A collective term for reeds or rushes growing in marshy areas, borrowed from Egyptian like many flora terms. The word appears in Pharaoh's dream where cattle graze among the reed grass by the Nile, and in Job's wisdom literature questioning whether rushes can grow without water. Hosea's reference is textually uncertain, where many scholars read a plural form instead. These marsh plants symbolized Egypt's riverine abundance and served as a natural metaphor for dependence on water.