256 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE BRAMBLE. 



THE word occurs in Judges ix. 14, 15, and in Psa. Iviii. 1(X 

 In the latter passage it is rendered thorn; in the former, bramble. 

 It is armed with thorns ; its branches are supple and pliant ; and its 

 leaf is of a deep green, like that of the ivy. It is certain that such 

 a tree is required as may well denote a tyrant ; one who, instead of 

 affording shade and shelter to such as seek his protection, strips 

 them of their property, as a bramble bush does the sheep which 

 come near it, or lie down under its shadow. There is a passage in 

 Holland's translation of Plutarch admirably illustrative of this sub- 

 ject : * Whereupon is thought that he [Demosthenes] forsook his 

 colors and fled; now as he made haste away, there chanced a bram- 

 ble to take hold of his cassock behinde, whereat he turned back 

 and said unto the bramble, ' Save my life, and take my ransome."* 

 Folio 567. 



NETTLES. 



THERE are two different words rendered ; nettles' in the English 

 Bible : They occur in (Prov. xxiv. 31, Isa. xxxiv. 13. 

 and in (Jobxxx. 7, Prov. xxiv. 31, ZepiJ. ii. 9.) 



