6796. tsanin
Lexical Summary
tsanin: Thorn, thornbush

Original Word: צָנִין
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: tsaniyn
Pronunciation: tsaw-neen'
Phonetic Spelling: (tsaw-neen')
KJV: thorn
NASB: thorns
Word Origin: [from the same as H6791 (צֵּן - thorns)]

1. a thorn

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
thorn

Or tsanin {tsaw-neen'}; from the same as tsen; a thorn -- thorn.

see HEBREW tsen

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from the same as tsen
Definition
a thorn, prick
NASB Translation
thorns (2).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
[צָנִין] noun [masculine] thorn, prick; — plural צְנִּינִּם Numbers 33:55 (P; "" שִׂכִּים), צְנִנִים Joshua 23:13 (D; both figurative).

II. צנן (√ of following; Late Hebrew צָנַן be cold, so Jewish-Aramaic צְנַן; ᵑ7 צִינְתָא cold).

Topical Lexicon
Definition and Essential Image

צָנִין presents the vivid picture of a sharply pointed thorn or barb that pierces and irritates flesh. In Scripture it is never a neutral item of nature but a deliberate metaphor for relentless provocation, pain, and spiritual peril.

Occurrences and Immediate Context

1. Numbers 33:55 warns the Israelites on the plains of Moab that any Canaanites left in the land “will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land where you settle”.
2. Joshua 23:13 reprises the warning near the end of Joshua’s life, adding that these peoples will be “snares and traps for you, a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes until you perish from this good land”.

Both texts sit at critical turning points: Moses’ final instructions before entry, and Joshua’s final charge after conquest. In each case צָנִין anchors an ultimatum—either purge what opposes the covenant or endure incessant affliction from it.

Historical Background

The generation under Moses was poised to inherit Canaan; the generation under Joshua was established there. Yet the threat remained identical: tolerated idolatry would outlive initial victories and turn into chronic misery. Judges, Kings, and Chronicles record the precise outworking of the warning. Repeated cycles of oppression, intermarriage, and idolatry validate that the “thorn” motif was not hyperbole but prophetic certainty.

Theological Significance

1. Holiness and Separation: צָנִין underscores the uncompromising demand that God’s people remain distinct. Partial obedience is exposed as dangerous self-deception.
2. Consequences of Compromise: The thorn does not kill outright; it irritates, festers, and ultimately incapacitates. Likewise, tolerated sin corrodes worship, community, and national stability.
3. Covenant Faithfulness: The warnings carry a judicial tone. The covenant-keeping LORD allows the very objects of compromise to discipline His people, vindicating His righteousness while calling them back to repentance.

Prophetic and Eschatological Echoes

The thorn imagery anticipates later prophetic language where foreign powers (Assyria, Babylon) become rods in God’s hand. Yet it also points forward to ultimate deliverance. Isaiah envisions a restored land where “instead of the thorn bush the juniper will grow” (Isaiah 55:13), suggesting a future reversal of צָנִין’s curse through messianic redemption.

New Testament Resonance

Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7) employs a different Greek term, yet the conceptual link is plain: God may permit persistent affliction to preserve humility and dependence. The apostle’s experience illustrates on a personal level what Israel experienced nationally—divine grace operating through the thorn to accomplish holy purposes.

Practical Ministry Applications

1. Spiritual Vigilance: Congregations must not leave cultural idols undisturbed. What begins as peaceful coexistence soon stabs vision (“eyes”) and mobility (“sides”).
2. Church Discipline: Loving confrontation removes barbs before they embed deeper. Numbers 33 models proactive action; Joshua 23 warns of reactive sorrow.
3. Persevering Grace: Even when thorns remain, believers cling to God’s promise of sufficient grace (2 Corinthians 12:9). The presence of a thorn need not signal divine abandonment but often divine craftsmanship.

Summary

צָנִין serves as Scripture’s concise emblem of the misery produced by half-hearted obedience. From the plains of Moab to the days of the judges, and from Israel’s national history to individual Christian experience, the thorn reminds God’s people that what is not put to death will invariably become a source of torment—and that only steadfast fidelity and divine grace can remove or redeem the sting.

Forms and Transliterations
וְלִצְנִינִ֖ם וְלִצְנִנִ֣ים ולצנינם ולצננים velitzniNim wə·liṣ·ni·nîm wə·liṣ·nî·nim wəliṣninîm wəliṣnînim
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Numbers 33:55
HEB: לְשִׂכִּים֙ בְּעֵ֣ינֵיכֶ֔ם וְלִצְנִינִ֖ם בְּצִדֵּיכֶ֑ם וְצָרֲר֣וּ
NAS: in your eyes and as thorns in your sides,
KJV: in your eyes, and thorns in your sides,
INT: pricks your eyes thorns your sides will trouble

Joshua 23:13
HEB: וּלְשֹׁטֵ֤ט בְּצִדֵּיכֶם֙ וְלִצְנִנִ֣ים בְּעֵינֵיכֶ֔ם עַד־
NAS: on your sides and thorns in your eyes,
KJV: in your sides, and thorns in your eyes,
INT: whip your sides and thorns your eyes until

2 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 6796
2 Occurrences


wə·liṣ·nî·nim — 2 Occ.

6795
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