Coming from the winter to Southern California into a profusion of greenery and flowers is a huge jump in 24 hours...the smell of flowers is everywhere, even in drought conditions, there are flowers...and the colors, everywhere...
When I think of Easter, I think of lilies...I was raised with calla lilies as an Easter flower..they were in bloom at Easter time where I was as a child...later the potted Easter lilies were and are available in the stores.
We give flowers for gifts to show love, friendship, at births, at funerals....so many holidays and events...they provide color, design, ambiance .....meaning...we may have our favorite flowers which others know about and give with honor...
We have gardens, botanical parks, to visit to see the various plants and flowers from all over the world...we had victory gardens during and after the war...the Catholics have had Mary's gardens to symbolize their care of the mother of Jesus.....with a variety of flowers having various meanings....
When I think of beauty, I think of flowers....and try to take as many pictures as I can...each is so intricate...
Today, we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, Easter...the beauty, the miracle of renewed life, eternal life, life after a horrible death...forgiveness of sin, an "it is finished" but new....the "words can't describe it" day...the culmination of Christ's earthly ministry...but so much more...
We have flowers in abundance to signify that celebration...the fragrance, the myriad of colors, the symbolism...the beauty...of Christ and His redemption, resurrection...after darkened skies, .....gloriousness....
Thank YOU....
Flowers [N] [T]
Very few species of flowers are mentioned in the Bible although they abounded in Palestine. It has been calculated that in Western Syria and Palestine from two thousand to two thousand five hundred plants are found, of which about five hundred probably are British wild-flowers. Their beauty is often alluded to ( Matthew 6:28 ). They are referred to as affording an emblem of the transitory nature of human life ( Job 14:2 ; Psalms 103:15 ; Isaiah 28:1 ; 40:6 ; James 1:10.
These dictionary topics are from
M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition,
published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain, copy freely.
[N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
[T] indicates this entry was also found in Torrey's Topical Textbook
Bibliography Information
Easton, Matthew George. "Entry for Flowers". "Easton's Bible Dictionary". .
Dictionaries - King James Dictionary - Flowers
Flowers
Source: A King James Dictionary. (Used with permission. Copyright © Philip P. Kapusta)
Bibliography Information
"Entry for 'Flowers'". A King James Dictionary.
Encyclopedias - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Flowers
FLOWERS
flou'-erz (BLOOM, BLOSSOM, etc.):
(1) gibh`ol, literally, "a small cup," hence, calyx or corolla of a flower (Exodus 9:31, "The flax was in bloom").
(2) nets (Genesis 40:10, nitstsah, "a flower" or "blossom";Job 15:33; Isaiah 18:5). These words are used of the early berries of the vine or olive.
(3) nitstsan, "a flower"; plural only, nitstsanim (Song of Solomon 2:12, "The flowers appear on the earth").
(4) perach, root to "burst forth" expresses an early stage of flowering; "blossom" (Isaiah 5:24; 18:5); "flower" (Nahum 1:4, "The flower of Lebanon languisheth"). Used of artificial flowers in candlesticks (Exodus 25:31).
(5) tsits, "flower" (Isaiah 40:6); plural tsitstsim, flowers as architectural ornaments (1 Kings 6:18); tsitsah, "the fading flower of his glorious beauty" (Isaiah 28:1,4; also Numbers 17:8; Job 14:2, etc.).
(6) anthos, in Septuagint equivalent of all the Hebrew words (James 1:10,11; 1 Peter 1:24).
The beauty of the profusion of flowers which cover Palestine every spring receives but scant reference in the Old Testament; Song of Solomon 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 (Matthew 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; Psalms 103:15; Isaiah 40:6; James 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
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'FLOWERS'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.
http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/H020rpMaryGarden_Galitzin.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_garden
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