Bible Encyclopedias
Hedge

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hej :

(1) מסוּכה , meṣūkhāh , "a thorn hedge," only in Micah 7:4 .; משׂכּה , mesukkāh , "a hedge" (Isaiah 5:5 ); משׂכת חדק , mesukhath ḥādheḳ , "a hedge of thorns" (Proverbs 15:19 ).

(2) גדר , gādhēr , and גּדרה , gedhērāh , translated "hedges" in the Revised Version (British and American) only in Psalm 89:40 , elsewhere "fence." GEDERAH (which see) in the Revised Version margin is translated "hedges" (1 Chronicles 4:23 ).

(3) נעצוּץ , na‛ăcūc , "thorn-hedges" ( Isaiah 7:19 ).

(4) φραγμός , phragmós , translated "hedge" ( Matthew 21:33; Mark 12:1; Luke 14:23 ); "partition" in Ephesians 2:14 , which is its literal meaning. In the Septuagint it is the usual equivalent of the above Hebrew words.

Loose stone walls without mortar are the usual "fences" around fields in Palestine, and this is what gādher and gedhērāh signify in most passages. Hedges made of cut thorn branches or thorny bushes are very common in the plains and particularly in the Jordan valley.