I am the rose of Sharon, And the lily of the valleys. The Beloved
Parallel translations
- WEB I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
- KJV I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
- BSB I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley.
- 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 says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
- Hos 14:5I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon.
- Isa 35:1–2The wilderness and the dry land will be glad. The desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.
- Song 5:13His cheeks are like a bed of spices with towers of perfumes. His lips are like lilies, dropping liquid myrrh.
- Song 2:16My beloved is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies.
- Song 6:3I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. He browses among the lilies,
- Ps 85:11Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked 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.