Song of Solomon 2:1

And first observe for me now a certain threefold state of the flower: in the field, in the garden, in the bridal chamber; so that after this it may also more easily become clear why he chose above all to call himself the flower of …

But, if it please you, receive also another reason for this matter, not to be despised, as I judge. For not without cause is the manifold spirit described by the Wise Man, except that beneath one rind of the letter it is accustomed to conceal …

"I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys." While she therefore points to the little bed, he calls to the field, he provokes to exercise. He does not think anything will be more persuasive to her for entering the contest …

And since it is not the proud or arrogant, but rather the humble, who do not know how to presume of themselves, that are fit for martyrdom, he adds that he is also the lily of the valleys, that is, the crown of the humble, …

Well does Christ call himself a flower, who, while he destroys the thorns of sins, adorns the mind of the bride with the beauty of his righteousness, and while he applies heavenly desire to the nostrils of the heart, refreshes the interior of the soul …

The Bridegroom, then, is a lily, but not a lily among thorns, since he has no thorns who committed no sin. Indeed he declared the bride to be a lily among thorns; since even she, if she should say that she has no thorns, deceives …

"I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys" (Song 2:1). I think this looks back to what the bride had commended concerning the little bed sprinkled with flowers. For lest she should ascribe to herself those flowers, by which the …

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.

Christ is the rose of Sharon, where probably the best roses grew and in most plenty, the rose of the field (so some), denoting that the gospel salvation is a common salvation; it lies open to all; whoever will may come and gather the rose-buds of privileges and comforts that grow in the covenant of grace.

Believers have tasted that the Lord Jesus is gracious ( 1 Pet. ii. 3 ); his fruits are all the precious privileges of the new covenant, purchased by his blood and communicated by his Spirit. Promises are sweet to a believer, yea, and precepts too.

The division of the chapters is unfortunate; Cant. 2 ought to have begun at Son 1:15, or Cant. 1 to have been continued to Son 2:7. The bride replies, “And I am like a lovely wild flower springing at the root of the stately forest-trees.” The majority of Christian fathers assigned this verse to the King (Christ). Hebrew commentators generally assign it to the bride.

rose--if applied to Jesus Christ, it, with the white lily (lowly, 2Co 8:9), answers to "white and ruddy" (So 5:10). But it is rather the meadow-saffron: the Hebrew means radically a plant with a pungent bulb, inapplicable to the rose. It is of a white and violet color [MAURER, GESENIUS, and WEISS].

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

HERE are sweet flowers blooming serenely in this wintry weather. In the garden of the soul you may gather fragrant flowers at all seasons of the year. And although the soul's garden, like every other, has its winter, yet, strange to say, no sooner do the roses and the lilies mentioned in the text begin to bloom than the winter flies and the summer smiles! Outside, in your garden, the summer brings the roses, but within the enclosure of the heart the roses and lilies create the summer. I trust that we, this morning, may have Divine Grace to walk abroad in the fields of heavenly contemplation to admire the matchless charms of Him whose cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers—whose lips are like lilies dropping sweet smelling myrrh. May our hearts interpret the language of our text and sing— "Is He a rose? Not Sharon yields Such fragrance in all her fields: Or, if the lily He assumes, The valleys bless the rich perfume." It is our Lord who speaks: "I am the rose of Sharon." How is it that He utters His own commendation, for it is an old and true adage, that "self praise is no recommendation"? None but vain creatures ever praise themselves, and yet Jesus often praises Himself! He says, "I am the good Shepherd." "I am the Bread of Life." "I am meek and lowly of heart." And in many speeches He is frequently declaring His own excellencies, yet Jesus is not vain! Scorned be the thought! I said if any creature praised itself it must be vain, and that, too, is true. How then shall we solve the riddle? Is not this the answer, that He is no creature at all, and therefore comes not beneath the rule? For the creature to praise itself is vanity, but for the Creator to praise Himself—for the Lord God to manifest and show forth His own glory is becoming and proper.

THE time of flowers has come and as they are in some faint degree, emblems of our Lord, it is well, when God thus calls, that we should seek to learn what He desires to teach us by them. If nature now spreads out her roses and her lilies, or prepares to do so, let us try not only to see them, but to see Christ as He is shadowed forth in them. "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys."

THE time of flowers has come and as they are in some faint degree, emblems of our Lord, it is well, when God thus calls, that we should seek to learn what He desires to teach us by them. If nature now spreads out her roses and her lilies, or prepares to do so, let us try not only to see them, but to see Christ as He is shadowed forth in them. "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys." If these are the words of the Well-Beloved—and I have no doubt that they are—then it may be suggested by some that here we have the Savior praising Himself—and it is true—but in no unworthy sense, for well may He praise Himself since no one else can do it as it should be done! There is no human language that can ever set forth His beauties as they deserve to be told. As good John Berridge says— "Living tongues are dumb at best, We must die to speak of Christ" as He should be spoken of. He will never fully be described unless He shall describe Himself. For certain, we should never have known God if He had not revealed Himself—and every good thing that you or I know of Him, He, Himself, has told us. We make no discoveries of God except as God discovers Himself to us. If, then, any quibblers were to find fault with the Christ of God because He commends Himself, I would answer, Does not God commend Himself and must not His well-beloved Son do the same? Who else is there that can possibly reveal Him to us unless He unveils His own face to our admiring gaze? Moreover, let it always be remembered that human self-praise is evil because of the motive which underlies it. When we praise ourselves—and, alas, that we should be so foolish as to do so—we do it out of pride! But when Christ praises Himself, He does it out of humility.

HERE are sweet flowers blooming serenely in this wintry weather. In the garden of the soul you may gather fragrant flowers at all seasons of the year. And although the soul's garden, like every other, has its winter, yet, strange to say, no sooner do the roses and the lilies mentioned in the text begin to bloom than the winter flies and the summer smiles! Outside, in your garden, the summer brings the roses, but within the enclosure of the heart the roses and lilies create the summer.

I am the rose of Sharon - Sharon was a very fruitful place, where David’s cattle were fed, 1Ch 27:29. It is mentioned as a place of excellence, Isa 35:2, and as a place of flocks, Isa 65:10, Perhaps it would be better, with almost all the versions, to translate, “I am the rose of the field.” The bridegroom had just before called her fair; she with a becoming modesty, represents her beauty as nothing extraordinary, and compares herself to a common flower of the field. This, in the warmth of his affection, he denies, insisting that she as much surpasses all other maidens as the flower of the lily does the bramble, Son 2:2.