Genesis 3:18

thorns also, &c. These are not new products of the soil because of sin, but are typical of that which the earth brings forth of itself, and of ground neglected or rendered fallow by man's indolence. Left to itself, the soil produces weeds which must be removed. Man is to live upon that which he laboriously sows and plants and cultivates.

thistles Elsewhere only in Hosea 10:8.

the herb of the field It is here ordained that man shall eat "the herb of the field," requiring laborious cultivation. This is a change from the diet of fruit assigned to him in Genesis 2:16 (J). The passage assumes that agriculture was man's first industry. Anthropology tells a different story; but the Hebrew belief is a recognition of the fact that agriculture was essential to the life of dwellers in Palestine.