn. "The writer has never met with the former in the hill-country. It is a plant of the coast and Jordan Valley and the interior plateaus. 2. D'lij-ij barkdnim (Jg 8'- "). According to Moore (judges, ad loc), 'in the Egyp. dialect of Arabic bertjan is the name of Phaceopappus sco- pariiis, Boi3s. = Ccmte urea scop., Sieber, a compo- site plant, with thorny heads. 3.

I'")': dardar (Gn 3', Hos 10, each time coupled with rip). The Arab, clarddr signifies the elm or the ash, hut shau /cat ed-darddr is generic for the thorny Centaureas, star thistles or knapweeds, which are not proper thistles, i.e. of the "enus Cirsiinn. In both the passages cited the LXX has TplfioXos, Vulg. tribulus. At least 2, perhaps 3, plants were known to the Greeks by this name : Trapa natans, L., the water chestnut, and Tribulus terrcstris, L.

, a prostrate herb of the order Zt/go- phyltacem, with pinnate leaves, resembling those of the milk vetch, and a fruit composed of bony cells, with a prickly back. These are liable to get into the shoe or between the sandal and the foot, and ])roduce a veritable tribulation. The caltrop, an instrument suggested by them, was used in war to impede the charge of cavalry. Some have identified the tribulus with the thorny 4. ;>^!

\ heihk (Pr 15", LXX iKavSa, AV and RV ' thorii ' ; Mic 1* [LXX text dillers] AV and RV ' brier ') refers to some unknown kind of thorn, certainly in the first passage one of those used for hedges. The most common of these in Palestine and Sj-ria is Eleagnus hortensis, M.B., the silver berry or oleaster, known in Arab, as zaizafun. It has still", sharp thorns, and grows in a dense fashion which well fits it for this purpose.

The ordinary brambles, species of Rubus, are also much used for hedges, especially along the coast. Also Paliurut aculeatus, Lam., one of the so-called Christ thorns, a plant of the order Rhamnacem, growing in the interior tablelands. Also Cactus Ficus-InTlica, L., the prickly pear, Smilax aspera, L., the green brier, which makes a most elhcient hedge, and the boxthorn, which is common in hedges about Jatia, Lattakia, and elsewhere.

The hawthorn, Crat;egus, of which there are several species, is not used in this way. 5. oin huak. This is variously tr. (2 K 14« 'thistle,' RVm ' thorn ' ; 2 Ch 25i8 ' thistle,' AVm ' furze hnsh' [Calycotome villosa] or 'thorn,' RVm 'thorn'; Hos 9" ' thorns ' ; Is 34i3 AV ' brambles,' KV 'thistles'; Job 31« 'thistles,' RVm 'thorns'; Pr 26" ' thorn ' ; Ca 2= ' thorns ' ; 1 S 13» D-niq ' thickets ' [better t/torn brakes, unless we read with Ew., Wellli., Driver, et al. 0'"!

in 'holes']; Job 41- AV ' thorn,' RV ' hook,' m. • spike ' ; 2 Ch 33" AV 'thorns,' RV 'in chains,' m. 'with hooks'). From the above inconsistencies, which are quite parallel to those of the LXX and Vuljj., it is clear that no specific meaning can be attacued to huah. It would seem, however, rather to designate thorns and thorny shrubs and trees than prickles and prickly herbs like thistles. 6. np^D3 mcsiikdh (Mic 7*) is a 'thorn hedge.' Of what kind we have no means of determining (see 4). 7.

x;-i';_}nndzuz. The Arab, nw'c? corresponds with this, and signifies a thorn tree growing m Arabia. It may be one of the thorny acacias. In the two passages in which it occurs (Is 7'" 55") it is tr. ' thorns.' In the latter (LXX aroi'^-q) it is said that it will be replaced by the bcrosh. See FiR. 8. o'TP sirim. This seems to refer to the lighter tliorns, like the thorny burnet, which often grows in ruins (Is 34'^), and many of the star thistles, etc.

The burning of these produces a crackling (Ec 7° AVm 'sound,' where there is a word-play between Tp 'pot' and D'i"0 'thorns'). ' Folden together as thorns ' (AV Nah l'", RV ' like tangleil thorns') would well suit such as the burnet, and many others in Palestine. As huah came to mean ' hook,' from the resemblance to a thorn, so siruth is once used in this way for ' fish-hook ' (Am 4'). 9. ji^p sillan, AV and RV 'brier' (Ezk 28"); D'jiVg sallunim, AV and RV 'thorns' (Ezk 2", but text dub.)

, are stout thorns, such as are found on the midrib of the palm leaf, corresponding exactly to the Arab. suld. 10. D'5^P sdrdbtm is from an obsolete root signi- fying perh. to be refractory or rebellious. In the single passage where it is used (Ezk 2"), the con- text points to some stitl', refractory thorn, of which sdrdbtm was prob. the ancient name. It is associated with the stout thorn of the.

palm, silliin (9) ; but we have no Arab, clue, as in the other case, to help us to a knowledge of what it was. AVm tr. it 'rebels'; but tliis is forced. Instead of ' briers and thorns ' (D-i^Vp c-;-;;), Cornill, Bertholet, ct al., would read ' resisting and despis- ing ' (D'b:) c'?-;;). 11. i5"ip • sirpad. — A plant of neglected and desert places, mentioned with i'vjj^j (Is 55"), to be replaced by the myrtle as na'dzitz will be by the fir. The LXX has ii6vvfa = Inula riscosa, L.

, the elecam- pane, a plant which grows on all the hillsides of Palestine and Syria. It is a perennial of the order Composita;, growing from 2-3 ft. high, with lanceolate to linear-lanceolate leaves, and yellow heads, about J in. long. It is very glutinous, and lias a strong, disagreeable smell. It is a plant worthless eitlier as forage or fuel. It possesses only two merits. The first is that brooms made of the green stems with their leaves on are used to • So Baer ; MT ijnp firpad.

THISTLES, TIIORXS THO:\rAS gwei'p the floors of the native houses, and help to rid ihem of the fleas, which adliere to the slime which covers the plant. The other is that it grows on dry, rocky hillsides, and mitigates by its greenness the otherwise deserted and barren aspect of tlie landscape. Now it happens that the myrtle grows on siniil.ir hillsides, olten side by side with the elecanipiine.

The contrast between this worth- ies,* plant and the myrtle, with its delicious fra- •riance, its beautiful foliage, exquisite flowers, and edible fruit, is quite sullicient for the require- ments of the pa.'^sap. 'Brier' of AV and RV, and urtkn = ' nettle' of Vul^'., besides lacking the RUtiioritv of the LXX, would not convey a mean- ing so forcible as the elecampane. Ihe Arab, name for the plant is'trA; et-tnyiji'in. 12. c'3^ zinnim is used twice : .

lob 5° (LXX KaKCiv), where both MT and meaning are doubtful [Bevan, Joum. of Philol. xxvi. 303 If. reads plausibly D:i.yi "in-;^- D-:^, and renders 'and their wealth barbs lay hold of it'] ; and Pr 22' (LXX rplfioXoi), where the froward wander into desert places, where they are sure to meet with thorns. Another form of the same, D-j'js zenhiim (Nu 33", where it is a.s80ciated with c'3;- [see IS], Jos 23'^), simply refers to thorns as piercing the flesh, not to any particular plant. 13.

pp ki'jz is a generic term for thorny and prickly plants, tr. indill'erently 'thorn' (Ezk 2S-^ where it refers to an individual thorn, Hos 10"), or 'thorns' (Gn 3'», Is 32'^), pi. D-jrip or o'vp kuzim (Jg 8', .Jer4'etc.) 14. C'j"i^:p kimmishdnim is once (Pr 24") tr. ' thorns,' but the sing, form tsisp (Is 34") and cic-c (Hos 9") ' nettles.' See Nettles. 13. D-fs sikkim, the ]>\. of -p' = Arab. shauk, generic for thorns (Nu 33"), tr. ' pricks.' 16.

n-j' sfuiyith occurs only in Isaiah, and always a-sociated with tcj- shamir (5« 7»^, 'J' 10'' 27") ; always tr. ' thorns,' as shamlr is tr. ' briers.' 17. I'cp shdmir means both ' thorn ' and ' ada- iiiani ' In the former signification it occurs only in Isaiah, and each time but one (32", where it is associated with kCz) in company with shmiith. It is uniformly tr. ' briers.' Its Arab, equivalent, sdiniir, is the desert Acacia Seyyal, or A. tortilU.

Most of the above names were probably specific and well understood in the days when they were used ; but, as has been seen, few, if any, can cer- tainly be identified. The NT words for 'thorns an-1 thistles,' d/ca^ffat and rpIjSoXoi (Mt 7'", Lk (j"), and ' thorns,' iKuvdai. (Mt 13'), and ' thorn ' (rather ' stake '), jKliXo^p (2 Co 12'), are indehnite.

There are not less than 50 genera and 200 species of plants in Syia and Palestine furnished with thorns and prickles, besides a multitude clothed with scab- rous, strigose, or stinging hairs, and another multitude witli prickly fruits. Crown of Thorns. — It is impossible to tell of what species our Saviour's crown (ariipavoi ii iKavOQiv, aKdvOivoi ariipavot) was composed. It is certain, however, that it must have been made from a plant growing near to Jerusalem.

It is often idenlilied with Zizi/n/iux Spina-Vliristi (see Tristram, Nat. Ilixt. of liihle, 42!t). It might well have been Calyrutumc villosa, Valil, the kinulnul ol the Arabs. Crowns of this are plaited and sold in Jerusalem, as representatives of our .Saviour's crown. 'Phe facility with which the branelies of 'hLs shrub are wrought into the required shaiie, and the evident adaptation of the resulting crown to the torture intended, make it highly jirnbable that this was the material used.

FotiHum s/iirinsii/u, L., is also wrought into such crowns, but makes a niucli softer ami less eflicient instrument of torture tb^n the la.st. A cruel one could be made of RhMmiiu.i piiiiitata, I!()i>s., also of Ononis anti- quorum, L., the shihruk of the Arabs. G. E. Post. VOL. IV.— 48 THOCANUS (B GiKaros, A Giivavos, AV Theo- eanus), 1 Ks 9" = Tikvah, Ezr lu". Probably .xpn was read as :\:pn.