the Week of Proper 6 / Ordinary 11
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THE MESSAGE
Song of Solomon 2:1
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
I am a wildflower of Sharon,
I am a rose of Sharon, A lily of the valleys.
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
"I am the rose of Sharon, The lily of the valleys."
I am a rose in the Plain of Sharon, a lily in the valleys.
"I am the rose [of the plain] of Sharon, The lily of the valleys [that grows in deep places]."
I am a rose of Sharon, A lily of the valleys.
I am the rose of the fielde, and the lilie of the valleys.
"I am the rose of Sharon,The lily of the valleys."
I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley.
She Speaks: I am merely a rose from the land of Sharon, a lily from the valley.
I am but a rose from the Sharon, just a lily in the valleys.
I am a narcissus of Sharon, A lily of the valleys.
I am a rose on the plain of Sharon, a lily in the valleys.
I AM like the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley.
I am only a wild flower in Sharon, a lily in a mountain valley.
I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
I am the floure of the felde, and lylie of the valleys:
I am a rose of Sharon, A lily of the valleys.
I am a rose of Sharon, a flower of the valleys.
I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
I Am the rose of Sharon, and the lillie of the valleys.
I am the rose of the fielde, and lillie of the valleys,
I am a flower of the plain, a lily of the valleys.
I AM a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
I am a flour of the feeld, and a lilye of grete valeis.
I am a rose of Sharon, A lily of the valleys.
I [am] the rose of Sharon, [and] the lily of the valleys.
The Beloved to Her Lover:
I am a meadow flower from Sharon, a lily from the valleys.I am the rose of Sharon, And the lily of the valleys.
Young Woman
I am the spring crocus blooming on the Sharon Plain, the lily of the valley."I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys."
I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
SHEI am The meadow-saffron of Sharon, The lily of the valleys.
I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys.
I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
As a lily among the thorns,
"I am the rose of Sharon, The lily of the valleys."
Contextual Overview
The Man
A lotus blossoming in a swamp of weeds— that's my dear friend among the girls in the village.Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
the rose: Psalms 85:11, Isaiah 35:1, Isaiah 35:2
lily: Song of Solomon 2:16, Song of Solomon 6:3, Isaiah 57:15
Reciprocal: 1 Chronicles 5:16 - Sharon Song of Solomon 5:10 - beloved Song of Solomon 5:16 - most Isaiah 33:9 - Sharon Hosea 14:5 - he shall
Cross-References
First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground— God hadn't yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)— God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!
Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.
He wrote on, "Blessed be the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, and who gave King David a son so wise, so knowledgeable and shrewd, to build a temple for God and a palace for himself. I've sent you Huram-Abi—he's already on his way—he knows the construction business inside and out. His mother is from Dan and his father from Tyre. He knows how to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, in purple, violet, linen, and crimson textiles; he is also an expert engraver and competent to work out designs with your artists and architects, and those of my master David, your father.
Then on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the People of Israel gathered for a fast, wearing burlap and faces smudged with dirt as signs of repentance. The Israelites broke off all relations with foreigners, stood up, and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their parents. While they stood there in their places, they read from the Book of The Revelation of God , their God, for a quarter of the day. For another quarter of the day they confessed and worshiped their God . A group of Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani—stood on the platform and cried out to God , their God, in a loud voice. The Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, "On your feet! Bless God , your God, for ever and ever!" Blessed be your glorious name, exalted above all blessing and praise! You're the one, God , you alone; You made the heavens, the heavens of heavens, and all angels; The earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them; You keep them all alive; heaven's angels worship you!
The skies were made by God 's command; he breathed the word and the stars popped out. He scooped Sea into his jug, put Ocean in his keg.
God 's Message, the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies, laid out the earth and all that grows from it, Who breathes life into earth's people, makes them alive with his own life: "I am God . I have called you to live right and well. I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe. I have set you among my people to bind them to me, and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations, To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light: opening blind eyes, releasing prisoners from dungeons, emptying the dark prisons. I am God . That's my name. I don't franchise my glory, don't endorse the no-god idols. Take note: The earlier predictions of judgment have been fulfilled. I'm announcing the new salvation work. Before it bursts on the scene, I'm telling you all about it."
God , Creator of the heavens— he is, remember, G od. Maker of earth— he put it on its foundations, built it from scratch. He didn't go to all that trouble to just leave it empty, nothing in it. He made it to be lived in. This God says: "I am God , the one and only. I don't just talk to myself or mumble under my breath. I never told Jacob, ‘Seek me in emptiness, in dark nothingness.' I am God . I work out in the open, saying what's right, setting things right. So gather around, come on in, all you refugees and castoffs. They don't seem to know much, do they— those who carry around their no-god blocks of wood, praying for help to a dead stick? So tell me what you think. Look at the evidence. Put your heads together. Make your case. Who told you, and a long time ago, what's going on here? Who made sense of things for you? Wasn't I the one? God ? It had to be me. I'm the only God there is— The only God who does things right and knows how to help. So turn to me and be helped—saved!— everyone, whoever and wherever you are. I am God , the only God there is, the one and only. I promise in my own name: Every word out of my mouth does what it says. I never take back what I say. Everyone is going to end up kneeling before me. Everyone is going to end up saying of me, ‘Yes! Salvation and strength are in God !'" All who have raged against him will be brought before him, disgraced by their unbelief. And all who are connected with Israel will have a robust, praising, good life in God !
"Pay close attention now: I'm creating new heavens and a new earth. All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain are things of the past, to be forgotten. Look ahead with joy. Anticipate what I'm creating: I'll create Jerusalem as sheer joy, create my people as pure delight. I'll take joy in Jerusalem, take delight in my people: No more sounds of weeping in the city, no cries of anguish; No more babies dying in the cradle, or old people who don't enjoy a full lifetime; One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal— anything less will seem like a cheat. They'll build houses and move in. They'll plant fields and eat what they grow. No more building a house that some outsider takes over, No more planting fields that some enemy confiscates, For my people will be as long-lived as trees, my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work. They won't work and have nothing come of it, they won't have children snatched out from under them. For they themselves are plantings blessed by God , with their children and grandchildren likewise God -blessed. Before they call out, I'll answer. Before they've finished speaking, I'll have heard. Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow, lion and ox eat straw from the same trough, but snakes—they'll get a diet of dirt! Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill anywhere on my Holy Mountain," says God .
But the Portion-of-Jacob is the real thing. He put the whole universe together And pays special attention to Israel. His name? God -of-the-Angel-Armies!
Gill's Notes on the Bible
I [am] the rose of Sharon, [and] the lily of the valleys. Whether Christ, or the church, is here speaking, is not certain: most of the Jewish writers t, and some Christian interpreters u, take them to be the words of the church, expressing the excellency of her grace, loveliness, and beauty, she had from Christ; and intimating also her being in the open fields, exposed to many dangers and enemies, and so needed his protection. The church may be compared to a "rose", for its beautiful colour and sweet odour w, and for its delight in sunny places, where it thrives best, and is most fragrant. This figure is exceeding just; not only the beauty of women is expressed by the colour of the rose x, as is common in poems of this kind; to give instances of it would be endless y; some have had the name of Rhoda from hence; see Acts 12:13. No rose can be more beautiful in colour, and delightful to the eye, than the church is in the eyes of Christ, as clothed with his righteousness, and adorned with the graces of his Spirit: nor is any rose of a more sweet and fragrant smell than the persons of believers are to God and Christ, being considered in him; and even their graces, when in exercise, yea, their duties and services, when performed in faith; and, as the rose, they grow and thrive under the warming, comforting, and refreshing beams of the sun of righteousness, where they delight to be. The church may also be compared to a "lily of the valleys", as she is, in the next verse, to one among thorns. This is a very beautiful flower; Pliny z says it is next in nobleness to the rose; its whiteness is singularly excellent; no plant more fruitful, and no flower exceeds it in height; in some countries, it rises up three cubits high; has a weak neck or body, insufficient to bear the weight of its head. The church may be compared to a lily, for her beauty and fragrance, as to a rose; and the redness of the rose, and the whiteness of the lily, meeting in her, make her somewhat like her beloved, white and ruddy; like the lily, being arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, the righteousness of the saints; and like it for fruitfulness, as it is in good works, under the influence of divine grace, and grows up on high into her head, Christ Jesus; and though weak in herself, yet strong in him, who supports her, and not she him: and the church may be compared to a "lily of the valleys"; which may not describe any particular lily, and what we now call so; but only expresses the place where it grows, in low places, where plants are in danger of being plucked and trodden upon; though they may have more moisture and verdure than those in higher places; so the church of Christ is sometimes in a low estate, exposed to enemies, and liable to be trampled and trodden under foot by them, and to be carried away with the flood of persecution, were it not guarded by divine power; and, being watered with the dews of grace, it becomes flourishing and fruitful. But the more commonly received opinion is, that these are the words of Christ concerning himself; and which indeed best become him, and are more agreeable to his style and language, John 14:6; and suit best with the words in the Song of Solomon 2:2, as one observes a; nor is it unfitly taken by the bridegroom to himself, since it is sometimes given by lovers to men b. Christ may be compared to a rose for its colour and smell; to the rose for its red colour: and which may be expressive of the truth of his humanity, and of his bloody sufferings in it; and this, with the whiteness of the lily, finishes the description of him for his beauty, Song of Solomon 5:10; and for its sweet smell; which denotes the same things for which he is before compared to spikenard, myrrh, and camphire. The rose, as Pliny says c, delights not in fat soils and rich clays, but in rubbish, and roses that grow there are of the sweetest smell; and such was the earth about Sharon d; and to a rose there Christ is compared, to show the excellency and preferableness of him to all others. The word is only used here and in Isaiah 35:1. Where it is in many versions rendered a "lily": it seems to be compounded of two words; one which signifies to "cover" and hide, and another which signifies a "shadow"; and so may be rendered, "the covering shadow": but for what reason a rose should be so called is not easy to say; unless it can be thought to have the figure of an umbrella; or that the rose tree in those parts was so large, as to be remarkable for its shadow; like that Montfaucon e saw, in a garden at Ravenna, under the shadow of the branches of which more than forty men could stand: Christ is sometimes compared to trees for their shadow, which is pleasant and reviving, as in Song of Solomon 2:3. Some render it, "the flower of the field" f; which may be expressive of the meanness of Christ in the eyes of men; of his not being of human production; of his being accessible; and of his being liable to be trampled upon, as he has been. And as he is compared to a rose, so to a "lily", for its colour, height, and fruitfulness; expressive of his purity in himself, of his superiority to angels and men, and of his being filled with the fruits and blessings of grace; and to a lily of the valleys, denoting his wonderful condescension in his low estate of humiliation, and his delight in dwelling with the humble and lowly: some render the words, "I am the rose of Sharon, with the lily of the valleys" g; by the former epithet meaning himself; and by the latter his church, his companion, in strict union and communion with him; of whom the following words are spoken.
t Zohar in Gen. fol. 46. 2. Targum, Aben Ezra, Yalkut in loc. u Ainsworth, Brightman, Vatablus Cocceius; Michaelis. w The rose, by the Arcadians, was called ευομφαλον, that is, "sweet-smelling", Timachidas apud Athenaei Deipnosophist. l. 15. c. 8. p. 682. and "rosy" is used for "beautiful"; "rosea cervice refulsit", Virgil. Aeneid. l. 1. Vid. Servium in ibid. x So Helena, for her beauty, is called ροδοχρως ελενα, in Theocrit. Idyll. 19. The rose was sacred to Venus, Pausaniae Eliac. 2. sive l. 6, p. 391. y Vid. Barthii Animadv. ad Claudian. de Nupt. Honor. v. 247. z Nat. Hist. l. 21. c. 5. a Durham in Ioc. b "Mea rosa", Plauti Bacchides, Sc. 1. v. 50. Asinaria, Act. 3, Sc. 3. v. 74. Curculio, Act. 1. Sc. 2. v. 6. c Nat. Hist. l. 21. c. 4. d Misnah Sotah, c. 8. s. 3. e Diar. Italic, c. 7. p. 100. f ανθος του πεδιου, Sept. "flos campi", V. L. Pagninus, Mercerus. g "Ego rosa Sharon lilio vallium", Marckius.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
The division of the chapters is unfortunate; Song of Solomon 2:0 ought to have begun at Song of Solomon 1:15, or Song of Solomon 1:0 to have been continued to Song of Solomon 2:7. The bride replies, “And I am like a lovely wild flower springing at the root of the stately forest-trees.” The majority of Christian fathers assigned this verse to the King (Christ). Hebrew commentators generally assign it to the bride. It is quite uncertain what flower is meant by the word rendered (here and Isaiah 35:1) “rose.” The etymology is in favor of its being a bulbous plant (the white narcissus, Conder). “Sharon” is usually the proper name of the celebrated plain from Joppa to Caesarea, between the hill-country and the sea, and travelers have remarked the abundance of flowers with which this plain is still carpeted in spring. But in the time of Eusebius and Jerome there was a smaller plain of Sharon (Saron) situated between Mount Tabor and the sea of Tiberias, which would be very near the bride’s native home if that were Shunem.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER II
A description of the bridegroom, and his love to the bride, 1-9.
A fine description of spring, 10-13.
The mutual love of both, 14-17.
NOTES ON CHAP. II
Verse Song of Solomon 2:1. I am the rose of Sharon — Sharon was a very fruitful place, where David's cattle were fed, 1 Chronicles 27:29. It is mentioned as a place of excellence, Isaiah 35:2, and as a place of flocks, Isaiah 65:10, Perhaps it would be better, with almost all the versions, to translate, "I am the rose of the field." The bridegroom had just before called her fair; she with a becoming modesty, represents her beauty as nothing extraordinary, and compares herself to a common flower of the field. This, in the warmth of his affection, he denies, insisting that she as much surpasses all other maidens as the flower of the lily does the bramble, Song of Solomon 2:2.
