the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Lily
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
or שושן , 1 Kings 7:19; 1 Kings 7:22; 1 Kings 7:26; 2 Chronicles 4:5; Song of Solomon 2:2; Song of Solomon 2:16; Song of Solomon 4:5; Song of Solomon 5:13; Song of Solomon 6:2-3; Song of Solomon 7:2; Hosea 14:5; κρινον , Matthew 6:28; Luke 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," Song of Solomon 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 Song of Solomon 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 Matthew 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 Luke 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?" Matthew 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 χορτος 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."
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Watson, Richard. Entry for 'Lily'. Richard Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/wtd/l/lily.html. 1831-2.
