H2312 H2312
brier, thorn-bush; a prickly plant used in comparisons of worthlessness or obstruction
This term refers to a brier or thornbush, a prickly, troublesome plant. In Proverbs 15:19, 'the way of the sluggard is like a brier-hedge'—overgrown and obstructed, reflecting the self-imposed difficulties of laziness. In Micah 7:4, the prophet laments that 'the best of them is like a brier,' meaning even the most upright are as troublesome as thorns. The word is related to Aramaic and Arabic terms for thorny plants, and it functions as a negative simile for corruption, difficulty, or moral decay.
Senses
1. sense 1 — A noun for a thorny brier or hedge-plant, employed in negative moral comparisons. Proverbs uses it to depict the self-inflicted obstacles of the lazy—their path is choked with thorns because they do not clear the way. Micah deploys it more grimly: the most righteous person in corrupt society is still like a brier—painful, troublesome, fallen far from the ideal. The plant imagery draws on agricultural realities (thorns as curses, impediments) and presses them into ethical critique. Briers are what remains when cultivation fails. 2×
AR["شَوْكٍ", "كَالشَّوْكِ"]·ben["কাঁটার", "কাঁটার-মতো"]·DE["[חדק]", "[כחדק]"]·EN["like-brier", "thorns"]·FR["épine", "חדק"]·heb["חדק", "כ-חדק"]·HI["काँटों-की", "जैसा-काँटा"]·ID["duri", "seperti-semak-berduri"]·IT["[כחדק]", "thorns"]·jav["eri", "kados-eri"]·KO["가시나무-의", "처럼-가시"]·PT["como-espinho", "espinhos"]·RU["как-терновник", "терниев"]·ES["como-espino", "espinos"]·SW["kama-miba", "miiba"]·TR["diken-gibi", "dikenlerin"]·urd["جھاڑی-کی-طرح", "کانٹےدار"]
Related Senses
H3754 1. vineyard, cultivated grape plot (92×)H0730 1. cedar tree or wood (73×)H1612 1. vine, grapevine (55×)H3293a 1. forest, wood, thicket (55×)H5560 1. fine flour (53×)H5193 1. plant vegetation (48×)H2232 1. sow seed, plant crops (41×)H1715 1. grain, cereal crop (40×)H7114b 1. reap, harvest grain (36×)H2132 1. olive tree (34×)H8184 1. barley (34×)H2406 1. wheat (grain crop) (30×)H7070 1. reed, cane (plant) (30×)H7848 1. acacia (28×)H8328 1. root of a plant (28×)H8384 1. fig tree (25×)H5488 1. reeds, rushes (in 'Sea of Reeds') (24×)G0290 1. a vineyard (23×)G2325 1. reap, harvest a crop (21×)G4687 1. sow seed, plant (21×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† חֵ֫דֶק n.[m.] brier (NH id.; Aramaic חִדְקָא Löwp. 147, No. 104; cf. Arabic حَدَقٌ a kind of nightshare, v. Lane532);—טוֹבָם כְּחֵדֶק Mi 7:4 the best of them (si vera l.) is like the brier (‖ יָשָׁר מִמְּסוּכָה); דֶּרֶךְ עָצֵל כִּמְשֻׂכַת חָ֑דֶק Pr 15:19 the way of a sluggard is like a brier-hedge.