Flowers
From Bible Exegesis
flou´ẽ̱rz (Bloom, Blossom, etc.):
Very few species of flowers are mentioned in the Bible although they abounded in Palestine. It has been calculated that in Western Syria and Palestine from two thousand to two thousand five hundred plants are found, of which about five hundred probably are British wild-flowers. Their beauty is often alluded to (Song Of Songs 2:12; Matthew 6:28). They are referred to as affording an emblem of the transitory nature of human life (Job 14:2; Psalm 103:15; Isaiah 28:1; Isaiah 40:6; James 1:10). Gardens containing flowers and fragrant herbs are spoken of (Song Of Songs 4:16; Song Of Songs 6:2).
(1) גּבעל, gibh‛ōl, literally, “a small cup,” hence, calyx or corolla of a flower (Exodus 9:31, “The flax was in bloom”).
(2) נץ, nēc (Genesis 40:10, נצּה, niccāh, “a flower” or “blossom”; Job 15:33; Isaiah 18:5). These words are used of the early berries of the vine or olive.
(3) נצּן, niccān, “a flower”; plural only, נצּנים, niccānīm (Song Of Songs 2:12, “The flowers appear on the earth”).
(4) פרח, peraḥ, root to “burst forth” expresses an early stage of flowering; “blossom” (Isaiah 5:24; Isaiah 18:5); “flower” (Nahum 1:4, “The flower of Lebanon languisheth”). Used of artificial flowers in candlesticks (Exodus 25:31).
(5) ציץ, cīc, “flower” (Isaiah 40:6); plural צצּים, ciccīm, flowers as architectural ornaments (1 Kings 6:18); ציצה, cīcāh, “the fading flower of his glorious beauty” (Isaiah 28:1, Isaiah 28:4; also Numbers 17:8; Job 14:2, etc.).
(6) ἄνθος, ánthos, in Septuagint equivalent of all the Hebrew words (James 1:10, James 1:11; 1 Peter 1:24).
The beauty of the profusion of flowers which cover Palestine every spring receives but scant reference in the Old Testament; Song Of Songs 2:12 is perhaps the only clear reference. It is noticeable that the native of Syria thinks little of flowers unless it be for their perfume. our Lord's reference to the flowers (“lilies”) is well known (Matthew 6:28; Luke 12:27). For details of the flowers of modern Palestine, see Botany. The aptness of the expression “flower of the field” for a type of the evanescence of human life (Job 14:2; Psalm 103:15; Isaiah 40:6; James 1:10) is the more impressive in a land like Palestine where the annual display of wild flowers, so glorious for a few short weeks, is followed by such desolation. The fresh and brilliant colors fade into masses of withered leaves (not uncommonly cleared by burning), and then even these are blown, away, so that but bare, cracked and baked earth remains for long months where once all was beauty, color and life.
