I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
Parallel translations
- WEB I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
- BSB I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley.
- NKJV I am the rose of Sharon, And the lily of the valleys. The Beloved
- NASB “I am the rose of Sharon, The lily of the valleys.”
- NLT I am the spring crocus blooming on the Sharon Plain, the lily of the valley.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The bride calls herself a rose of Sharon and a lily of the valleys. It is a modest yet hopeful expression of her own beauty.
Overview
She likens herself to common wildflowers of the fertile plain and valleys, beautiful yet unassuming. Whether modest self-regard or quiet confidence in her beloved's eyes, the image is humble loveliness. Later Christian devotion has often, though not in the text's first sense, applied "rose of Sharon" to Christ as the surpassing beauty of His people's affection.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Isa 57:15For 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 is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
- Hos 14:5I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
- Isa 35:1–2The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
- Song 5:13His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
- Song 2:16My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
- Song 6:3I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.
- Ps 85:11Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
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Christ at the center
The poetry of covenant love between bride and bridegroom pictures, at its highest, the love of Christ for his church — the Bridegroom who gave himself for his bride.
How Song of Songs 2:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.