Lily (Shushan, κρίνον)

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 8
 
 
Lilium Chalcedonicum1
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 Song of Solomon 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” (Song of Sol. 2:1-21I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. 2As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. (Song of Solomon 2:1‑2)). Israel is to grow up as a lily in a future day (Hos. 14:55I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. (Hosea 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 (1 Kings 7:19,22,2619And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the porch, four cubits. (1 Kings 7:19)
22And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished. (1 Kings 7:22)
26And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths. (1 Kings 7:26); Song of Sol. 2:1616My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. (Song of Solomon 2:16); Song of Sol. 4:55Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. (Song of Solomon 4:5); Song of Sol. 5:1313His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. (Song of Solomon 5:13); Song of Sol. 6:2-32My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 3I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies. (Song of Solomon 6:2‑3); Song of Sol. 7:22Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies. (Song of Solomon 7:2); Matt. 6:2828And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: (Matthew 6:28); Luke 12:2727Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Luke 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 κρινον. The term may be general, as the modern Arabic susan. LILY-WORK is ornamentation in resemblance to lilies (1 Kings 7:19, 2219And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the porch, four cubits. (1 Kings 7:19)
22And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished. (1 Kings 7:22)). See SHOSHANNIM.
 
A field in Israel with Anemone Coronaria.
 
1. Ernst Gügel, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons