H5572 H5572
A thorny bush or bramble; the burning bush from which God spoke to Moses at Horeb.
A masculine noun referring to a thorny bush, most likely a blackberry bramble (rubus fruticosus), famous as the bush that burned without being consumed when God appeared to Moses at Mount Horeb. All six occurrences cluster in Exodus 3:2-4, where Moses turns aside to see the 'great sight' of the bush (seneh) aflame yet unharmed, and Deuteronomy 33:16 invokes 'the one who dwelt in the bush' as a blessing formula. The word's concentration in this single theophany makes it virtually a proper noun in Hebrew consciousness. Spanish 'zarza' (bramble) and German 'Busch' (bush) both identify it as a common thorny shrub -- the theological significance lies in what happened at it, not in the plant itself.
Senses
1. the bush — A thorny bush or bramble, identified as the site of God's appearance to Moses at Horeb. Exodus 3:2-4 uses the word five times in rapid succession as Moses observes the bush burning without being consumed, approaches it, and hears God's voice from within it. Deuteronomy 33:16 recalls this theophany in Moses' final blessing, invoking 'the favor of the one dwelling in the bush.' The likely identification is the blackberry bramble (rubus fruticosus), a common thorny shrub of the Sinai region. Spanish 'zarza' (which also gives 'zarzamora,' blackberry) and French 'buisson' (bush, as in 'buisson ardent,' burning bush) preserve the botanical ordinariness of the plant that became Scripture's most famous shrub. 6×
AR["الْعَلَّيْقَةِ", "الْعُلَّيْقَةُ", "الْعُلَّيْقَةِ", "وَ-الْعُلَّيْقَةُ"]·ben["ও-ঝোপ", "ঝোপ", "ঝোপে", "ঝোপের"]·DE["der-Busch", "der-bush", "und-der-Busch"]·EN["and-the-bush", "the-bush"]·FR["et-le-buisson", "le-buisson", "le-bush"]·heb["ה-סנה", "ו-ה-סנה", "סנה"]·HI["और-झाड़ी", "झाड़ी", "झाड़ी-के", "झाड़ी-में"]·ID["dan-semak-duri", "di-semak-duri", "semak-duri"]·IT["e-il-cespuglio", "il-bush", "il-cespuglio"]·jav["grumbul", "lan-grumbul"]·KO["그-떨기나무가", "그-떨기나무의", "그러나-그-떨기나무는", "떨기나무"]·PT["a-sarça", "e-a-sarça", "sarça"]·RU["а-куст", "в-кусте", "куст", "куста"]·ES["la-zarza", "y-la-zarza"]·SW["kichaka", "kwenye-kichaka", "na-kichaka"]·TR["ve-çalı", "çalı", "çalılıkta", "çalının"]·urd["اور-جھاڑی", "جھاڑی", "جھاڑی-کی"]
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
† סְנֶה n.m. Ex 3:2 a thorny bush, perhaps black-berry bush (cf. LöwNo. 219; rubus fruticosus Linn.; Aramaic סַנְיָא, ܣܰܢܝܳܐ thorn-bush, Assyrian sinû, Meissner ZA vi. 293 blackberry bush (M. thinks Aramaic ס׳ loan-word from this); Arabic سَنًا senna, Lane 1449);—abs. ס׳ Ex 3:2(×2), 4, סְנֶ֑ה v 2, 3 (all E) Dt 33:16 (akin to E).