Briars in the Bible
also known as: brier
This word occurs frequently, and is the translation of several different Hebrew and Greek words.
“The best of them is like a briar”
Micah 7:4 — This refers to a species of thorn shrub used for protective hedges.
Hebrew: חֵדֶק —transliteration: chedeq or chedek —meaning: stinging, a briar
In Proverbs 15:19 the word is rendered “hedge of thorns.”
“a prickling brier”
Ezekiel 28:24 — a prickle such as found on the shoots of some palm trees
“thistles and thorns are with you” —Ezekiel 2:6
Hebrew: סִלּוֹן —transliteration: sillon' or sallon' —meaning: prickle —occurrences: 2
“Instead of the thorn bush”
Isaiah 7:19 and Isaiah 55:13
This probably simply refers to a thorny bush, but some, following the Vulgate Version, regard it as the “nettle.”
Hebrew: נַעֲצוּץ —transliteration: naatsuts —meaning: a thorn bush —occurrences: 2
Briars
Isaiah 5:6; 7:23-25, etc.
Hebrew: שָׁמִיר —transliteration: shamir —meaning: a thorn or thorny shrubs in general —occurrences: 11
In Isaiah 10:17; 27:4, it is a metaphor for troublesome men.
Thistles
Matthew 7:16 and Hebrews 6:8 NASB (and “briars” in Heb. 6:8 KJV
Greek: τρίβολος —transliteration: tribolos —meaning: a thistle; literally: three-pronged —occurrences: 2
This denotes the land caltrop, a low throny shrub resembling in its spikes the military “crow-foot.”
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