What is a "broom bush"? (Psalm 120:4)
4
He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows,
with burning coals of the broom bush.
Psalms 120:1 - 7
ESV - 1 In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. 2 Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.
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Tim Maas
Supporter
Other translations of the verse cited in the question (as found on the biblehub.com website at https://biblehub.com/psalms/120-4.htm) identify the "broom bush" as a juniper -- a variety of plant used in that section of the world to make charcoal for fire or heating -- a use indicated by the verse.
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
My ISBE (set of the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) says, "The rothem was doubtless the shrub called by the Arabs ratam, a shrub which casts so little shadow that it would be used for shade only when there was no other refuge from the desert sun, and would be eaten only in case of the direst necessity, but which could be burned and used for the making of charcoal."
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