Or bulrush
A grasslike member of the sedge family with a pithy or hollow stem that grows in marshy or wet areas (Job 8:11). The “bulrushes” of which the infant Moses’s basket was woven were probably papyrus (Exod 2:3), since (Isa 18:2) mentions “papyrus vessels” used by the Ethiopians. The plants were used as fuel (Job 41:20) and woven into ropes (Job 41:2). Because of their fragile stems and their requirement for a specific environment, they became a symbol of weakness and vulnerability (Job 8:11-14; Isa 19:6-7; 2Kgs 18:21; Matt 11:7) or represented the lowly and insignificant (Isa 9:14; Isa 19:15; Isa 58:5). But in the same manner the flourishing of rushes could also be used as a symbol of abundance and blessing (Isa 35:7). Various English versions often interchange the translation of “rushes” (or “bulrushes”) and “reeds.”
