Lily
lily
A symbol of chastity and purity because of its spotless whiteness. In Christian art it is an emblem of
the Annunciation , to indicate the purity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Saint Agnes of Montepulciano
Saint Angelus of Jerusalem , as a symbol of his pure speech
Saint Anthony of Padua
Saint Antonius of Florence
Saint Casimir of Poland
Saint Catherine of Siena
Saint Catherine of Sweden
Saint Clydog
Saint Columba of Rieti
Saint Daria
Saint Didacus
Saint Dominic de Guzman
Saint Emerentiana , as a symbol of a pure death
Saint Francis Xavier
Gabriel the Archangel due to his connection to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Annunciation
Saint Gertrude the Great
Saint Joseph , whose staff (according to an ancient legend) bloomed into lilies in the presence of Mary as a symbol of his chastity
Saint Justina of Padua
Saint Kenelm
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam
Saint Martina
Saint Margaret of Hungary
Saint Mary Anne de Paredes , in reference the lily that grew from her spilled blood
Saint Nicholas of Tolentino
Blessed Osanna Andreasi
Saint Pulcheria
Saint Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne
and others. Part of the commonly used informal titles of
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha , the Lily of the Mohawks
Blessed Mariana of Jesus, the Lily of Madrid
Saint Mary Anne de Paredes , the Lily of Quito
Saint Rafqa , the Lily of Himlaya
The name Susanna derives from a word for lily.
New Catholic Dictionary
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Lily
Lily. A flower with white or rosy-purple blooms measuring up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) across. Many scholars think the lily is sometimes a term applied to flowers in general. Others believe specific types such as the Turks Cap, the Madonna, or the lotus is referred to.
The lily was used as an ornament for the Temple ( 1Ki 7:22). The Beloved and the Shulamite used lilies to describe their love ( Son 2:1; Son 2:16; Son 4:5; Son 5:13; Son 6:3).
Fuente: Plants Animals Of Bible
Lily
(, shushan’, from its whiteness, 1Ki 7:19; also , shoshan’, 1Ki 7:22; 1Ki 7:26; Son 2:16; Son 4:5; Son 5:13; Son 6:2-3; Son 7:2; and
, shoshannah’, 2Ch 4:5; Son 2:1-2; Hos 14:5 SEE SHUSHAN; SEE SHOSHANNIM; Sept. and N.T. , Mat 6:28 : Luk 12:27). There are, no doubt, several plants indigenous in Syria which might come under the denomination of lily, when that name is used in a general sense, as it often is by travelers and others. The term shoshan or sosuns seems also to have been employed in this sense. It was known to the Greeks (), for Dioscorides (3:116) describes the mode of preparing an ointment called susinon, which others, he savs, call , that is, lilinum. So Atheneus (12:513) identities the Persian susona with the Greek krinon. The Arabic authors also use the word in a general sense, several varieties being described under the head sosun. The name is applied even to kinds of Iris, of which several species, with various colored flowers, are distinguished. But it appears to us that none but a plant which was well known and highly esteemed would be found occurring in so many different passages. Thus, in 1Ki 7:19-26, and 2Ch 4:5, it is mentioned as forming the ornamental work of the pillars and of the brazen sea, made of molten brass, for the house of Solomon, by Hiram of Tyre. In Canticles the word is frequently mentioned; and it is curious that in five passages, Son 2:2; Son 2:16; Son 4:5; Son 6:2-3, there is a reference to feeding among lilies, which appears unaccountable when we consider that the allusion is made simply to an ornamental or sweet-smelling plant; and this the shushans appears to have been from the other passages in which it is mentioned. Thus, in Son 2:1, ‘I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys;’ Son 2:2, ‘as the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters;’ Son 2:13, ‘his lips like lilies, dropping sweetsmelling myrrh;’ Son 7:2, ‘thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies.’ If we consider that the book of Canticles is supposed to have been written on the occasion of the marriage of Solomon with a princess of Egypt, it is natural to suppose that some of the imagery may have been derived from her native country, and that the above lily may be a plant of Egypt rather than of Palestine. Especially does the water-lily, or lotus of the Nile, seem suitable to most of the above passages. Thus Herodotus (2:92) says. ‘When the waters have risen to their extremest height, and all the fields are overflowed, there appears above the surface an immense quantity of plants of the lily species, which the Egyptians call the lotus; having cut down these, they dry them in the sun. The seed of the flowers, which resembles that of the poppy, they bake, and make into a kind of bread: they also eat the root of this plant, which is round, of an agreeable flavor, and about the size of an apple.
There is a second species of the lotus, which grows in the Nile, and which is not unlike a rose. The fruit, which grows from the bottom of the root, resembles a wasp’s nest: it is found to contain a number of kernels of the size of an olive-stone, which are very grateful either fresh or dried.’ All this exists even to the present day. Both the roots and the stalks form articles of diet in Eastern countries, and the large farinaceous seeds of both the nymphaea and nelumbium are roasted and eaten. Hence possibly the reference to feeding among lilies in the above-quoted passages” This flower (the Nymhaea Lotus. of Linnaeus, and the beshnin, of the modern Arabs) grows plentifully in Lower Egypt, flowering during the period of the aninual inundation. There can be little doubt the “lilywork” spoken of in 1Ki 7:19; 1Ki 7:22, was an ornament in the form of the Egyptian lotus. There wre eformerly three descriptions of water-lily in Egypt, but one (the red-flowered lotus) has disappeared. “The flower,” says Burckhardt, speaking of the white variety, or Nymphaea lotus, “generally stands on the stalk from one to two feet above the surface of the water. When the flowers open completely, the leaves form a horizontal disk, with the isolated seed-vessel in the midst, which bends down the stall by its weight, and swims upon the surface of the water for several days until it is engulfed. This plant grows at Cairo, in a tank called Birket el- Rotoli, near one of the northern suburbs where I happen to reside. It is not found in Upper Egypt, I believe, but abounds in the Delta, and attains maturity at the time when the Nile reaches its full height. I saw it in great abundance and in full flower. covering the whole inundated plain, on October 12, 1815, near the ruins of Tiney, about twelve miles south-east from Mansoura, on the Damietta branch. It dies when the water retires.”
Among the ancient Egyptians the lotus was introduced into all subjects as an ornament, and as the favorite flower of the country, but not with the holy character usually attributed to it, though adopted as an emblem of the god Nophre-Atmi (Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians, 1:57, 256). As the Hebrew architecture was of the Phoenico-Egyptian style, nothing was more natural than the introduction of this ornament by Solomon into the Temple. It was in like manner borrowed by the Assyrians in their later structures (Layard’s Nineveh, 2:356). Mr. Bardwell, the architect, in his work entitled Temples, Ancient and Modern (1837), says, “The two great columns of the pronaos in Solomon’s Temple were of the usual proportions of Egyptian columns, being five and a half diameters high; and as these gave the great characteristic feature to the building, Solomon sent an embassy to fetch the architect from Tyre to superintend the molding and casting of these columns, which were intended to be of brass. Observe how conspicuous is the idea of the vase (the ‘bowl’ of our translation), rising from a cylinder ornamented with lotus-flowers; the bottom of the vase was partly hidden by the flowers, the belly of it was overlaid with net-work, ornamented by seven wreaths, the Hebrew number of happiness, and beneath the lip of the vase were two rows of pomegranates, one hundred in each row. These superb pillars were eight feet in diameter and forty-four feet high, supporting a noble entablature fourteen feet high.” SEE JACHIN AND BOAZ.
“In confirmation of the above identification of the lily of the O.T. with the lotus-flower, we may adduce also the remarks of Dr. W. C. Taylor in his Bible Illustrated by Egyptian Monuments, where he says that the lilies of the 45th and 59th Psalms have puzzled all Biblical critics. The title, ‘To the chief musician upon Shoshannim,’ has been supposed to be the name of some unknown tune to which the psalm was to be sung. But Dr. Taylor says ‘the word shoshannim is universally acknowledged to signify lilies, and lilies have nothing to do with the subject of the ode. But this hymeneal ode was intended to be sung by the female attendants of the Egyptian princess, and they are called “the lilies,” not only by a poetic reference to the lotus lilies of the Nile, but by a direct allusion to their custom of making the lotus lily a conspicuous ornament of their head- dress.’ Thus, therefore, all the passages of O.-T. Scripture in which shushan occurs appear to be explained by considering it to refer to the lotus lily of the Nile” (Kitto). “Lynch enumerates the ‘lily’ as among the plants seen by him on the shores of the Dead Sea, but gives no details which could lead to its identification (Exped. to the. Jordane, page 286). He had previously observed the water-lily on the Jordan (page 173), but omits to mention whether it was the yellow (Nuphar lutea) or the white (Nymphaea alba). ‘The only “lilies” which I saw in Palestine,’ says Professor Startley, ‘in the months of March and April, were large yellow water-lilies, in the clear spring of ‘Ain AMellahah, near the lake of Merom’ (S. and Pal. page 429). He suggests that the name lily may include the numerous flowers of the tulip or amaryllis kind which appear in the early summer or the autumn of Palestine.’ The following description of the Hleh-lily by Dr. Thomson (The Land and the Book, 1:394), were it more precise, would perhaps have enabled botanists to identify it: ‘This Huleh- lily is very large, and the three inner petals meet above and form a gorgeous canopy, such as art never approached, anld king never sat under, even in his utmost glory. We call it Huleh-lily because it was here that it was first discovered. Its botanical name, if it have one, I am unacquainted with…. Our flower delights most in the valleys, but is also found on the mountains. It grows among thorns, and I have sadly lacerated my hands in extricating it from them. Nothing can be in higher contrast than the luxuriant velvety softness of this lily, and the crabbed, tangled hedge of thorns about it. Gazelles still delight to feed among them; and you can scarcely ride through the woods north of Tabor, where these lilies abound, without frightening them from their flowery pasture.’ ”
On the other hand, some of the passages in which shoshanz occurs evidently refer to a field variety, as Son 2:1-2, and the tubular shape of the trumpet is sufficient to explain the transfer of the word to that musical instrument. SEE SHOSHANNIM. “The Hebrew word is rendered ‘rose’ in the Chaldce Targum, and by Maimonides and other Babbinical writers, with the exception of Kimchi and Ben-Melech, who in 1Ki 7:19 translated it by ‘violet.’ In the Judaeo-Spanish version of the Canticles shoishan and shshannh are always translated by rosa, but in Hos 14:5 the latter is rendered lirio. But , or ‘lily,’ is the uniform rendering of the Sept., and is, in all probability, the true one, as it is supported by the analogy of the Arabic and Persian susan, which has the same meaning to this day, and by the existence of the same word in Syriac and Coptic. The Spanish azucena, ‘a white lily,’ is merely a modification of the Arabic; but, although there is little doubt that the word denotes some plant of the lily species, it is by no means certain what individual of this class it especially designates. Father Souciet (Recueil de diss. Crit. 1715) labored to prove that the lily of Scripture is the ‘crown imperial,’ the Persian tusai, the of the Greeks, and the lFritillaria imperialis of Linnums. So common was this plant in Persia that it is supposed to have given its name to Susa, the capital (Athen. 12:1; Bochart, Phaleg. 2:14); but there is no proof that it was at any time common in Palestine, and ‘the lily’ par excellence of Persia would not of necessity be ‘the lily’ of the Holy Land. Dioscorides (1:62) bears witness to the beauty of the lilies of Syria and Pisidia, from which the best perfume was made. He says (3:106 [116]) of the that the Syrians call it (=shushcan), and the Africans , which Bochart renders in Hebrew characters white shoot.’ Khn, in his note on the passage, identifies the plant in question with the Liliumz candidumn of Linnaeus. It is probably the same as that called in the Mishna king’s lily’ (Kilaimi, 5:8).
Pliny (21:5) defines as ‘rubens lilium;’ and Dioscorides, in another passage, mentions the fact that there are lilies with purple flowers, but whether by this he intended the Lilium martagon or Chalcedonicunm, Khn leaves undecided. Now in the passage of Athenaus above quoted it is said, . But in the Etymologicum Mazgnums (s.v. ) we find . As the shushans is thus identified both with , the red or purple lily, and with , the white lily, it is evidently impossible, from the word itself, to ascertain exactly the kind of lily which is referred to. If the shushan or shoshlannah of the O.T. and the of the Sermon on the Mount be identical, which there seems no reason to doubt, the plant designated by these terms must have been a conspicuous object on the shores of the Lake of Gennesaret (Mat 6:28; Luk 12:27); it must have flourished in the deep, broad valleys of Palestine (Son 2:1), among the thorny shrubs (Son 2:2) and pastures of the desert (Son 2:16; Son 4:5; Son 6:3), and must have been remarkable for its rapid and luxuriant growth (Hos 14:5; Sir 39:14). The purple flowers of the khob, or wild artichoke, which abounds in the plain north of Tabor and in the valley of Esdraelon, have been thought by some to be the ‘lilies of the field’ alluded to in Mat 6:28 (Wilson, Lands of the Bible, 2:110). A recent traveler mentions a plant, with lilac flowers like the hyacinth, and called by the Arabs usweih, which he considered to be of the species denominated lily in Scripture (Bonar, Desert of Sinai, page 329).” Tristram strongly inclines to identify the scarlet, anemone (Anemone coronaria with the Scripture “lily” (Nat. Hist. of Bible, page 464).
In the N. Test. the word “lily” occurs in the well-known and beautiful passage (Mat 6:28), ‘Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these;’ so also in Luk 12:27. Here it is evident that the plant alluded to must have been indigenous or grow in wild in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee, must have been of an ornamental character, and, from the Greek term being applied to it, of a liliaceous nature. The name occurs in all the old Greek writers (see Dioscor. 3:116; compare Claudian. Epithal. seren. 126; Martial, 5:37, 6 sq.; Calpurn. 6:33; Athen. 15:677, 680; Virgil, Ecl. 10:25; Pliny, 15:7; 21:11).
Theophrastus first uses it, and is supposed by Sprengel to apply it to species of Varscissus and to Lilium candidumn. Dioscorides indicates two species, but very imperfectly: one of them is supposed to be the Lilium candidum, and the other, with a reddish flower, may be L. martagon or L. Chalcedonicum. He alludes more particularly to the lilies of Syria and of Pamphylia being well suited for making the ointment of lily. Pliny enumerates three kinds, a white, a red, and a purple-colored lily. Travelers in Palestine mention that in the month of January the fields and groves everywhere abound in various species of lily, tulip, and narcissus. Benard noticed, near Acre, on Jan. 18th, and about Jaffa on the 23d, tulips, white, red, blue, etc. Gumpenberg saw the meadows of Galilee covered with the same flowers on the 31st. Tulips figure conspicuously among the flowers of Palestine, varieties probably of Tulijpas Gesneriana (Kitto’s Palestine, page 215). So Pococke says, ‘I saw many tulips growing wild in the fields (in March), and any one who considers how beautiful those flowers are to the eye would be apt to conjecture that these are the lilies to which Solomon in all his glory was not to be compared.’ This is much more likely to be the plant intended than some others which have been adduced, as, for instance, the scarlet amaryllis, having white flowers with bright purple streaks, found by Salt at Adowa. Others have preferred the Crown imperial, which is a native of Persia and Cashmere. Most authors have united in considering the white lily, Lilium candidume, to be the plant to which our Savior referred; but it is doubtful whether it has ever been found in a wild state in Palestine. Some, indeed, have thought it to be a native of the New World. Dr. Lindley, however, in the Gardeners’ Chronicle (2:744), says, ‘This notion cannot be sustained, because the white lily occurs in all engraving of the annunciation, executed somewhere about 1480 by Martin Schongauer; and the first voyage of Columbus did not take place till 1492. In this very rare print the lily is represented as growing in an ornamental vase, as if it were cultivated as a curious object.’ This opinion is confirmed by a correspondent at Aleppo (Gardeners’ Chronicle, 3:429), who has resided long in Syria, but is acquainted only with the botany of Aleppo and Antioch: ‘I never saw the white lily in a wild state, nor have I heard of its being so in Syria. It is cultivated here on the roofs of the houses in pots as an exotic bulb, like the daffodil.’ In consequence of this difficulty, the late Sir J.E. Smith was of opinion that the plant alluded to under the name of lily was the Amaryllis lutea (now Oporasnthus lutteus), ‘whose golden liliaceous flowers in autumn afford one of the most brilliant and gorgeous objects in nature, as the fields of the Levant are overrun with them; to them the expression of Solomon, in all his glory, not being arrayed like one of them, is peculiarly appropriate.’
Dr. Lindley conceives it to be much more probable that the plant intended by our Savior was the Ixiolirion montanum, a plant allied to the amaryllis, of very great beauty, with a slender stem, and clusters of the most delicate violet flowers, abounding in Palestine, where colonel Chesney found it in the most brilliant profusion (l.c. page 744). In reply to this, a correspondent furnishes an extract of a letter from Dr. Bowring, which throws a new light upon the subject: ‘I cannot describe to you with botanical accuracy the lily of Palestine. I heard it called by the title of Lilia Syriaca, and I imagine under this title its botanical characteristics may be hunted out. Its color is a brilliant red; its size about half that of the common tiger lily. The white lily I do not remember to have seen in any part of Syria. It was in April and May that I observed my flower, and it was most abundant in the district of Galilee, where it and the Rhododendron (which grew in rich abundance round the paths) most strongly excited my attention.’ On this Dr. Lindley observes, ‘It is clear that neither the white lily, nor the Oporanthus luteus, nor Ixiolirion, will answer to Dr. Bowring’s description, which seems to point to the Chalcedonian or scarlet martagon lily, formerly called the lily of Byzantium, found from the Adriatic to the Levant, and which, with its scarlet turban-like flowers, is indeed a most stately and striking object’ (Gardeners’ Chronicle, 2:854)” (Kitto). As this lily (the Lilium Chalcedonicum of botanists) is in flower at the season of the year when the Sermon on the Mount is supposed to have been spoken (May; but it is probable that our Savior’s discourse on Providence, contaning the allusion to the lily, occurred on a different occasion, apparently about October; see Strong’s Harmony of the Gospels, 52), is indigenous in the very locality, and is conspicuous, even in the garden, for its remarkable showy flowers, there can now be little doubt that it is the plant alluded to by our Savior. “Strand (Flor. Palest.) mentions it as growing near Joppa, and Kitto (Phys. Hist. of Palest. page 219) makes especial mention of the L. candidum growing in Palestine; and, in connection with the habitat given by Strand, it is worth observing that the lily is mentioned (Son 2:1) with the rose of Sharon.”
By some the lily is supposed to be meant by the term (chabatstse’leth, “rose”), in Isa 35:1; Son 2:1. For further details, consult Oken, Lehrb. d. Naturgesch. II, 1:757; Rosenmller, Bibl. Alterth. 4:138; Celsius, Hierobot. 1:383 sq.; Billerbeck, Flosta Class. page 90 sq.; Gesenius, Thes. Heb. page 1385; Penny Cyclopaedia, s.v. Lotus.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Lily
The Hebrew name shushan or shoshan, i.e., “whiteness”, was used as the general name of several plants common to Syria, such as the tulip, iris, anemone, gladiolus, ranunculus, etc. Some interpret it, with much probability, as denoting in the Old Testament the water-lily (Nymphoea lotus of Linn.), or lotus (Cant. 2:1, 2; 2:16; 4:5; 5:13; 6:2, 3; 7:2). “Its flowers are large, and they are of a white colour, with streaks of pink. They supplied models for the ornaments of the pillars and the molten sea” (1 Kings 7:19, 22, 26; 2 Chr. 4:5). In the Canticles its beauty and fragrance shadow forth the preciousness of Christ to the Church. Groser, however (Scrip. Nat. Hist.), strongly argues that the word, both in the Old and New Testaments, denotes liliaceous plants in general, or if one genus is to be selected, that it must be the genus Iris, which is “large, vigorous, elegant in form, and gorgeous in colouring.”
The lilies (Gr. krinia) spoken of in the New Testament (Matt. 6:28; Luke 12:27) were probably the scarlet martagon (Lilium Chalcedonicum) or “red Turk’s-cap lily”, which “comes into flower at the season of the year when our Lord’s sermon on the mount is supposed to have been delivered. It is abundant in the district of Galilee; and its fine scarlet flowers render it a very conspicous and showy object, which would naturally attract the attention of the hearers” (Balfour’s Plants of the Bible).
Of the true “floral glories of Palestine” the pheasant’s eye (Adonis Palestina), the ranunuculus (R. Asiaticus), and the anemone (A coronaria), the last named is however, with the greatest probability regarded as the “lily of the field” to which our Lord refers. “Certainly,” says Tristram (Nat. Hist. of the Bible), “if, in the wondrous richness of bloom which characterizes the land of Israel in spring, any one plant can claim pre-eminence, it is the anemone, the most natural flower for our Lord to pluck and seize upon as an illustration, whether walking in the fields or sitting on the hill-side.” “The white water-lily (Nymphcea alba) and the yellow water-lily (Nuphar lutea) are both abundant in the marshes of the Upper Jordan, but have no connection with the lily of Scripture.”
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Lily
shuwshan. Mat 7:28-29. The white lily plant is used as fuel when withered; but it does not grow wild in Syria. Rather the scarlet martagon (Lilium chalcedonicum). “The lily at Huleh is large, the three inner petals meet above, forming a gorgeous canopy such as art never approached, and king never sat under even in his utmost glory. Our flower delights in the valleys, grows among thorns, and I have sadly lacerated my hands in extricating it. Nothing can be in higher contrast than the velvety softness of this lily and the tangled hedge of thorns about it. Gazelles still feed among these flowers, and you can scarcely ride through the woods N. of Tabor without frightening gazelles from their flowery pasture” (Thomson, Land and Book, 2:18). Compare Son 2:1, “lily of the valleys” (Son 2:2) “among thorns,” (Son 2:16) “he feedeth (in Son 4:5 ‘roes’) among the lilies.”
The words of Solomon’s Song (Son 5:13), “his lips like lilies,” require a ruby or scarlet color, not white. But as” lily” was used also in a general sense for a lovely, bell-shaped flower, the Egyptian lotus of the Nile is probably meant in the “lily work” ornamentation of the capitals (“chapiters”) of Solomon’s temple pillars, and the rim of the brazen sea (1Ki 7:22-23). So Egyptian architecture delights in lotus headed capitals. “He shall grow as the lily” (Hos 14:5), i.e. rapidly selfpropagating, one root often producing 50 bulbs (Pliny, Nat. Hist. 21:5). Stanley thinks “lily” includes numerous flowers of the tulip or amaryllis kind blooming in the early summer or the autumn of Palestine. J. Hamilton (Imperial Dictionary) remarks on “consider the lilies,” “wondrous is God’s chemistry who out of black mould and invisible vapour builds up that column of chrysolite, and crowns it with its flaming capital.
How strange is God’s husbandry! Instead of taking the lily into a conservatory, He leaves it out among the thorns. The same soil from which one nature can only extract the harsh astringent sloe with its cruel spines yields to another flexile leaves and balmy blossoms. So the life of faith is not lived in the convent or in the sanctuary (alone), but out of doors in the unsympathising world, in the midst of secular men. From the same soil and the same atmosphere from which others derive repulsive attributes, the believer can absorb grace and give forth excellence. The same bounties of providence which make Nabal more churlish make Joseph more generous, tender, and forgiving; the same sunshine which elicits the balm of the lily matures in the blackthorn its verjuice, the same shower which makes thistles rank fills the lily cup with nectar, and clothes it in raiment eclipsing Solomon.”
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Lily
LILY.The lily (, , ) is mentioned by various OT writers (1Ki 7:19, 2Ch 4:5, Son 2:1 etc., Hos 14:5). In the NT there is but one reference (Mat 6:28 and || Luk 12:27). From the expression lilies of the field, we gather that they were wild flowers, while the comparison of them with the regal robes of Solomon (Mat 6:29) implies that they were not white, but coloured (cf. Son 5:13). The plant that best accords with these conditions is the scarlet anemone (A. coronaria), with which, in the spring of the year, the Galilaean hillsides are clothed. (See Tristram, Fauna and Flora of Palestine, p. 208; Nat. Hist. of Bible, p. 462). The nature of the reference might, however, favour the supposition that our Lord used the term lilies in a very general way, and that it should be taken as comprising a variety of flowers, such as anemones, poppies, and tulips.
Hugh Duncan.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Lily
LILY (shshan, 1Ki 7:10; shshannah, 2Ch 4:5, Son 2:1, Hos 14:5).The Heb. word is probably a loan word from the Egyptian for the lotus. In Arab [Note: Arabic.] , it is ssan, which includes a great number of allied flowerslilies, irises, gladioli, etc. No doubt the Heb. word was equally comprehensive. Flowers of this group are very plentiful in Palestine, the irises being pre-eminent for their handsome appearance. The lily work (1Ki 7:19; 1Ki 7:22; 1Ki 7:26) is likely to have been modelled after the lotus (Nympha lotus) itself: lotus-like flowers appear on some Jewish coins. The Gr. krinon of Mat 6:28, Luk 12:27 probably had as wide a significance as shshan, and included much more than actual lilies.
E. W. G. Masterman.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Lily
LILY, LILY OF THE VALLEYS
(Son 2:1-2) Those are fragrant flowers, well known by name in this our climate; but there is reason to suppose, that what are distinguished by those names in Scripture very far excel in beauty, fragrancy, and medicinal use, the lilies of those colder countries like ours. However, even with all those disadvantages, the lily, and the lily of the valley with which we are acquainted, may merit a place in our Concordance, in that Christ and his church are spoken of under the similitude. The original name in the Jewish Scriptures, is Susan or Schuschan. Some have said, that this is the Persian lily, or the crown imperial; but it is evident, that what the church saith of Christ, Son 5:13. (that his lips are like lilies,) must prove, that this was a red flower. But be this as it may, one thing I beg to observe, that all historians agree in this, that this lily was common in Judea, and grew in fields. Hence Jesus saith, (Mat 6:28-29) “Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do the spin; and vet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
There is a great beauty in the similitude of this flower to Jesus. Jesus is the flower of the field; Jesus is also imperial; Jesus is open to the traveller by the way. And as the flower of the field is not of man’s planting, neither cultivating, so this plant of renown is wholly raised up by the Lord JEHOVAH himself. (See Eze 34:29) And if we consider the lily of the vallies also, (as Jesus speaks of himself, Son 2:1) There is no less the same striking resemblance in every view. Nothing surely could be more suited, to denote the unequalled humility of the Son of God, than the figure of the lily, which loves the retired, low, and obscure spot of the valley. It was in the valley of this our lower world the Son of God came, when he came “to seek and save that which was lost.” And when we consider the modesty, the whiteness, the fragrancy, the fruitfulness, in short, the whole loveliness of this beautiful flower, what can more pointedly set forth the Lord Jesus, under all these endearednesses of character, than the lily of the vallies? Oh, thou holy, harmless, undefiled Lamb of God, without blemish, and without spot!
But we must not stop here. It is a sweet and interesting part of this subject to consider, that while Jesus compares himself to the lily of the vallies, so doth he no less compare his church to the same lovely flower. “As the lily among thorns, saith Jesus, so is my love among the daughters.” There is this difference indeed between the comparison; for while Jesus saith, that he is the lily of the vallies, he only saith of his church, that she is as the lily. And the reason is very plain: what Jesus is, he is in himself, underived, and of himself; whereas, what the church is, she is wholly in him, and from him. But while this distinction is never to be lost sight of, but thankfully preserved in the recollection, it is very blessed to see, that from our union with him, and interest in him, such as Jesus is so are we in this world. Is Christ the lily of the vallies? so, saith Jesus, is my love among the daughters. Is Jesus JEHOVAH our righteousness? then shall his spouse the church be called by the same name. (Jer 23:6; Jer 33:16) Is Jesus fair and lovely, sweet and fragrant as the lily of the vallies? so shall the church be in his sight, from the comeliness that he hath put upon her, (Eze 16:14) In a word, all that Jesus is as the glorious Head of his body the church, such shall be his body, glorious in his glory, and lovely in his loveliness, because in him, and from him all is derived, for “we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.” There is one thought more the subject suggests concerning the church, and that is, that as a lily the church is said to be among thorns; meaning, that in this world Jesus’s church is in a wilderness. Corruptions within, and persecutions without, the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of the heart, the lusts of the flesh, and the pride of life, the reproaches of some, and the heresies of others,
These make the situations of the godly but too strikingly resembled by the lily in the midst of thorns. For, as the prophet speaks, “the good man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men; the best of them is a brier, the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge.” (Mic 7:2; Mic 7:4) How truly blessed is it thus to prove the doctrine of Christ by testimony, and yet more when a child of God discovers, through the Holy Ghost, his own personal interest in it.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Lily
lili (, shushan (1Ki 7:19), , shoshannah (2Ch 4:5; Son 2:1 f; Hos 14:5); plural (Son 2:16; Son 4:5; Son 5:13; Son 6:2 f; Son 7:2; Ecclesiasticus 39:14; 50:8); , krnon (Mat 6:28; Luk 12:27)): The Hebrew is probably a loan word from the Egyptian the original s-sh-n denoting the lotus-flower, Nymphaea lotus. This was probably the model of the architectural ornament, translated lily-work, which appeared upon the capitals of the columns in the temple porch (1Ki 7:19), upon the top of the pillars (1Ki 7:22) and upon the turned-back rim of the molten sea (1Ki 7:26).
Botanically the word shoshannah, like the similar modern Arabic Susan, included in all probability a great many flowers, and was used in a way at least as wide as the popular use of the English word lily. The expression lily of the valleys (Son 2:1) has nothing to do with the plant of that name; the flowers referred to appear to have been associated with the rank herbage of the valley bottoms (Son 4:5); the expression His lips are as lilies (Son 5:13) might imply a scarlet flower, but more probably in oriental imagery signifies a sweet-scented flower; the sweet scent of the lily is referred to in Ecclesiasticus 39:14, and in 50:8 we read of lilies by the rivers of water. The beauty of the blossom is implied in Hos 14:5, where Yahweh promises that repentant Israel shall blossom as the lily. A heap of wheat set about with lilies (Son 7:2) probably refers to the smoothed-out piles of newly threshed wheat on the threshing-floors decorated by a circlet of flowers.
The reference of our Lord to the lilies of the field is probably, like the Old Testament references, quite a general one.
The Hebrew and the Greek very likely include not only any members of the great order Liliaceae, growing in Palestine, e.g. asphodel, squill, hyacinth, ornithogalum (Star of Bethlehem), fritillaria, tulip and colocynth, but also the more showy irises (Tabor lilies purple irises, etc.) and the beautiful gladioli of the Natural Order. Irideae and the familiar narcissi of the Natural Order Amaryllideae.
In later Jewish literature the lily is very frequently referred to symbolically, and a lotus or lily was commonly pictured on several Jewish coins.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Lily
This plant is mentioned in the well-known and beautiful passage (Mat 6:28-29): ‘Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these;’ so also in Luk 12:27. Here it is evident that the plant alluded to must have been indigenous or grown wild, in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee, must have been of an ornamental character, and, from the Greek name given to it, of a liliaceous nature. Travelers in Palestine mention that in the month of January the fields and groves everywhere abound with various species of lily, tulip, and narcissus. Benard noticed, near Acre, on January 18th, and about Jaffa, on the 23rd, tulips, white, red, blue, etc. Gumpenberg saw the meadows of Galilee covered with the same flowers on the 31st. Tulips figure conspicuously among the flowers of Palestine. So Pococke says, ‘I saw many tulips growing wild in the fields (in March), and anyone who considers how beautiful those flowers are to the eye, would be apt to conjecture that these are the lilies to which Solomon in all his glory was not to be compared.’ This is much more likely to be the plant intended than some others which have been adduced, as, for instance, the scarlet amaryllis, having white flowers with bright purple streaks, found by Salt at Adowa. Others have preferred the Crown imperial, which is a native of Persia and Cashmere. Most authors have united in considering the white lily, Lilium candidum, to be the plant to which our Savior referred; but it is doubtful whether it has ever been found in a wild state in Palestine. This opinion is confirmed by a correspondent at Aleppo, who has resided long in Syria, but is acquainted only with the botany of Aleppo and Antioch: ‘I never saw the white lily in a wild state, nor have I heard of its being so in Syria. It is cultivated here on the roofs of the houses in pots as an exotic bulb, like the daffodil.’ The following extract of a letter from Dr. Bowring throws a new light upon the subject: ‘I cannot describe to you with botanical accuracy the lily of Palestine. I heard it called by the title of Lilia syriaca, and I imagine under this title its botanical characteristics may be hunted out. Its color is a brilliant red; its size about half that of the common tiger lily. The white lily I do not remember to have seen in any part of Syria. It was in April and May that I observed my flower, and it was most abundant in the district of Galilee, where it and the Rhododendron (which grew in rich abundance round the paths) most strongly excited my attention.’ On this Dr. Lindley observes, ‘It is clear that neither the white lily, nor the Oporanthus luteus, nor Ixiolirion, will answer to Dr. Bowring’s description, which seems to point to the Chalcedonian or scarlet martagon lily, formerly called the lily of Byzantium, found from the Adriatic to the Levant, and which, with its scarlet turban like flowers, is indeed a most stately and striking object.’ As this lily (the Lilium chalcedonicum of botanists) is in flower at the season of the year when the sermon on the Mount is supposed to have been spoken, is indigenous in the very locality, and is conspicuous, even in the garden, for its remarkable showy flowers, there can now be little doubt that it is the plant alluded to by our Savior.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Lily
shushan, . The well-known flower of graceful form, of which there are several species that grow in the fields and valleys of Palestine. One of great beauty grows near the Merom waters, and is called the Huleh-lily. In the Canticles the bride calls herself ‘a lily of the valley,’ to which the Bridegroom responds, “as the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.” Son 2:1-2. Israel is to grow up as a lily in a future day. Hos 14:5. The pattern of the lily was among the ornamental work of the temple. The lily is extolled by the Lord as exceeding in beauty all the glory of Solomon. 1Ki 7:19; 1Ki 7:22; 1Ki 7:26; Son 2:16; Son 4:5; Son 5:13; Son 6:2-3; Son 7:2; Mat 6:28; Luk 12:27. Some suppose the Lilium Chalcedonicum, the ‘red Turk’s-cap lily,’ to have been the plant referred to by the Lord. Others think it was probably the Anemone coronaria, which they judge to have been included in the Greek . The term may be general, as the modern Arabic susan. LILY-WORK is ornamentation in resemblance to lilies. 1Ki 7:19; 1Ki 7:22. See SHOSHANNIM.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Lily
The principal chapiters of the temple ornamented with carvings of
1Ki 7:19; 1Ki 7:22; 1Ki 7:26
Molded on the rim of the molten laver in the temple
1Ki 7:26; 2Ch 4:5
Lessons of trust gathered from
Mat 6:28-30; Luk 12:27
Figurative, of the lips of the beloved
Son 5:13
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Lily
Lily. A flower repeatedly mentioned in Scripture in both the Old and the New Testaments. It was of gorgeous beauty, Mat 6:28-29, growing near the place where the Sermon on the Mount was delivered, luxuriant and probably rapid in its growth, Hos 14:5; it was found in the valleys among thorns and on pasture land, Son 2:1-2; Son 2:16; Son 4:5; Son 6:3; still, whether it was scarlet, or emitted a fragrant odor, we cannot gather with certainty from Son 5:13, as critics differ in their interpretation of this verse. If the former idea be preferred, the flower may be supposed to be the Lilium Chalcedonicum, or scarlet martagon, which is found plentifully in Galilee in spring-time. If the lily was fragrant, it was probably the Lilium candidum, or common white lily, which also grows in Palestine; or it may designate some species of anemone.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Lily
Lily. (Hebrew, shushan, shoshannah). Although there is little doubt that the Hebrew word denotes some plant of the lily species, it is by no means certain what individual of this class it specially designates. The plant must have been a conspicuous object on the shores of the Lake of Gennesaret, Mat 6:28; Luk 12:27, it must have flourished in the deep broad valleys of Palestine, Son 2:1, among the thorny shrubs, Son 2:2, and pastures of the desert, Son 2:16; Son_ 4:5; Son_ 6:3, and must have been remarkable for its rapid and luxuriant growth. Hos 14:5, Sir 39:14.
That its flowers were brilliant in color would seem to be indicated in Mat 6:28 where it is compared with the gorgeous robes of Solomon; and that this color was scarlet or purple is implied in Son 5:13. There appears to be no species of lily which so completely answers all these requirements as the Lilium chalcedonicum, or scarlet martagon, which grows in profusing in the Levant.
But direct evidence on the point is still to be desired from the observation of travellers. (It is very probable that the term lily here is general, not referring to any particular species, but to a large class of flowers growing in Palestine, and resembling the lily, as the tulip, iris, gladiolus, etc. — Editor).
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
LILY
Son 2:1; Hos 14:5; Mat 6:28; Luk 12:27
Fuente: Thompson Chain-Reference Bible
Lily
occurs in Mat 6:28; Luk 12:27; in the former the Lord speaks of “the lilies of the field;” the “lily” referred to was a flower of rich color, probably including the gladiolus and iris species. The former “grow among the grain, often overtopping it and illuminating the broad fields with their various shades of pinkish purple to deep violet purple and blue. … Anyone who has stood among the wheat fields of Galilee … will see at once the appropriateness of our Savior’s allusion. They all have a reedy stem, which, when dry, would make such fuel as is used in the ovens. The beautiful irises … have gorgeous flowers, and would suit our Savior’s comparison even better than the above. But they are plants of pasture grounds and swamps, and seldom found in grain fields. If, however, we understand by ‘lilies of the field’ simply wild lilies, these would also be included in the expression. Our Savior’s comparison would then be like a ‘composite photograph,’ a reference to all the splendid colors and beautiful shapes of the numerous wild plants comprehended under the name ‘lily'” (G. E. Post, in Hastings’ Bib. Dic.).
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Lily
, 1Ki 7:19; 1Ki 7:22; 1Ki 7:26; 2Ch 4:5; Son 2:2; Son 2:16; Son 4:5; Son 5:13; Son 6:2-3; Son 7:2; Hos 14:5; , Mat 6:28; Luk 12:27; a well known sweet and beautiful flower, which furnished Solomon with a variety of charming images in his Song, and with graceful ornaments in the fabric and furniture of the temple. The title of some of the Psalms upon Shushan, or Shoshanim, Psalms 45; Psalms 60; Psalms 69; Psalms 80, probably means no more than that the music of these sacred compositions was to be regulated by that of some odes, which were known by those names or appellations. By the lily of the valley, Son 2:2, we are not to understand the humble flower, generally so called, with us, the lilium convallium, but the noble flower which ornaments our gardens, and which in Palestine grows wild in the fields, and especially in the valleys. Pliny reckons the lily the next plant in excellency to the rose; and the gay Anacreon, compares Venus to this flower. In the east, as with us, it is the emblem of purity and moral excellence. So the Persian poet, Sadi, compares an amiable youth to the white lily in a bed of narcissuses, because he surpassed all the young shepherds in goodness.
As, in Son 5:13, the lips are compared to the lily, Bishop Patrick supposes the lily here instanced to be the same which, on account of its deep red colour, is particularly called by Pliny rubens lilium, and which, he tells us, was much esteemed in Syria. Such may have been the lily mentioned in Mat 6:28-30; for the royal robes were purple: Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these; so in Luk 12:27. The scarcity of fuel in the east obliges the inhabitants to use, by turns, every kind of combustible matter. The withered stalks of herbs and flowers, the tendrils of the vine, the small branches of rosemary, and other plants, are all used in heating their ovens and bagnios. We can easily recognize this practice in that remark of our Lord, If God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Mat 6:30. The grass of the field, in this passage, evidently includes the lilies of which he had just been speaking, and, by consequence, herbs in general; and in this extensive sense the word is not unfrequently taken. Those beautiful productions of nature, so richly strayed, and so exquisitely perfumed, that the splendour even of Solomon is not to be compared to theirs, shall soon wither and decay, and be used as fuel. God has so adorned these flowers and plants of the field, which retain their beauty and vigour but for a few days, and are then applied to some of the meanest purposes of life: will he not much more take care of his servants, who are so precious in his sight, and designed for such important services in the world? This passage is one of those of which Sir Thomas Browne says, The variously interspersed expressions from plants and flowers elegantly advantage the significancy of the text.
Mr. Salt, in his Voyage to Abyssinia, says, At a few miles from Adowa, we discovered a new and beautiful species of amaryllis, which bore from ten to twelve spikes of bloom on each stem, as large as those of the belladonna, springing from one common receptacle. The general colour of the corolla was white, and every petal was marked with a single streak of bright purple down the middle. The flower was sweet scented, and its smell, though much more powerful, resembled that of the lily of the valley. This superb plant excited the admiration of the whole party; and it brought immediately to my recollection the beautiful comparison used on a particular occasion by our Saviour: I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.’ And Sir James E. Smith observes, It is natural to presume the divine Teacher, according to his usual custom, called the attention of his hearers to some object at hand; and as the fields of the Levant are overrun with the amaryllis lutea, whose golden lilaceous flowers in autumn afford one of the most brilliant and gorgeous objects in nature, the expression of Solomon in all his glory not being arrayed like one of these,’ is peculiarly appropriate. I consider the feeling with which this was expressed as the highest honour ever done to the study of plants; and if my botanical conjecture be right, we learn a chronological fact respecting the season of the year when the sermon on the mount was delivered.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Lily
Son 2:1 (b) This flower is a type of CHRIST in His beauty and loveliness. We should notice that the word “valley” is in the plural. The Lord knew we would have many valleys between the cradle and the grave, and would need the Saviour in His beauty and sweetness in every one of them. This lily is a type of CHRIST, first because it is always pure white. Then, it is always fragrant, with an unusual sweetness of its own. It is also a universal flower, found wherever man lives and vegetation can grow. It always droops with its beautiful little bells hanging toward the ground; one must be low and lowly, and then look up into the beauty of CHRIST in order to enjoy Him. This lily does not live on public highways, but is found in sheltered nooks. So it is with CHRIST JESUS. He is not found in the public markets, nor in the busy throng, but in the secret place of the Most High, under the shadow of the Almighty.
Some think that this lily is a type of the Bride, the Church of CHRIST.
– because it grows on the earth and though the earth is black the lily grows up white, thus showing the transforming power of the Lord.
– because it brings joy to the heart of its owner by it’s beauty and fragrance even as the church brings joy to the Lord.
– Because there are so few of them compared with the number of weeds and worthless plants even as the Christians are few in number compared to the sinners.
Hos 14:5 (a) This is a type of Israel in the regeneration when they will be restored to the Lord and shall bring joy to His heart by the beauty and fragrance of their testimony.
Luk 12:27 (a) Here we see a picture of GOD’s gracious care for each child of GOD. GOD beautifies them and supplies their needs. They, in turn, give forth loveliness and perfume for the blessing and the joy of GOD.