In biblical literature, the term "hedge" is used both literally and metaphorically, appearing in various contexts throughout the Scriptures. A hedge, in its literal sense, refers to a fence or boundary made of bushes or thorny plants, serving as protection or a barrier. Metaphorically, it signifies divine protection, separation, or judgment.

Literal Usage

In the agrarian society of ancient Israel, hedges were commonly used to protect vineyards and fields from animals and intruders. Isaiah 5:5 illustrates this usage: "Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled." Here, the hedge represents a protective barrier that, when removed, leaves the vineyard vulnerable to destruction.

Metaphorical Usage

1. Divine Protection: The concept of a hedge as divine protection is vividly portrayed in the book of Job. In Job 1:10 , Satan acknowledges God's protective hedge around Job: "Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land." This passage highlights the belief that God places a spiritual hedge around His faithful, safeguarding them from harm.

2. Separation and Judgment: Hedges also symbolize separation and divine judgment. In Ezekiel 13:5 , the prophets are criticized for failing to stand in the gap or build a hedge for the house of Israel: "You did not go up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the house of Israel, so that it would stand firm in battle on the day of the LORD." Here, the hedge represents a spiritual barrier that should have been erected to protect the people from impending judgment.

3. Moral and Spiritual Boundaries: Proverbs 15:19 uses the imagery of a hedge to describe the path of the sluggard: "The way of the sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway." This metaphor contrasts the difficulties faced by the lazy with the smooth path of the righteous, suggesting that moral and spiritual discipline creates a clear and unobstructed way of life.

Theological Implications

The imagery of a hedge in the Bible underscores the importance of divine protection and the consequences of its removal. It serves as a reminder of God's sovereignty and the need for spiritual vigilance. The hedge as a symbol of protection and separation calls believers to trust in God's providence while maintaining moral and spiritual boundaries in their lives.Hedge

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

1. (n.) A thicket of bushes, usually thorn bushes; especially, such a thicket planted as a fence between any two portions of land; and also any sort of shrubbery, as evergreens, planted in a line or as a fence; particularly, such a thicket planted round a field to fence it, or in rows to separate the parts of a garden.

2. (v. t.) To enclose or separate with a hedge; to fence with a thickly set line or thicket of shrubs or small trees; as, to hedge a field or garden.

3. (v. t.) To obstruct, as a road, with a barrier; to hinder from progress or success; -- sometimes with up and out.

4. (v. t.) To surround for defense; to guard; to protect; to hem (in).

5. (v. t.) To surround so as to prevent escape.

6. (v. i.) To shelter one's self from danger, risk, duty, responsibility, etc., as if by hiding in or behind a hedge; to skulk; to slink; to shirk obligations.

7. (v. i.) To reduce the risk of a wager by making a bet against the side or chance one has bet on.

8. (v. i.) To use reservations and qualifications in one's speech so as to avoid committing one's self to anything definite.

HEDGE

hej:

(1) mecukhah, "a thorn hedge," only in Micah 7:4.; mesukkah, "a hedge" (Isaiah 5:5); mesukhath chadheq, "a hedge of thorns" (Proverbs 15:19).

(2) gadher, and geherah, 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) na`atsuts, "thorn-hedges" (Isaiah 7:19).

(4) phragmos, 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 gadher and gedherah 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.

E. W. G. Masterman

5418. phragmos -- a fencing in, a fence
... a fencing in, a fence. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: phragmos
Phonetic Spelling: (frag-mos') Short Definition: a hedge, fence, partition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5418.htm - 6k

4060. peritithemi -- to place around
... to place around. From peri and tithemi; to place around; by implication, to present --
bestow upon, hedge round about, put about (on, upon), set about. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4060.htm - 7k

4534. mesukah -- a hedge
... 4533, 4534. mesukah. 4535 . a hedge. Transliteration: mesukah Phonetic
Spelling: (mes-oo-kaw') Short Definition: hedge. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/4534.htm - 6k

7753. suk -- to hedge or fence up or about
... 7752, 7753. suk. 7754 . to hedge or fence up or about. Transliteration: suk
Phonetic Spelling: (sook) Short Definition: hedge. Word Origin a prim. ...
/hebrew/7753.htm - 6k

4881. mesukah -- a hedge
... 4880b, 4881. mesukah or mesukah. 4882 . a hedge. Transliteration: mesukah or
mesukah Phonetic Spelling: (mes-oo-kaw') Short Definition: hedge. ...
/hebrew/4881.htm - 6k

4905a. mesukkah -- a hedge
... mesukkah. 4905b . a hedge. Transliteration: mesukkah Short Definition: hedge.
Word Origin from an unused word Definition a hedge NASB Word Usage hedge (1). ...
/hebrew/4905a.htm - 5k

5480b. suk -- to hedge or fence about, shut in
... 5480a, 5480b. suk. 5481 . to hedge or fence about, shut in. Transliteration:
suk Short Definition: enclosed. Word Origin a prim. ...
/hebrew/5480b.htm - 5k

4905. maskiyl -- a hedge
... 4904, 4905. maskiyl. 4905a . a hedge. Transliteration: maskiyl Phonetic
Spelling: (mas-keel') Short Definition: Maschil. Maschil ...
/hebrew/4905.htm - 5k

1447. gader -- a wall
... fence, hedge, wall. From gadar; a circumvallation; by implication, an inclosure --
fence, hedge, wall. see HEBREW gadar. 1446, 1447. gader. 1448 . ...
/hebrew/1447.htm - 6k

5526. cakak -- to overshadow, screen, cover
... cover, defense, defend, hedge in, join together, set, shut up Or sakak
(Exod. 33:22) {saw-kak'}; a primitive root; properly, to ...
/hebrew/5526.htm - 5k

1448. gederah -- a wall
... hedge, wall. Feminine of gader; enclosure (especially for flocks) -- (sheep-)
cote (fold) hedge, wall. see HEBREW gader. 1447, 1448. ...
/hebrew/1448.htm - 6k

1443. gadar -- to wall up or off, to build a wall
... close up, fence up, hedge, enclose, make up a wall, mason, repairer. A
primitive root; to wall in or around -- close up, fence up ...
/hebrew/1443.htm - 6k

Hedge
... Hedge. Hedge, Frederick Henry, a Unitarian divine, professor and author
of note, was born at Cambridge, Mass., December 12, 1805. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/nutter/hymn writers of the church/hedge.htm

The Hedge of Thorns and the Plain Way
... The Hedge of Thorns and the Plain Way. ... "The way of the slothful man is as an hedge
of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.""Proverbs 15:19. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/sermons on proverbs/the hedge of thorns and.htm

PMFH Hedge. Strength from the Cross.
... IV. REMEMBRANCE OF CHRIST. 141. PMFH Hedge. Strength from the Cross. 1
"It is finished!" Man of sorrows! From thy cross our frailty ...
/.../various/book of hymns for public and private devotion/141 p m f h.htm

The Burial and Assumption of the Blessed virgin
... They dug a trench before the narrow entrance of the rock-tomb, and planted in it
a hedge of various shrubs brought with their roots from elsewhere. ...
/.../emmerich/the life of the blessed virgin mary/xix the burial and assumption.htm

In Reply to the Questions as to his Authority, Jesus Gives the ...
... There was a man that was a householder [this party represents God], who planted
a vineyard [this represents the Hebrew nationality], and set a hedge about it ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/cviii in reply to the 3.htm

Psalm XCI.
... Nets are usually spread for birds at the end of a hedge, and stones are thrown
into the hedge: those stones will not harm the birds. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/augustine/exposition on the book of psalms/psalm xci.htm

Ephesians ii. 11, 12
... The law was a hedge, but this it was made for the sake of security, and for this
reason was called "a hedge," to the intent that it might form an inclosure. ...
/.../homily v ephesians ii 11.htm

Fences and Serpents
... '... Whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.'"Ecclesiastes 10:8. ... Young
men! 'whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.'. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/fences and serpents.htm

A Provision Ground
... And that?' Let the reader who has a taste for the beautiful as well as the useful
in horticulture, do the same, and look in fancy over the hedge of the nearest ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/at last/chapter xvi a provision ground.htm

Interruption of the visions of the Passion by the Appearance of St ...
... dreamed, as her exclamations and gestures demonstrated, that she was once more a
little country girl of five years old, climbing over a hedge, caught in the ...
/.../chapter xxiv interruption of the.htm

Hedge (12 Occurrences)
... 2. (vt) To enclose or separate with a hedge; to fence with a thickly set line or
thicket of shrubs or small trees; as, to hedge a field or garden. ...HEDGE. ...
/h/hedge.htm - 12k

Thorn-hedge (1 Occurrence)
Thorn-hedge. Thorn-fence, Thorn-hedge. Thorn-hedges . Multi-Version
Concordance Thorn-hedge (1 Occurrence). Micah 7:4 ...
/t/thorn-hedge.htm - 6k

Hedge-hog (2 Occurrences)
Hedge-hog. Hedgehog, Hedge-hog. Hedge-rows . Multi-Version Concordance
Hedge-hog (2 Occurrences). Isaiah 34:11 And possess ...
/h/hedge-hog.htm - 7k

Hedge-rows (1 Occurrence)
Hedge-rows. Hedge-hog, Hedge-rows. Hedges . Multi-Version Concordance
Hedge-rows (1 Occurrence). Luke 14:23 "'Go out ...
/h/hedge-rows.htm - 6k

Hedgehog (3 Occurrences)
... Isaiah 34:11 And possess her do pelican and hedge-hog, And owl and raven dwell in
her, And He hath stretched out over her A line of vacancy, and stones of ...
/h/hedgehog.htm - 8k

Fence (12 Occurrences)
... ERV has "fence" for "wall" (Numbers 22:24 Isaiah 5:5 Hosea 2:6; the American Standard
Revised Version retains "wall"), for "hedge" (Ecclesiastes 10:8 Ezekiel 13 ...
/f/fence.htm - 15k

Watchtower (9 Occurrences)
... There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge
about it, dug a winepress in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers ...
/w/watchtower.htm - 9k

Winepress (19 Occurrences)
... There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge
about it, dug a winepress in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers ...
/w/winepress.htm - 14k

Farmers (23 Occurrences)
... There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge
about it, dug a winepress in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers ...
/f/farmers.htm - 12k

Take (11064 Occurrences)
... food or wine. 16. (vt) Not to refuse or balk at; to undertake readily;
to clear; as, to take a hedge or fence. 17. (vt) To bear ...
/t/take.htm - 15k

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