Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, June 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 6 / Ordinary 11
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Song of Solomon 2:2

The Man

A lotus blossoming in a swamp of weeds— that's my dear friend among the girls in the village.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Righteous;   Scofield Reference Index - Christ;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Saints, Compared to;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Lilly;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Bramble;   Hannah;   Lily;   Thistle;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Brier;   Lily;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Flowers;   Plants in the Bible;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Flowers;   Thorns, Thistles, Etc;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Lily,;   Song of Solomon;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Cedar tree;   Lily;   Shushan;   Susanna;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Lily;   Mary;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Lily;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Thorn;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Lily;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Song of Songs;   Thorns;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Artisans;   Chosen People;   Eleazar I. (Lazar) (Eleazar B. Shammua');   Lily;   Shekinah;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Like a lily among thorns,so is my darling among the young women.
Hebrew Names Version
As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters. Beloved
King James Version
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
English Standard Version

He

As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women.
New American Standard Bible
"Like a lily among the thorns, So is my darling among the young women."
New Century Version
Among the young women, my darling is like a lily among thorns!
Amplified Bible
"Like the lily among the thorns, So are you, my darling, among the maidens."
World English Bible
As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters. Beloved
Geneva Bible (1587)
Like a lilie amog the thornes, so is my loue among the daughters.
Legacy Standard Bible
"Like a lily among the thorns,So is my darling among the daughters."
Berean Standard Bible
Like a lily among the thorns is my darling among the maidens.
Contemporary English Version
He Speaks: My darling, when compared with other young women, you are a lily among thorns.
Complete Jewish Bible

[He]

Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the other women.
Darby Translation
As the lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.
Easy-to-Read Version
My darling, among other women, you are like a lily among thorns!
George Lamsa Translation
Like the lilies among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters.
Good News Translation

The Man

Like a lily among thorns is my darling among women.
Lexham English Bible
Like a lily among the thorns, so is my love among the maidens.
Literal Translation
As a lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
as the rose amonge the thornes, so is my loue amonge the daughters.
American Standard Version
As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.
Bible in Basic English
As the lily-flower among the thorns of the waste, so is my love among the daughters.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
King James Version (1611)
As the lillie among thornes, so is my loue among the daughters.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
As the lillie among the thornes: so is my loue among the daughters.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
As a lily among thorns, so is my companion among the daughters.
English Revised Version
As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
As a lilie among thornes, so is my frendesse among douytris.
Update Bible Version
As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.
Webster's Bible Translation
As the lily among thorns, so [is] my love among the daughters.
New English Translation

The Lover to His Beloved:

Like a lily among the thorns, so is my darling among the maidens.
New King James Version
Like a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.
New Living Translation

Young Man

Like a lily among thistles is my darling among young women.
New Life Bible
"Like a lily among the thorns, so is my loved one among the young women."
New Revised Standard
As a lily among brambles, so is my love among maidens.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
HEAs a lily among thorns, So, is my fair one, among the daughters!
Douay-Rheims Bible
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
Revised Standard Version
As a lily among brambles, so is my love among maidens.
Young's Literal Translation
So [is] my friend among the daughters!
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Like a lily among the thorns, So is my darling among the maidens."

Contextual Overview

1 I'm just a wildflower picked from the plains of Sharon, a lotus blossom from the valley pools. 2

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

Isaiah 55:13, Matthew 6:28, Matthew 6:29, Matthew 10:16, Philippians 2:15, Philippians 2:16, 1 Peter 2:12

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 23:6 - thorns 2 Kings 14:9 - The thistle Psalms 45:11 - So shall Song of Solomon 1:9 - O my Song of Solomon 6:1 - O thou Song of Solomon 6:2 - and to Hosea 14:5 - he shall

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning— Day Six.
Genesis 2:8
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.
Exodus 23:12
"Work for six days and rest the seventh so your ox and donkey may rest and your servant and migrant workers may have time to get their needed rest.
Isaiah 58:13
"If you watch your step on the Sabbath and don't use my holy day for personal advantage, If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy, God 's holy day as a celebration, If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,' making money, running here and there— Then you'll be free to enjoy God ! Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all. I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob." Yes! God says so!
John 5:17
But Jesus defended himself. "My Father is working straight through, even on the Sabbath. So am I."
Hebrews 4:4
When the Promises Are Mixed with Faith For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God's goal for us, we need to be careful that we're not disqualified. We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn't do them a bit of good because they didn't receive the promises with faith. If we believe, though, we'll experience that state of resting. But not if we don't have faith. Remember that God said, Exasperated, I vowed, "They'll never get where they're going, never be able to sit down and rest." God made that vow, even though he'd finished his part before the foundation of the world. Somewhere it's written, "God rested the seventh day, having completed his work," but in this other text he says, "They'll never be able to sit down and rest." So this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient. God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David's psalm, centuries later than the original invitation: Today, please listen, don't turn a deaf ear... And so this is still a live promise. It wasn't canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn't keep renewing the appointment for "today." The promise of "arrival" and "rest" is still there for God's people. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we'll surely rest with God. So let's keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience. God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it—no matter what. Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

As the lily among thorns, so [is] my love among the daughters. These are manifestly the words of Christ concerning his church, whom he calls "my love", :-; and was his love still, though in such company, and in such an uncomfortable condition. In what sense she is comparable to a lily has been shown in Song of Solomon 2:1; but here she is compared to one among "thorns": by which may be meant wicked men, comparable to thorns for their unfruitfulness and unprofitableness; for their being hurtful and pernicious to good men; and for their end, which is to be burned; especially persecutors of religion, who are very distressing to the saints who dwell among them; see 2 Samuel 23:6; and her being among such serves for a foil, to set off her excellency the more: and the simile is designed, not so much to observe that Christ's lily grows among thorns, as to show that the church is as preferable to such persons as a lily is to thorns; which is justly remarked by Carolus Maria de Veil; and which sense the comparison requires, as appears by the reddition, so is "my love among the daughters": the nations and men of the world, and even carnal professors, members of the visible church, whom she as much exceeds in beauty, grace, and fruitfulness, as the lily exceeds thorns. Ainsworth thinks the "woodbind" or "honeysuckle" is meant, which grows in thorn hedges, and is sometimes called "lilium inter spinas", as Mercer observes; this is indeed of a sweet smell, yet very weak, and cannot support itself; and therefore twists and wraps itself about other trees, their twigs and branches, "convolvens se adminiculis quibuscunque", as Pliny h says; hence we call it "woodbind", and for the same reason its name in Greek is "periclymenon"; so saints are of a sweet fragrance to Christ, and, weak in themselves, cannot support themselves; yet they twine about Christ, lean on him, and are upheld by him, and depend on him for all good things. But it is the same word as in Song of Solomon 2:1, and may be rendered "lily" here as there; and not a "rose", as it is in the Targum, from which it is there distinguished. The lily is often mentioned in this love song; it is said to be the delight of Verus i. Some call it "ambrosia".

h Nat. Hist. l. 27. c. 12. i Nicander apud Athenaeum, l. 15. c. 8. p. 683.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The king resumes, taking up the bride’s comparison: “As the lily excels in beauty the thorny shrubs among which it grows, so my friend excels her companions.”


 
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