Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

THISTLE

Various Hebrew words have been translated “thistle,” “thorn,” “brier,” “bramble,” and “nettle,” and one translation may use various English terms for the same Hebrew word. However, translations have rendered Heb. dārdar, “thistle,” quite consistently. This word occurs only twice in the Bible, once as part of God’s curse on the land (Gen. 3:18) and once as a symbol of Israel’s destruction (Hos. 10:8). Both times, dārdar is coupled with qôṣ, usually translated “thorn.” Heb. ḥôaḥ is also sometimes rendered “thistle.” In the NT thistles (Gk. tríbolos, “three pronged”) are also paired with thorns (Gk. ákantha).

Thistles are widespread in Israel. Some species include the Spanish thistle (Centaurea iberica Spreng), which has whorl-like leaves, the Globe thistle (Echinops viscosus DC), which bears round purple flowers, the Syrian thistle (Notobasis syriaca [L.] Coss.), and the Holy thistle, or “Mary’s thistle,” (Silybum marianum [L.] Gaertn).

Thistles and thorns quickly take over uncultivated land, and thus they represent uselessness (cf. Matt. 7:16; Heb. 6:8). Thistles burn easily, and fire is the most common and effective form of clearing.

Megan Bishop Moore

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

THISTLE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)