Heather; Desert Shrub
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Jer. 17:6)—a plant of dry and barren country used in the prophet’s comparison: the person who trusts in human strength is “like a shrub in the desert” and does not see prosperity when it comes. The Hebrew plant name is uncertain and is variously rendered shrub, juniper, tamarisk, or heath. The image, rather than the exact species, is clear: isolation in a parched and salt land contrasts with the tree planted by water that represents trust in the LORD (Jer. 17:7-8).