τρίβολος (tribolos)
tribolos
thistle
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 2 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The Greek word tribolos refers to a thistle, specifically a prickly wild plant that is often harmful to other vegetation. In both the New Testament and the Septuagint, it serves as a concrete image for something worthless or obstructive rather than useful. The term appears in Matthew 7:16 and Hebrews 6:8 to illustrate the natural output of different kinds of ground.
Its usage highlights a stark contrast between productive fruit and thorny weeds. In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, Jesus asks whether one can gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles, emphasizing that a tree’s nature determines its harvest. Similarly, Hebrews 6:8 describes land that produces thorns and thistles as worthless, close to being cursed, and destined for burning.
The word likely derives from roots suggesting hardness or piercing, reflecting the plant’s sharp, defensive spines. Translators consistently render it as "thistle" or "thorns," preserving the original sense of agricultural futility. This imagery reinforces the biblical theme that spiritual fruitfulness requires good soil and proper care.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word tribolos describes a thistle, a prickly plant that offers no nourishment and often chokes out useful crops. In ancient agriculture, this was a clear sign of neglected or cursed ground. When Jesus mentions thistles in the Sermon on the Mount, He uses this common image to show that our inner nature determines what we produce. Just as a wild bush cannot yield sweet figs, a heart disconnected from God’s grace will not naturally bear love or peace.
Hebrews 6:8 takes this further, noting that land producing only thorns is near to being burned. This is a sobering reminder that spiritual fruitfulness requires good soil and care. It invites us to examine our lives honestly. Are we cultivating the conditions for kindness, joy, and patience to grow? The call is not to strive harder in our own strength, but to allow God’s grace to tend the soil of our hearts, turning barren ground into a place where life can flourish.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 2 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- thistles2×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- τριβόλων1×
- τριβόλους1×
Key Verses
-
Matthew 7:16
By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles?
Jesus uses thistles here to demonstrate that external actions reveal the true, underlying character of a person.
-
Hebrews 6:8
but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
The author contrasts fruitful land with thistle-bearing ground to warn against spiritual barrenness and its serious consequences.