Orchards and vineyards were commonly surrounded by hedges, thick rows of thorny plants, to safeguard the area from thieves and the depredations of animals. (Isa 5:5) The Scriptures employ the expression “put up a hedge” in a figurative sense to denote the giving of protection. (Job 1:10) On the other hand, ‘hedging in’ is used to represent the rearing up of obstacles, or barriers, placing an individual or even a nation in a helpless and forsaken situation with no way out. (Job 3:23; Ho 2:6; compare Job 19:8; La 3:7-9.) With reference to the moral corruption existing among the Israelites of his day, Micah wrote that “their most upright one is worse than a thorn hedge,” that is, prickly, hurtful, and injurious.​—Mic 7:4.