Nettles are strong-growing perennials with leaves that have a spiny tip. King Solomon records it was a fast growing bush. In the warm climate of Palestine, the nettle must have grown to a very large sized plant. The Bible tells us that outcasts took shelter under it. "Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together" Job 30:7. Its beautifully formed leaves were inspiration for the capitals of Corinthian styled Greek architecture. The acanthus gave its name to three ancient cities, one located in Macedonia. As early as a century before Christ, acanthus leaves were included in the design of silver coins. Today the plant grows in Greece. The flowers are white and streaked with lavender and the calyx is dark green shaded with purple. The floral spike, which is about 60 inches high, can carry 24 inches of blossoms.
Proverbs 24:31 (KJV) And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
Isaiah 34:13 (KJV) And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons,and a court for owls.
Hosea 9:6 (KJV) For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.
Zephaniah 2:9 (KJV) Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
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