Thistle

Heb. hoah (2 Kgs 14:9; Job 31:40). In Job 41:2 the Hebrew word is rendered “thorn,” but in the Revised Version “hook.” It is also rendered “thorn” in 2 Chr 33:11; Prov 26:9; Song 2:2; “brambles” in Isa 34:13. It is supposed to be a variety of the wild plum-tree, but by some it is regarded as the common thistle, of which there are many varieties in Palestine.

Heb. dardar, meaning “a plant growing luxuriantly” (Gen 3:18; Hos 10:8); Gr. tribolos, “a triple point” (Matt 7:16; Heb 6:8, “brier,” R.V. “thistle”). This was probably the star-thistle, called by botanists Centaurea calcitropa, or “caltrops,” a weed common in corn-fields.