HEDGE

Orchards and vineyards were commonly surrounded by hedges composed of thorny plants to safeguard them from thieves and the depredations of animals. (Isa. 5:5) The Scriptures employ the expression “put up a hedge” in a figurative sense to denote the giving of protection. (Job 1:10) On the other hand, ‘hedging in’ is used to represent the rearing up of obstacles or barriers, placing an individual, or even a nation, in a helpless and forsaken situation with no way out. (Job 3:23; Hos. 2:6; compare Job 19:8; Lamentations 3:7-9.) With reference to the moral corruption existing among the Israelites of his day, Micah wrote that “their most upright one is worse than a thorn hedge,” that is, prickly, hurtful and injurious.—Mic. 7:4; see BRIERS, BRIER HEDGE.