Topic
Rose
7 passages cited, from 4 classic reference works.
These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Song of Songs 2:1Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave General scriptures concerning
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
- Isaiah 35:1Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave General scriptures concerning
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
- Wisdom of Solomon 2:8ISBE
Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds, before they be withered:
- Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 24:14ISBE
I was exalted like a palm tree in En-gaddi, and as a rose plant in Jericho, as a fair olive tree in a pleasant field, and grew up as a plane tree by the water.
- Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 39:13ISBE
Hearken unto me, ye holy children, and bud forth as a rose growing by the brook of the field:
- Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 50:8ISBE
And as the flower of roses in the spring of the year, as lilies by the rivers of waters, and as the branches of the frankincense tree in the time of summer:
- 2 Esdras 2:19ISBE
And as many fountains flowing with milk and honey, and seven mighty mountains, whereupon there grow roses and lilies, whereby I will fill thy children with joy.
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 2 references
Many varieties of the rose proper are indigenous to Syria. The famed rose of Damascus is white, but there are also red and yellow roses. In Cant. 2:1 and Isa. 35:1 the Hebrew word habatstseleth (found only in these passages), rendered “rose” (R.V. marg., “autumn crocus”), is supposed by some to mean the oleander, by others the sweet-scented narcissus (a native of Palestine), the tulip, or the daisy; but nothing definite can be affirmed regarding it.
The “rose of Sharon” is probably the cistus or rock-rose, several species of which abound in Palestine. “Mount Carmel especially abounds in the cistus, which in April covers some of the barer parts of the mountain with a glow not inferior to that of the Scottish heather.” (See MYRRH [2].)
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 2 references
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 11 references
roz: (1) (chabhatstseleth; anthos, "a flower" (So 2:1) krinon, "a lily" (Isa 35:1)): By general consent English Versions of the Bible is wrong: in So 2:1 margin reads "Hebrew habazzeleth, the autumn crocus" and in Isa 35:1, margin reads "or autumn crocus." This is the Colchicum autumnale (Natural Order, Liliaceae). A Targum on So 2:1 explains the Hebrew word as "narcissus" , a very common plant in the plains and mountains of Palestine and a great favorite with the natives. Two species, N. tazetta and N. serolinus (Natural Order, Amaryllideae), occur, the latter being the finer; they are autumn plants. All authorities agree that the so-called "rose" was some kind of bulbed plant. (2) (rhodon, "the rose," mentioned in Ecclesiasticus 24:14; 39:13; 50:8; The Wisdom of Solomon 2:8; 2 Esdras 2:19): There is no reason why the rose, of which several varieties are common in Palestine, should not be meant. Tristram favors the rhododendron. The expression, "rose plants in Jericho," in Ecclesiasticus 24:14 has nothing whatever to do with what is now sold there as a "rose of Jericho," a dwarf annual plant, Anastatica hierochuntina (Natural Order, Cruciferae), which dries up and can be made to reexpand by placing the root in water.
E. W. G. Masterman
In the topical indexes
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.