 "My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over [and] gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing [of birds] is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines [with] the tender grape give a [good] smell.
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, [that art] in the clefts of the rock, in the secret [places] of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet [is] thy voice, and thy countenance [is] comely. Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines [have] tender grapes. My beloved [is] mine, and I [am] his: he feedeth among the lilies. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether."
The pictures above are what some believe to be the actual rose of Sharon, which, according to archeological records from the area., is not actually a "rose" at all according to the modern definition, but a member of the gladiolus family.
The Bible does not use the rose of Sharon as a symbol for Jesus so far as I can tell but this phrase obviously has had tremendous resonance in our culture.
No one today knows exactly what this flower looked like at the time of Solomon. The Hebrew word chabatstseleth is translated as "rose" but Hebrew lexicons say this referred to a "meadow saffron" many of which can still be found in the area today. Gilead was nearby and the balm of Gilead is mentioned in the Bible [Genesis 37:25; Jeremiah 8:22; 46:11] as a healing ointment of great value, sometimes used as a trading commodity. There is not direct Biblical connection between the two but your question was quite interesting because of this. Portions of today's roses, called rose "hips", are used for medical treatment.
Answer Given By: Clay Willis |
"I [am] the rose of Sharon, [and] the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so [is] my love among the daughters. As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so [is] my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit [was] sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me [was] love. Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I [am] sick of love. His left hand [is] under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake [my] love, till he please. The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.