Thorn is the rendering, in many passages of the A. v., of eleven diflferent Hebrew words and two (accu- rately onlj' of one) Greek Avords ; but, as we will see below, there are no less than twenty -two words in the original languages of the Bible variously translated "thorn," "thistle," " brier," etc., and signifying thorny and ]irickly plants. Some of these, however, are prob- ably so interpreted only because they are unknown, and may merely denote insigniticant shrubs. We have else- where treated most of these in detail, and we therefore briefly recapitulate them below alphabetically, though we can hardly hope to throw much additional light upon what has already batlled so many inquirers. The difficulty of identifying them does not arise from any deficiency of thorny plants to which the Biblical names might be applied, but from the want of good reasons for selecting one plant more than another; for, as Celsius has said, " Fuerunt in Judsea hand pauca loca a spinis diversorum generum denominata, quod esset hajc terra non tantum lacte et melle fliie»s, sed herbis quoque inu- tilibus, et spinis multifariis passim infestata." As exam- ples, we may mention the genera of which some of the species are thorny, such as Acacia, Astragalus, Acan- thodium, Alhagi, Fagonia, Tribulus, Berberis, Prunus, Rubus, Crataegus, Solanum, Carduus, Cnicus, Onopordon, Eryngium, lihamnus, Zizyphus; and of species which are named from this characteristic. Anabasis spinosissima,
Paliurns aculeatus, Ruscus aculeatus, Forskalea tenacis- sima, Aristida pungens, Salsola echinus, Echinops spino- sus, Buiuas spinosa, Lycium spinosum, I'oterium spino- sum, Atraphaxis spinosa, rrenautlies spinosa, Ononis spinosa, Smilax asper, Spartium spinosum, Zizyphus Spina Christi. See Botanv.
In the morphology of plants it is now recognised that thorns are abortive or undeveloped branches, and in many cases under cultivation tliorns become true branches. A spine or thorn, of which we have exam- jdes in the hawthorn and the sloe, must be distinguish- ed from the prickles (aculei) which belong to the in- tegumentary system of the plant, and which are really hardened hairs. Of these last we have examples in the bramble and the rose, and in the animal economy we have something analogous in the spines of the hedge- hog and the quills of the porcupine. " May we not see in the production of injurious thorns — an arrestment by the fiat of the Almighty in the formation of branches, and thus a blight passed on this part of creation — a standing memorial of the effects of sin on what was de- clared at first to be very good? It is remarkable to no- tice that when Christ became a curse for his people, the Jews mocked him by putting on him a crown of thorns, and thus what was an indication of the fall of man was used by them to insult the seed of the woman who came to bruise the head of the serpent. The removal of the curse from creation, which is now groaning and travail- ing iu pain, is frequently set forth by illustrations taken from the disappearance of briers and thorns (Isa. Iv, 13; Ezek. xxviii, •24)" (Balfour, Bo/, and Rel'u/. p. 110-115).
Dr. Thomson {Land and Book, i, 81) illustrates Isa. xxxiii, 12, "The people shall be as the burning of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the tire," by the following observation: "Those people yonder are cut- ting up thorns with their mattocks and pnniing-hooks, and gathering them into bundles to be burned in these burnings of lime. It is a curious fidelity to real life that when the thorns are merely to be destroyed they are never cut up, but set on tire where they grow. They are cut up only for the lime-kiln" (see also ibid, i, 627 sq. for other scriptural allusions).
1. Akantha (d'/cai'S'n) occurs in Matt. vii. 16; xiii, 7, 22 ; xxvii, 27 ; and also in the parallel passages of Mark and Luke, and as forming the crown of thorns, in John xix, 2, 5. The word is used in as general a sense as "thorn" is with us, and therefore it would be incor- rect to confine it to any one species of plant in all the above passages, though, no doubt, some particular thorny plant indigenous in the neighborhood of Jerusa- lem would be selected for plaiting the crown of thorns. Hasselquist says of the Nabca Paliurus A thenai of Al- pinus, now Zizyphus Spina Christi, "In all probability, this is the tree which afforded the crown of thorns put upon the head of Christ. It is very common in the East. This plant is very fit for the purpose, for it has many small and sharp spines, which are well adapted to give pain : the crown might easily be made of these soft, round, and pliant branches ; and what, in ray opin- ion, seems to be the greater proof is that the leaves very much resemble those of ivy, as they are of a very deep glossy green. Perhaps the enemies of Christ would have a plant somewhat resembling that with which emperors and generals were crowned, that there might be a calumny even in the punishment." This plant is the nebk or dhoni of the Arabs, which grows abundantly in Syria and Palestine, both in wet and dry places. Dr. Hooker noticed a specimen nearly forty feet high, spread- ing as widely as a good Quercus ilex in England. The nebk fringes the banks of the Jordan, and flourishes on the marshy Ijanks of the Lake of Tiberias; it forms either a shrub or a tree, and, indeed, is quite common all over the country. It grows to the height of six feet or more, and yields a slightly acid fruit, about the size of the sloe, which is eaten by the Egyptians and Arabs. Like its cognate, Paliurus, it abounds in flexible twigs, which are armed with a profusion of sharp, strong