Hebrew word · H329

אָטָד

'atad

bramble

A thorny shrub. The word is rare: it appears only here (vv. 14–15), in the place name Goren ha-Atad, 'threshing floor of the thornbush' (Gen 50:10–11), and in Ps 58:9 (Heb. v. 10), where thorns burn quickly under cooking pots. Botanists of biblical plants (e.g.

Appears 6 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) bramble, thorn, buckthorn

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Judges 9:15

Range of meaning

A thorny shrub. The word is rare: it appears only here (vv. 14–15), in the place name Goren ha-Atad, 'threshing floor of the thornbush' (Gen 50:10–11), and in Ps 58:9 (Heb. v. 10), where thorns burn quickly under cooking pots. Botanists of biblical plants (e.g. Zohary) and HALOT usually identify it as the boxthorn (Lycium europaeum), a dense, spiny, waist-high shrub common on field edges and used for hedges and firewood. Some suggest a buckthorn or the Christ-thorn jujube.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'bramble' makes many English readers picture a blackberry cane. BSB/NIV/ESV 'thornbush' is closer. Either way the English loses the specific traits a farmer knew: a low, spiny, fruitless (for people) scrub that gives no shade and catches fire easily.

How it drifted

'Bramble' in modern British and American English mostly means Rubus, the blackberry, which has a useful fruit. That blurs the point that the atad is worthless as a food plant.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX translates it ῥάμνος (rhamnos, buckthorn/thorny shrub); the Vulgate has rhamnus. Ps 58:9 and Eccl 7:6 (with a different word for thorns) show that thorn fires were proverbial for flaring up fast and hot. Exod 22:6 assumes that fire 'catches in thorns' and then spreads to standing grain.

From the study of Psalm 58:9

Range of meaning

A thorny shrub, often identified with buckthorn (Rhamnus) or boxthorn (Lycium), common in the dry scrub of the Levant. It appears in Judges 9:14–15, where the worthless "bramble" offers shade and threatens fire, and in the place-name Goren ha-Atad, "threshing floor of the bramble" (Gen 50:10–11).

Against the English

Translated "thorns" (KJV, WEB, BSB) or "bramble" (YLT). Nothing much is lost either way.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint: rhamnos (buckthorn), the same word it uses in Judges 9. In Jotham's fable the bramble is the worthless king who brings fire, which makes it an interesting echo in a psalm about corrupt rulers. The echo may or may not be intended.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 50:10 הָאָטָ֗ד <the> Atad

    When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, which is across the Jordan, they lamented and wailed loudly, and Joseph mourned for his father seven days.

    Here: As a common noun the word means a thorny shrub (Judges 9:14–15; Psalm 58:9). The Hebrew has "the" in front of it, so the place-name probably meant "Bramble Threshing-floor" or "Threshing-floor of the Thornbush."

  2. Genesis 50:11 הָֽאָטָ֔ד <the> Atad

    When the Canaanites of the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a solemn ceremony of mourning by the Egyptians.” Thus the place across the Jordan is called Abel-mizraim.

Judges · 3

  1. Judges 9:14 הָאָטָ֑ד the thorn bush

    Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and reign over us.’

  2. Judges 9:15 הָאָטָד֮ הָ֣אָטָ֔ד the thorn bush

    But the thornbush replied, ‘If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and find refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’

    Here: A low, spiny, scrubby shrub of the Levant, most likely the boxthorn (Lycium europaeum). It bears no useful fruit, gives no real shade and burns readily: the last and worst candidate for king.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 58:9 אָטָ֑ד a thorn bush

    Before your pots can feel the burning thorns—whether green or dry—He will sweep them away.

    Here: A thorny shrub, the "bramble" of Jotham's fable (Judges 9:14–15). Dry thorn-brush was cheap fuel that flared fast and hot. Here it is the fire under the pot: "before your pots feel the bramble," that is, its heat.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.