NETTLES (חָרוּל, H3017, thorny shrub; קִמּﯴשׂ, H7853, thistles).

Found five times, twice as קִמּﯴשׂ, H7853, and three times as חָרוּל, H3017.

In Job 30:7 it says: “Under the nettles they huddle together,” so the word חָרוּל, H3017, as “nettle” is not really appropriate, but nettles in Hosea 9:6, i.e. “nettles shall possess” them, is much more sensible—the word here is קִמּﯴשׂ, H7853.

The nettles of Job 30:7 are prob. Acanthus syriacus—prickly, tall-growing perennials, which grow as weeds in Eastern countries. The species might have been A. spinosus, but it is A. syriacus which is commonly seen in Pal. These plants do grow tall enough to give some protection and shade to animals.

In the case of “possessed by nettles” (Zeph 2:9), the tr. could easily be just “weeds” so as to give the desolation sense to the text.

The nettles and brambles that come up in the fortresses (Isa 34:13), and the “Nettles shall possess” of Hosea 9:6, are prob. the plants called nettles today—either the small nettle, Urtica urens; the great nettle, Urica dioica; or the Rom. nettle, Urtica piluliflera. All these nettles are common weeds of gardens and fields. They are seen today, growing in and around ruins. Therefore, they fit into the picture of Isaiah 34 and Hosea 9.