LILLY
Of this queenly plant, several varieties are found among the wild flowers of Palestine, the profusion, beauty, and fragrance of which are the delight of travelers. The lily is a spring flower, and appears early in all parts of the Holy Land. It was introduced in the ornamental work of the temple, 1 Kings 1:7-26; 2 Chronicles 4:5. In canticles it is often employed as a symbol of loveliness. More commonly it is applied to the bride and her various perfections: Song of Solomon 2:1, Song of Solomon 1:2, where the bride speaks, Song of Solomon 2:1, the bridegroom answers, Song of Solomon 2:2, and the bride again responds, Song of Solomon 2:3. The bridegroom’s lips are compared to lilies in Song of Solomon 5:13, and he is described as feeding among the lilies, Song of Solomon 2:16; Song of Solomon 1:6; which typically represents Christ as delighting himself with the graces of his people. From the lily our Savior had also drawn one of his most striking figures: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;" "even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God so clothe the grass of the field, shall he not much more clothe you?" Matthew 6:28. We must be careful not to confound the lily of the valleys, Song of Solomon 2:1, which means simply the lily growing in valleys, with our "lily of the valley," which belongs to another class of flowers.