Rose

הבצלת , Son 2:1; Isa 35:1. The rose, so much and so often sung by the poets of Persia, Arabia, Greece, and Rome, is, indeed, the pride of the garden for elegance of form, for glow of colour, and fragrance of smell. Tournefort mentions fifty-three kinds, of which the Damascus rose, and the rose of Sharon, are the finest. The beauty of these flowers is too well known to be insisted on; and they are at this day much admired in the east, where they are extremely fragrant. In what esteem the rose was among the Greeks, may be learned from the fifth and fifty-third odes of Anacreon. Among the ancients it occupied a conspicuous place in every chaplet; it was a principal ornament in every festive meeting, and at every solemn sacrifice; and the comparisons in Sir 24:14; Sir 50:8, show that the Jews were likewise much delighted with it. The rose bud, or opening rose, seems in particular a favourite ornament. The Jewish sensualists, in Wis 2:8, are introduced saying, “Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments; and let no flower of the spring pass by us. Let us crown ourselves with rose buds before they are withered.”

The Hebrew word rendered ’rose’ in Son 2:1, and Isa 35:1, is not now generally understood to denote a rose, but probably a species of narcissus. But by the Greek word rendered ’rose’ in the Apocryphal books (Sir 24:14; Sir 39:13; Sir 50:8; 2Es 2:19), that flower is generally allowed to be designated.

The rose was as highly esteemed among ancient, as it is among modern nations, if we may judge by the frequent references to it in the poets of antiquity. As we know that it continues to be the favorite flower of the Persians, and is much cultivated in Egypt, we might expect more frequent mention of some of its numerous species and varieties in the Jewish writings. This, however, is not the case, and probably arises from its being less common in a wild state in a comparatively dry and warm climate like that of Syria. It is, however, indigenous in some parts. Monro, as quoted in Kitto’s Physical History of Palestine, ’found in the valley of Baalbek, a creeping rose of a bright yellow color in full bloom, about the end of May. About the same time, on advancing towards Rama and Joppa from Jerusalem, the hills are found to be to a considerable extent covered with white and pink roses.’ Mariti found the greatest quantity of roses in the hamlet of St. John, in the desert of the same name. ’In this place the rose-plants form small forests in the gardens. The greatest part of the roses reared there are brought to Jerusalem, where rose-water is prepared from them, of which the scent is so very exquisite, that in every part of Lycia, and also in Cyprus, it is in request above all other rose-waters.’ Burckhardt was struck with the number of rose-trees which he found among the ruins of Bozra beyond the Jordan. That the rose was cultivated in Damascus is well known. Indeed one species is named Rosa Damascena from being supposed to be indigenous there. ’In the gardens of the city roses are still much cultivated. Monro says that in size they are inferior to our damask rose, and less perfect in form; but that their odor and color are far more rich. The only variety that exists in Damascus is a white rose, which appears to belong to the same species, differing only in color.’

The queen of flowers, highly esteemed in its native East for its fragrance, and the beauty of its form and colors. Several varieties of wild rose are still found in Palestine. The "rose of Sharon," sacredly associated with the heavenly Bridegroom, Son 2:1 Isa 35:1, appears from the derivation of its Hebrew name to have been a bulbous plant; and is generally believed, in accordance with the ancient versions, to denote a plant of the narcissus family, perhaps the meadow-saffron, which grows in rich profusion on the plain of Sharon.\par

Rose. Occurs twice only, namely, in Son 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.

Son 2:1; Isa 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 (Sir 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 Palestine, 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 (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, April 1878, p. 51).

chabatstseleth. The bride in the Canticles calls herself a ’rose of Sharon’; and when God again brings the Jews into blessing "the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." Son 2:1; Isa 35:1. Roses grow in Palestine, but it is generally agreed that the above Hebrew word does not refer to the rose, but implies a bulbous plant, and it may be the lily, the crocus, or the narcissus. The R.V. has in the margin the ’autumn crocus.’

By: Joseph Jacobs, Immanuel Löw

This flower is not mentioned in the Bible, and the earliest reference to it occurs in Ecclus. (Sirach) xxiv. 14. It is mentioned in the Mishnah and the later Apocrypha, while in the Targum and with many subsequent exegetes it takes the place of the Lily in Canticles. The rose is apparently mentioned also in Ecclus. (Sirach) xxxix. 13 and l. 8, although the presumptive Hebrew read probably (lily) in both passages. In Wisdom ii. 8, on the other hand, there is an unmistakable allusion to roses; and in III Macc. vii. 17 the Egyptian city of Ptolemais is described as "rose-bearing," while the phrase "red as the rose" occurs in Enoch, lxxxii. 16; cvi. 2, 10; and the Christian passage II Esd. ii. 19 mentions the rose and the lily together.

The rose grows wild in Palestine and Syria, its principal varieties being Rosa phænicia, Boiss.; Rosa canina, Linn. (throughout the mountains), and its variety Rosa collina, Boiss.; Rosa glutinosa, S. and Sm., Rosa dumetorum, Thuill., Rosa Thureti, Burnat and Gremli (these in Lebanon and the last-named also in Hermon); Rosa lutea, Mill. (Amanus); Rosa dumetorum, var. Schergiana, Boiss. (Antilebanon); and Rosa arabica, Crep. (Sinai); while the chief cultivated variety is Rosa sulphurea, Ait. (Post, "Flora of Syria, Palestine, and Sinai," p. 308; Bornmüller, "Zur Kenntnis der Flora von Syrien und Palästina," 1898, p. 46).

According to an old mishnaic tradition, there was at Jerusalem, where no other garden is said to have been allowed, a rose-bed dating from the time of the ancient prophets (Ma'as. ii. 5; Neg. vi. 625, 15; B. Ḳ. 82b), but it is significant that the rose is not mentioned among the perfumes which were imported from India at a very early time. The rose, like the myrtle, however, formed part of the bridegroom's garland (Yer. Soṭah xv. 322, 5). The Mishnah contains, furthermore, halakic regulations concerning the rose (Sheb. vii. 6; Yer. 37b) and the oil which was extracted from the preserved flower (Sheb. vii. 7). The oil was used by the upper classes instead of common oil (Shab. xiv. 4), and was no rarity at Sura (Shab. 111b). It is mentioned in a haggadah, which says that as asses' fat in oil of roses receives perfume but loses it again, so Hagar and Ishmael became renegades after they left the presence of Abraham ("Agadat Bereshit," ed. Buber, p. 74). The Talmudic "mishḥah kebishah" consisted, according to a geonic tradition, of roses and violetspreserved in sesame-oil: and a number of other cosmetic and medicinal preparations and confections of roses are mentioned, including rose-water, the favorite perfume of the East, and comfits of roses and honey or sugar.

There was no special eulogy for the rose; and it became a moot question whether it should be considered a perfumed wood or a perfumed fruit. Hai Gaon, Maimonides, and others inclined to the former view, while many of the casuists held the latter.

In Rabbinical Literature.

In post-Biblical Hebrew poetry and in the Haggadah the rose is scarcely mentioned, although there is a haggadic reminiscence in the Syriac statement that roses had no thorns before the fall of man ("Book of the Bee," xviii. 8). Proverbs mentioning this flower also are comparatively rare; but it is said that "youth is a garland of roses, but age a crown of thorns" (Dukes, "Rabbinische Blumenlese," No. 323), while an erroneous variant of a well-known apothegm declares that "Poverty becomes Israel as a red rose does a white horse" (Ḥag. 9b). In a figurative sense "rose" is used in the Talmud of the membrane of the lungs or their medial lobes.

Medicinal powers were long ascribed to this flower. Maimonides frequently used rose-water and other rose preparations in his dietetics; and similar use of the rose was made by Meïr Aldabi and Menahem ibn Zeraḥ in the fourteenth century. Tobias Cohen includes in his pharmacopæia (148c, 153b) red, white, and yellow roses, and the dog-rose.

Symbolically the rose is associated with paradise; for the dawn is the reflection of the roses of heaven, as the sunset glow reflects the flames of hell (B. B. 84a). Eight hundred of these flowers adorn the tent of each pious man in heaven ("Gan 'Eden," p. 25, in "B. H." v. 42). A Persian satrap to whom Raba brought a gift sat up to his neck in roses (or, according to Rashi, in a bath of rose-water), attended by odalisks, and asked, "Have ye aught like this in paradise?" ('Ab. Zarah 65a). According to a medieval legend, finally, R. Löw, a famous cabalist of Prague and a favorite of the emperor Rudolph II., died of the perfume of a rose, which form Death had assumed, since he could not gain access to the sage in any other way.

The "rose of Jericho" is not a rose, but the crucifer Anastatica Hierochuntina, Linn., or the composite Odontospermum pygmæum (DC.), Benth. and Hook. (Asteriscus pygmæus, Coss. and Dur).

ROSE.—1. chăbazzeleth [Heb.], Son 2:1 [‘rose of Sharon’], Isa 35:1. All authorities are agreed that the tr. [Note: translate or translation.] ‘rose’ adopted in the EV [Note: English Version.] is incorrect. The chăbazzeleth appears to have been a bulbed flower. The RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] suggests ‘autumn crocus’ (Colchicum autumnale); on the other hand, many good authorities suggest the much more striking and sweeter-scented plant—the narcissus, which is a great favourite to-day in Palestine. Two species are known—N. Tazetta and N. serotinus. In Wis 2:8, Sir 24:14; Sir 39:13; Sir 50:8 we have mention of rhodon (Gr.). Whether this is, as Tristram maintains, the Rhododendron or the true rose is uncertain; both occur in parts of Palestine.

E. W. G. Masterman.

rōz: (1) (חבצּלת, ḥăbhacceleth; ἄνθος, ánthos, “a flower” (Son 2:1) κρίνον, krı́non, “a lily” (Isa 35:1)): By general consent English Versions of the Bible is wrong: in Son 2:1 margin reads “Hebrew hābazzeleth, the autumn crocus” and in Isa 35:1, margin reads “or autumn crocus.” This is the Colchicum autumnale (Natural Order, Liliaceae). A Targum on Son 2:1 explains the Hebrew word as “narcissus” , a very common plant in the plains and mountains of Palestine and a great favorite with the natives. Two species, N. tazetta and N. serolinus (Natural Order, Amaryllideae), occur, the latter being the finer; they are autumn plants. All authorities agree that the so-called “rose” was some kind of bulbed plant. (2) (ῥόδον, rhódon, “the rose,” mentioned in Ecclesiasticus 24:14; 39:13; 50:8; The Wisdom of Solomon 2:8; 2 Esdras 2:19): There is no reason why the rose, of which several varieties are common in Palestine, should not be meant. Tristram favors the rhododendron. The expression, “rose plants in Jericho,” in Ecclesiasticus 24:14 has nothing whatever to do with what is now sold there as a “rose of Jericho,” a dwarf annual plant, Anastatica hierochuntina (Natural Order, Cruciferae), which dries up and can be made to reexpand by placing the root in water.

Son 2:1 (c) Some, because of its beauty and fragrance, believe it is a type of the Lord JESUS. Others believe it is a type of the church because of its abundance and because of the presence of thorns in the midst of the flowers. The church, in GOD’s sight, is beautiful and fragrant. It adorns all that is around it.

Rose. The name of two different plants of the Bible:

1. Most authorities think that the rose referred to in ( Son 2:1) and ( Isa 35:1) is not what we know as the rose today, but a low-growing bulbous plant producing from two to four yellow flowers on each stalk. This flower is noted for its fragrance. Other scholars have suggested the mountain tulip, anemone, saffron, or crocus as the flower in question. All of these flowers grew wild in Palestine. This particular flower is translated crocus by the RSV, NIV, and NASB ( Isa 35:1) and asphodel by the NEB ( Son 2:1; Isa 35:2). The flower we call the "Rose of Sharon" is a native of China and is not the one mentioned by Solomon ( Son 2:1).

2. The rose of ( Ecc 24:14; Ecc 39:13) (NEB) is thought to be the oleander. This shrub grows to a height of about 3. 6 meters (12 feet) and has pink or white flowers.