'Thorns' in the Bible

“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;And you shall eat the plants of the field.

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those you let remain of them will be like pricks in your eyes and like thorns in your sides, and they will attack you in the land in which you live.

know and understand with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

So I also said, ‘I will not drive your enemies out before you; but they will be like thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’”

Gideon said, “For that [response], when the Lord has handed over Zebah and Zalmunna to me, I will thrash your bodies with the thorns and briars of the wilderness.”

He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briars, and with them he punished the men of Succoth.

“But the wicked and worthless are all to be thrown away like thorns,Because they cannot be taken with the hand;

“The hungry devour his harvestAnd take it even [when it grows] among the thorns;The trap opens for [his] wealth.

Before your cooking pots can feel the fire of thorns [burning under them as fuel],He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning ones alike.

They swarmed around me like bees;They flare up and are extinguished like a fire of thorns;In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off.

The way of the lazy is like a hedge of thorns [it pricks, lacerates, and entangles him],But the way [of life] of the upright is smooth and open like a highway.

Thorns and snares are in the way of the obstinate [for their lack of honor and their wrong-doing traps them];He who guards himself [with godly wisdom] will be far from them and avoid the consequences they suffer.

And, behold, it was all overgrown with thorns,And nettles were covering its surface,And its stone wall was broken down.

For like the crackling of [burning] thorn bushes under a pot,So is the laughter of the fool;And this too is vanity (futility).

(The Bridegroom)“Like the lily among the thorns,So are you, my darling, among the maidens.”

“I will turn it into a wasteland;It will not be pruned or cultivated,But briars and thorns will come up.I will also command the clouds not to rain on it.”

And it will come to pass in that day, in every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be briars and thorns.

People will come there [to hunt] with arrows and with bows because all the land will be briars and thorns.

As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the pick and the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place where oxen are pastured and where sheep tread.

For wickedness burns like a fire;It consumes briars and thorns,It even sets the forest thickets ablaze;And it swirls upward in a column of smoke.

And the Light of Israel will become a fire and His Holy One a flame,And it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and briars in a single day.

“I have no wrath.Should anyone give Me briars and thorns in battle,I would step on them, I would set them all on fire.

For the land of my people growing over with thorns and briars—Yes, [mourn] for all the houses of joy in the joyous city.

“The peoples will be burned to lime,Like thorns cut down which are burned in the fire.

Thorns will come up in its fortified palaces,Nettles and brambles in its fortified cities;It will be a haunt for jackals,An abode for ostriches.

For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem,“Plow your uncultivated ground [for a season],And do not sow among thorns.

“They have planted wheat but have reaped thorns;They have exhausted themselves but without profit.So be ashamed of your harvestBecause of the fierce and raging anger of the Lord.”

And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words; though briars and thorns are all around you and you sit among scorpions, neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house.

“Therefore, behold, I [the Lord God] will hedge up her way with thorns;And I will build a wall against her [shutting off her way] so that she cannot find her paths.

For behold, they will go away because of devastation and destruction;Egypt will gather them up, Memphis will bury them.Weeds will take over their treasures of silver;Thorns will grow in their tents.

By their fruit you will recognize them [that is, by their contrived doctrine and self-focus]. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

Other seed fell among thorns, and thorns came up and choked them out.

And the one on whom seed was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the worries and distractions of the world and the deceitfulness [the superficial pleasures and delight] of riches choke the word, and it yields no fruit.

And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a reed in His right hand [as a scepter]. Kneeling before Him, they ridiculed Him, saying, “Hail (rejoice), King of the Jews!”

And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,

They dressed Him up in [a ranking Roman officer’s robe of] purple, and after twisting [together] a crown of thorns, they placed it on Him;

Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out.

The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, but as they go on their way they are suffocated with the anxieties and riches and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe around Him;

but if it persistently produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.