Later traditions of Thomas, obviously of little value, are mentioned in Eusebius and in the Apocryphal Acts of Thomas. He is spoken of as a missionary to Parthia, or to India. Some traditions assign to him the honour of martyrdom ; and his supposed grave was shown at Edessa in the 4th century.
The personality of Thomas has a clear and consistent expression in the incidents which the Fourth Gospel records. He belongs to the quiet.
THORNS
TIBERIAS
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reflective group of tlie Apostolic company ; and his temperament is that of a man who finds the best things too good to be true, and who usually imagines that the worst foreseen possibility will be realized. He requires direct personal evidence, and will not hastily accept the testimony even of his friends. Yet he is not lacking in devotion and love to his Lord. He will die with Him rather than desert His cause ; and in his gloomiest days of unbelief he does not separate himself from the Ajjostolic company. Though not persuaded of the reality of the Resurrection, he keeps his old loyalty and love ; and when the Master's presence is utterly sure, he gladly accepts the highest that the revela- tion of Christ implies. His unbelief was never a failure to respond to the spiritual truth and love brought to him by his Master ; at most it was an inability to accept unexpected and marvellous external manifestations of that truth. ' In Thomas we have a man incredulous but tenacious ; despond- ent but true ; with little hope but much courage ; sincere in love though per2)lexed in faith ; neither rushing to the right conclusion as Peter might have done, nor rushing away from it into danger and dishonour as Peter did ' (T. T. Lynch).
The scepticism of Thomas has a real apologetic value. It goes to disprove the contention that the Apostles were credulous persons easily misled by their hopes, and so deluded into a mistaken belief that their dead Master had spoken to them. Thomas believed because the fact which was too good to hope for became too certain to reject.
Literature. — Among expository sermons on Thomas may be named F. W. Robertson, Serin, ii. 268 ; T. T. Lynch, Serm. for my Curates, 33 ; H. M. Ijutler, Univ. and other Serm. 43 ; A. B. Davidson, The Called of God, 317.
E. H. TiTCHMARSH.
THORNS. — Palestine is unusually rich in acan- thous plants. As many as 50 genera and 200 species occur in Palestine and Syria, ' besides a multitude clothed with scabrous, strigose, or sting- ing hairs, and another multitude with prickly fruits' (Post in Hastings' DB iv. 753). In the OT references to thorns are numerous, and many different words are used to express them. But the vocabulary, though full, is very indefinite, many of the terms employed being as vague and general as our own English word 'thorns.' We have the reflex of this uncertain terminology in EV, which renders almost indiscriminately by ' thistle,' ' thorn,' or ' bramble,' a single Hebrew word. In the NT three terms occur, viz. &Kavda, rpi^oXos, and o-KdXo^. The last-named is found only in 2 Co 12^ ' There was given to me a thorn (o-K^Xof) in the flesh,' but in this instance the rendering should rather be 'stake' or 'pale.' The second (rpl^oXos) has al- ready been explained (see Thistles). It remains that Ave should consider AKavda (Mt V^ W- ^, Mk 47- 18, Lk 6" 8'- ", Jn 19^, He 6«), which is invariably translated 'thorns.' Strictly speaking, this term denotes Arnnthus spinosus, a showy perennial with deeply indented and spiny leaves, and bearing white flowers tinged with pink. In the NT, how- ever, it is a quite general term for all thorny or prickly plants, and is applied to bushes and weeds alike. Among the most common are thorny Astragali, which abound in the higher mountain- ous regions, ami many species of Acacia, Eryngium, Rhamnus, Rubus, Soliinum, etc. Some of them, such as Poteriiun .tpinosiim and Rhamnii.i punctata, are found in all parts of the country. In our Third Gospel mention is made of the bramble {^Ato^, Lk 6**). This may quite possibly be the common braml)le {Rvhi(s frnfiro.fus), which is found in many parts of Palestine. It is note- worthy, however, that, except in this one passage, jSciToj is always rendered ' bush,' and is used only of the 'burning bush' of Moses (Mk 1226, Lk 208'
etc.). The corresponding Heb. word {nip) is simi- larly restricted in its use. As the bramble is not found on Horeb (Sinai), it has been thought by some that the ' bush ' w.as a kind of acacia. For the crown of thorns which was set in mockery on the head of Christ (Jn 19"), see CROWN OF TllORNS.
Much might easily be said regarding the sym- bolism of thorns in the Scriptures. But it may be sufficient merely to note that they were regarded as the direct consequence of human sin, and so became the natural symbols of sin and the sufl'er- ings in which it issues (Gn 3'*, Nu 33'''^, Pr 22* etc.). In the light of this symbolism there is an apt pathos and beauty in the fact that Christ was crowned with thorns (see Cox, An Expositor's Note Book, 349 fi'.; and Earl Lytton, Fables in Song, i.).