Hedge

Hedge. The Hebrew words, thus rendered, denote simply that which surrounds or encloses, whether it be a stone wall, geder, Pro 24:31; Eze 42:10, or a fence of other materials. The stone walls which surround the sheepfolds of modern Palestine are frequently crowned with sharp thorns.

geder and mesukah. It was customary to surround vineyards with a wall of loose stones or mud, often crowned with thorns to keep off wild beasts; so Israel fenced by God (Psa 80:12; Mat 21:33). The haunt of serpents (Ecc 10:8; "whoso breaketh an hedge a serpent shall bite him," i.e., maliciously pulling down his neighbour’s hedge wall he brings on himself his own punishment; Deu 19:14; Amo 5:19), and of locusts in cold weather (Nah 3:17), "which camp in the hedges in the cold day (the cold taking away their power of flight), but when the sun ariseth ... fleeaway;" so the Assyrian hosts shall suddenly disappear, not leaving a trace behind.

Maundrell describes the walls round the gardens of Damascus, they are built of great pieces of earth hardened in the sun, placed on one another in two rows, making a cheap, expeditious, and in that dry country a durable wall. Isaiah (Isa 5:5) distinguishes the "hedge" (mesukah) and the "wall" (geder); the prickly tangled "hedge" being an additional fence (Mic 7:4). Pro 15:19, "the way of the slothful is as an hedge of thorns"; it seems to lain as if a hedge of thorns were in his way (Pro 20:4; Pro 22:13; Pro 26:13), whereas all is clear to the willing. The narrow path between the hedges of vineyards is distinct from the "highways" (Luk 14:23; Num 22:24).

HEDGE.—This word belongs to the vocabulary of the parables of Jesus. It occurs in that of the Vineyard (Mat 21:33, Mar 12:1), and in that of the Great Supper (Luk 14:23).

1. Literal application.—The hedge is a detail in the outfit of a vineyard, one of many other properties (Mat 21:33 ||) in such a possession. It is a feature in the landscape of Palestine in the other case (‘highways and hedges,’ Luk 14:23). There is a connexion between the uses and the associations of the word. The contour of the land is controlled by the tillage of the soil. Vines need hedges. The word (φραγμός) used for a hedge in the Gospels ‘denotes a fence of any kind, whether hedge, or wall, or palings’ (Hastings, D^{B [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.]} ii. 340^a). Another word might rather have called up a stone wall. φραγμός includes all the different kinds of hedges to be found in a country so furrowed with hills and valleys as is Palestine.

2. The parabolical use of the ‘hedge’ is rooted in the education of Israel. God made sea and desert a hedge of Palestine. Cf. Ellerton’s hymn—

‘Praise to our God, whose hounteous hand

Prepared of old our glorious land,

A garden fenced with silver sea.’ …

He hedged the people. He gave them individuals, institutions, the whole national economy, as hedges to protect their life and to restrain it. Enemies raided the land and broke down the hedges (Psalms 79, 80). Patriots and prophets saw and sang their gaps, and did their best to repair the historic institutional hedges. The tragedy of Jesus and the hedges was that He wanted them rooted up, while the chief priests hated the idea of their removal (Mat 21:45). Through the tragedy gleams the philanthropic import of the hedge (Luk 14:23). The eye of love sees humanity submerged. ‘Them also he would bring.’ He would make hedge-row people happy. He had seen their misery as He stole to silent midnight prayer, up the hillsides with their mosaic of fields, along whose hedges and through the gaps of which He passed to pray to the Father in secret. It is humanity’s ragged regiment whom He would see housed by the compulsion of ‘the love (Luk 14:23) that will not let them go.’

Literature.—Geikie, Life of Christ, i. ch. 17; Thomson, Land and Book, ch. 14; Philochristus, chs. 1–3 for ‘Hedge of the Law.’

John R. Legge.

HEDGE.—(1) mesûkah, a thorn hedge (Isa 5:5). (2) gâdçr or gedçrah—probably a stone wall (Psa 89:40 etc.). (3) phragmos (Gr.), Mat 21:33, Mar 12:1, Luk 14:23—a ‘partition’ of any kind.

E. W. G. Masterman.

hej:

(1) מסוּכה, m^eṣūkhāh, “a thorn hedge,” only in Mic 7:4.; משׂכּה, m^esukkāh, “a hedge” (Isa 5:5); משׂכת חדק, m^esukhath ḥādheḳ, “a hedge of thorns” (Pro 15:19).

(2) גדר, gādhēr, and גּדרה, g^edhērāh, translated “hedges” in the Revised Version (British and American) only in Psa 89:40, elsewhere “fence.” GEDERAH (which see) in the Revised Version margin is translated “hedges” (1Ch 4:23).

(3) נעצוּץ, na‛ăcūc, “thorn-hedges” (Isa 7:19).

(4) φραγμός, phragmós, translated “hedge” (Mat 21:33; Mar 12:1; Luk 14:23); “partition” in Eph 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 g^edhērāh 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.

Job 1:10 (b) This figure represents GOD’s protection and care for Job, His servant.

Psa 80:12 (b) This is an illustration of the way GOD took care of Israel, and hindered her enemies from overcoming her. He removed His protection later on because of her disobedience and wickedness.

Pro 15:19 (a) The word describes the hateful and hurtful ways of some people who thus injure and harm others. The wicked words, ways and works of the ungodly are as thorns and briers in the lives of those they intend to injure.

Ecc 10:8 (b) By this figure we understand that if one breaks down the fence of the neighbor or in any way trespasses on his neighbor’s rights, he will be made to suffer for it.

Isa 5:5 (b) This is a picture of the protective measures taken by GOD to preserve Israel from their enemies when they came to dwell in the promised land. The hedge is the fence that is mentioned in verse 2. When Israel became disobedient and rebelled against GOD’s law, He removed every hindrance and His protecting arm, and gave them over to their enemies. (See also Psa 80:12; Psa 89:40; Mat 21:33; Mar 12:1).

Job 3:23 (a) This represents those hindrances which GOD puts around a man to close him in and prevent progress. (See Lam 3:7).

Jer 49:3 (c) We may learn from this that the enemies of GOD will seek hiding places from GOD and from His anger poured out. They find, however, that these places of refuge prove to be places of thorns, briers and hardship. (See Nah 3:17).

Eze 13:5 (a) By this figure we understand that the prophets were not protecting GOD’s people as they should by proper teaching, leading and example.

Eze 22:30 (a) This unusual passage teaches us that while GOD gives divine interference in order to protect and guard His people, He also needs godly men who will stand with Him and on His side to prevent the entrance of evil doctrines, evil programs, and evil teachings among the people of GOD.

Hos 2:6 (a) This type reveals that GOD will surround the people with troubles, sorrows, griefs and pains so that they can hardly escape and must be punished.

Luk 14:23 (b) This type represents the difficult places in our cities and villages where it is hard to find people for the Lord, and one is quite apt to have his feelings hurt, and sometimes his body as well, he seeks to reach hearts for CHRIST in the ungodly districts of the city.

A hedge is a row of closely planted shrubs or low-growing trees that forms a fence or boundary. In Bible times, people used several different plants to create hedges.

One common hedge plant was the Palestine buckthorn (Rhamnus palaestina). This plant grows as a shrub or small tree reaching 0.9 to 1.8 meters (3 to 6 feet) tall. It has velvety, thorny branches, evergreen leaves, and clusters of small flowers that bloom in March and April. The Palestine buckthorn grows in thickets and on hillsides from Syria through Israel and the surrounding areas to Arabia and the Sinai.

Two other prickly shrubs widely used as hedges in Israel and the surrounding areas were the Jericho balsam (Balanites aegyptiaca) and the European boxthorn (Lycium europaeum). These plants may be the ones referred to in Proverbs 15:19 and Hosea 2:6.

See Balm; Boxthorn.

Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.