The thistle] A parabolicall speech, as Judg. 9. 8, &c. In derision, the king of Israel resembleth the king of Judah to a thistle, a thistle in Lebanon, which grew under cedars: himself to a cedar: desire of marriage betwixt the son of the one, and daughter of the other, to a conceipt of equality: a wilde beast, to the army of Israel: treading down the thistle, to vanquishing Judah. This application is verified in the next verse.