ALVIN JOHNSON looks at Biblical mentions of the shamir – found in the Book of Isaiah…
The shamir is translated as ‘briar’ in the NIV.
Shamir is linked to the Hebrew word ‘shamar’, which means to keep, watch and guard. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance makes the comment that the word guard is in the sense of “to hedge about (as with thorns)”. Thorny plants were used by shepherds out in the fields as makeshift fences to guard their flocks at night.
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It is difficult to identify specifically what type of plant the shamir was, possibly it is a general term to plants which had thorns and so were useful in keeping stock contained while out in open country at night.
It is the prophet Isaiah who mentions the shamir a number of times. From the context of the passages below, it was clearly a problem plant, but one which could be burnt easily.
“I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside…I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and shamir [briers] and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.” – Isaiah 5:1-6
“In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns. Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with shamir [briers] and thorns. As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.” – Isaiah 7:23-25
“Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised. Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes shamir [briers] and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke. By the wrath of the Lord Almighty the land will be scorched and the people will be fuel for the fire…” – Isaiah 9:17-19
“The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his shamir briers.” – Isaiah 10:17
“Sing about a fruitful vineyard:
I, the Lord, watch over it;
I water it continually.
I guard it day and night
so that no one may harm it.
I am not angry.
If only there were shamir (briers) and thorns confronting me!
I would march against them in battle;
I would set them all on fire.” – Isaiah 27:2-4
“Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vines
and for the land of my people,
a land overgrown with thorns and shamir [briers] –
yes, mourn for all houses of merriment
and for this city of revelry.
The fortress will be abandoned,
the noisy city deserted;
citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever…” – Isaiah 32:13-14
This is an edited excerpt from Alvin Johnson’s iBook ‘Biblical Flora’, 2017. The book is available for free download on iTunes. A teacher’s edition is also available for purchase.
