Flowers

flou'-erz (BLOOM, BLOSSOM, etc.):

(1) gibh`ol, literally, "a small cup," hence, calyx or corolla of a flower (Exod 9:31, "The flax was in bloom").

(2) nets (Gen 40:10, nitstsah, "a flower" or "blossom";Job 15:33; Isa 18:5). These words are used of the early berries of the vine or olive.

(3) nitstsan, "a flower"; plural only, nitstsanim (Song 2:12, "The flowers appear on the earth").

(4) perach, root to "burst forth" expresses an early stage of flowering; "blossom" (Isa 5:24; Isa 18:5); "flower" (Nah 1:4, "The flower of Lebanon languisheth"). Used of artificial flowers in candlesticks (Exod 25:31 ff).

(5) tsits, "flower" (Isa 40:6); plural tsitstsim, flowers as architectural ornaments (1 Kgs 6:18); tsitsah, "the fading flower of his glorious beauty" (Isa 28:1; Isa 28:4; also Num 17:8; Job 14:2, etc.).

(6) anthos, in Septuagint equivalent of all the Hebrew words (Jas 1:10; Jas 1:11; 1 Pet 1:24).

The beauty of the profusion of flowers which cover Palestine every spring receives but scant reference in the Old Testament; Song 2:12 is perhaps the only clear reference. It is noticeable that the native of Syria thinks little of flowers unless it be for their perfume. our Lord's reference to the flowers ("lilies") is well known (Matt 6:28; Luke 12:27). For details of the flowers of modern Palestine, see BOTANY. The aptness of the expression "flower of the field" for a type of the evanescence of human life (Job 14:2; Ps 103:15; Isa 40:6; Jas 1:10) is the more impressive in a land like Palestine where the annual display of wild flowers, so glorious for a few short weeks, is followed by such desolation. The fresh and brilliant colors fade into masses of withered leaves (not uncommonly cleared by burning), and then even these are blown, away, so that but bare, cracked and baked earth remains for long months where once all was beauty, color and life.

E.W.G. Masterman