rose Summary and Overview

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" (found only in these passages), rendered "rose" (R.V. marg., "autumn crocus"), is supposed by some to mean the oleander, by others the sweet-scented narcissus (a native of Israel), the tulip, or the daisy; but nothing definite can be affirmed regarding it. The "rose of Sharon" is probably the cistus or rock-rose, several species of which abound in Israel. "Mount Carmel especially abounds in the cistus, which in April covers some of the barer parts of the mountain with a glow not inferior to that of the Scottish heather." (See MYRRH T0002632 [2].)

occurs twice only, viz. in #So 2:1; Isa 35:1| There is much difference of opinion as to what particular flower is here denoted; but it appears to us most probable that the narcissus is intended. Chateaubriand mentions the narcissus as growing in the Plain of Sharon. Roses are greatly prized in the East, more especially for the sake of the rose-water, which is much request. Dr. Hooker observed seven species of wild roses in Syria.

ROSE (acrid bulb). The meaning of the original excludes from our consideration the true rose and several other plants suggested. It is the opinion of some of the best authorities that the polyanthus narcissus (Narcissus tazetta) is intended in Song 2:1 and Isa 35:1, where alone the rose is mentioned. This beautiful and fragrant narcissus grows in the plain of Sharon, as is required by these references, and during its season of bloom is sold in the bazaars of the East and carried by everybody as a specially favorite flower. The "rose of Sharon" of modern writers is a rose-like species of cistus, while the "rose of Jericho" is a small woody plant with minute cruciferous flowers. True wild roses are rarely seen except in the extreme North of Palestine.

Song of Solomon 2:1; Isaiah 35:1; the autumn crocus, the meadow saffron of a white and violet color, Colchicum autumnale (Gesenius). The Hebrew chabatseleth implies a bulbous plant (betsel, a "bulb"). The narcissus is very fragrant, and therefore more likely than the crocus; the lily is associated with it in the Song of Solomon. They blossom about the same time; another reason for the narcissus rather than the crocus, which blossoms not until autumn. The narcissus grows in the plain of Sharon (Chateaubriand, Itineraire, ii. 130). The rose is not mentioned in the Bible, but in the apocryphal Ecclesiasticus (Sirach 24:14), "I (wisdom) was as a rose plant in Jericho." "The rose of Jericho" is not a rose, but the Anastatica Hierochuntina. However, roses now grow in Israel, both cultivated and wild. The Hebrew implying a bulbous plant may refer to the bulb-like flower of the rose with its petals folded over each other (Israel Exploration Quarterly Statement, April 1878, p. 51).