We have about twenty names in Hebrew and Greek for thorny and prickly plants in the Bible, and at least seventy or eighty thorny and prickly plants in the Bible lands. Trying to match them is even more hopeless than it is for flowers. In some cases the word was probably not attached to a specific plant in the first place. But we do not even know for sure which ones are generic. If the frequency of use implies generality, the Hebrew word qots and the Greek word akantha are the most general words for thorny and prickly plants.
In most cases we simply don’t know which of the many spiny plants they could refer to. We have already included the boxthorn (Lycium europaeum) and Christ thorn (Ziziphus spina-christi) in our discussion on wild trees and shrubs (see Boxthorn). Here we deal with various others. Whatever we may know about these Bible plants is based on two sources of information: 1) paleo-botany, that is, studies of what plants probably grew in the Middle East in ancient times, and 2) cognate words in related languages. We look at cognates because, even after Hebrew passed out of common usage for some centuries, the Arabic and Syriac names, often similar, may have carried on into the present, giving us clues to what the Hebrew may have referred to.
Up to this point we have not included discussion of plants used as place names or personal names, but it is worth noting that thorns have a place in these categories. For example, in GEN 4:23 “Adah” and “Zillah,” the wives of Lamech, are the names of thorny plants. That this may have affected their personality and behavior is left to the reader to decide. In any case, it would not have been missed by Hebrew hearers of the Lamech story. Likewise, the Hebrew name “Shamir” means “thorny,” although the word is rendered “diamond” or “adamant” in some contexts (for example, JER 17:1). The Hebrew word qots, which means “thornbush,” occurs in the names Koz and Hakkoz, who are men mentioned in 1 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
Biologists make a sharp distinction between thorns, spines, and prickles. Thorns evolve from branches and spines from leaves. Prickles are usually tiny projections on leaves, especially on smaller plants. In English we also use “thorn” to refer to a thorn-bearing tree or shrub. Thistles are flowering plants from various genera having leaves with sharp prickles on the edges. Most of them are from the Asteraceae family. Nettles belong to the genus Urtica and almost all have stinging hairs on their stems and leaves. The sting is caused by a toxin secreted by the plant. We will comment on the technical meanings of “brier” and “bramble” below.