Hebrew word · H6796

צָנִין

velitzninim

thorn

Thorns or prickles. The word occurs only here and in Num 33:55. A related word, tsinnim, means 'thorns' or 'hooks' (Prov 22:5; Amos 4:2).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

thorn, prick

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 Joshua 23:13

Range of meaning

Thorns or prickles. The word occurs only here and in Num 33:55. A related word, tsinnim, means 'thorns' or 'hooks' (Prov 22:5; Amos 4:2).

Against the English

'Thorns in your eyes' is literal and accurate. Readers sometimes merge it with the familiar 'thorn in the side' (from Num 33:55 / Judg 2:3 and later Paul's 'thorn in the flesh'). Joshua deliberately puts the thorns in the eyes.

Used elsewhere in the period

Num 33:55 has 'barbs (sikkim) in your eyes and thorns (tsaninim) in your sides'. Joshua reuses the rare word in a new arrangement, which shows he is consciously quoting Moses' warning.

From the study of Numbers 33:55

Range of meaning

Thorn, prickle. Found only here and in Joshua 23:13, where Joshua's farewell speech reworks this verse: the remaining nations "shall be… a scourge on your sides and thorns in your eyes" (the eyes and sides are reversed).

Against the English

"Thorns" in all major versions, which is accurate. The issue is what the English idiom has become (see drift).

How it drifted

The phrase "thorn in my side" became an English idiom through the KJV of this verse and Judges 2:3, and over time it softened to mean a nuisance.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has bolides, "darts, javelins", which turns the plant image into a weapon. That fits the next verb ("they will be hostile"). Judges 2:3 almost certainly alludes to the same warning (see textual notes).

Where it appears

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 33:55 וְלִצְנִינִ֖ם and <into> pricks

    But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you settle.

    Here: A second sharp-plant word, parallel to the first. It is used only here and in Joshua 23:13, which echoes this verse.

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 23:13 וְלִצְנִנִ֣ים and <into> thorns

    know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.

    Here: Sharp thorns or barbs. The word appears only here and in Num 33:55, the warning that this verse echoes.

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