Song of Solomon 2:1

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
rose	חֲבַצֶּ֣לֶת cha.va.Tze.let	H2261	probably meadow-saffron · noun, common feminine singular construct
Sharon	הַשָּׁר֔וֹן ha.sha.Ron	H8289	plain · definite article + proper noun, a place name
lily	שֽׁוֹשַׁנַּ֖ת sho.sha.Nat	H7799	a lily (from its whiteness) · noun, common feminine singular construct
valleys	הָעֲמָקִֽים ha.'a.ma.Kim	H6010	a vale (i.e. broad depression) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that i…
Hosea 14:5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
Isaiah 35:1-2 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
Song of Solomon 5:13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
Song of Solomon 2:16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
Song of Solomon 6:3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.
Psalms 85:11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

John Gill on Song of Solomon 2:1

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…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes on Song of Solomon 2:1-7

In this short poem, the man and the woman exchange compliments. Using metaphors of flowers and trees, they describe the nature of their loving relationship, emphasizing his role as protector and provider. • The poem ends (2:6) with the man and the woman in an intimate embrace. 2:1-2 the lily of the valley:the lily of the valleys: The Hebrew shows the woman’s modesty and humility, as she claims to be but one flower among many in Sharon and in the expansive valleys of Israel. • The man affirms her comparison to a lily, but says that her beauty is far from common; she is a lily among thistles. • my darling (literally my companion): They are in love, and they are also friends.

Rashi on Song of Solomon 2:1

A rose. This is a rose שׁוֹשַׁנָּה=חֲבַצֶּלֶת.1Alternatively, a young rose is called חבצלת and requires the abundant sunshine of the mountains. A mature rose is called שושנה, and the climate of the valley is best suited for it. (Sefer Duda’im) A rose of the valleys. This [rose] is prettier than the rose of the mountains because it is always moist,2Also, the mountain rose wilts sooner. since the sun’s intensity is not strong there.

Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).

The Church Fathers

The justified here begins to praise herself and says, "I am the flower of the field" because she was not spread abroad throughout the earth. For, behold, I am a flower to all men through faith in you.
— Hippolytus of Rome, TREATISE ON THE SONG OF SONGS 17:1

[Christ] himself says in the Song of Songs, "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley." Our rose is the destruction of death, and [that rose] died that death itself might die in his dying.
— Jerome, LETTER 75.1

I was "a flower of the countryside," that is, I assumed an earthly body and sprang from the earth, being eternal and exalted or, rather, immeasurable. I became "a lily" not of mountains or hills, or simply of the countryside, but of "valleys": I brought not only the good news of salvation to the living but also resurrection to the dead, descending to the lower parts of the earth to fill everything. This is the reason he calls himself "a flower of the countryside, a lily of the valleys," that is, the dead: to them he both promised and brought into effect a return to life.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Lily — The Hebrew name shushan or shoshan, i.e., “whiteness”, was used as the general name of several plants common to Syria, such as the tulip, iris, anemone, gladiolus, ranunculus, etc. Some interpret it,…
Rose — Many varieties of the rose proper are indigenous to Syria. The famed rose of Damascus is white, but there are also red and yellow roses. In Cant. 2:1 and Isa. 35:1 the Hebrew word habatstseleth…
Sharon, Saron — A plain, a level tract extending from the Mediterranean to the hill country to the west of Jerusalem, about 30 miles long and from 8 to 15 miles broad, celebrated for its beauty and fertility (1 Chr.…
Valley — (1.) Heb. bik’ah, a “cleft” of the mountains (Deut. 8:7; 11:11; Ps. 104:8; Isa. 41:18); also a low plain bounded by mountains, as the plain of Lebanon at the foot of Hermon around the sources of the…
Flowers · Mentioned in scripture: The lily of the valley — Mentioned in scripture: The lily of the valley
Rose · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Sharon · .Roses and beauty of — .Roses and beauty of
Valleys · Abounded with: Lily of the valley — Abounded with: Lily of the valley

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).