Bible dictionaries

Rose

What Bible dictionaries say about “Rose”, one article after the other.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary & Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

Rose - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

Many varieties of the rose proper are indigenous to Syria. The famed rose of Damascus is white, but there are also red and yellow roses. In Cant. 2:1 and Isa. 35:1 the Hebrew word habatstseleth (found only in these passages), rendered "rose" (R.V. marg., "autumn crocus"), is supposed by some to mean the oleander, by others the sweet-scented narcissus (a native of Palestine), the tulip, or the daisy; but nothing definite can be affirmed regarding it.

The "rose of Sharon" is probably the cistus or rock-rose, several species of which abound in Palestine. "Mount Carmel especially abounds in the cistus, which in April covers some of the barer parts of the mountain with a glow not inferior to that of the Scottish heather." (See [539]MYRRH [2].)

Rose - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

ROSE, n. s as z. [L., Gr. from the root of red, ruddy. See Red.]

1. A plant and flower of the genus Rosa, of many species and varieties, as the wild canine or dog-rose, the white rose, the red rose, the cinnamon rose, the eglantine or sweet briar, _c. There are five petals; the calyx is urceolate, quinquefid, and corneous; the seeds are numerous, hispid, and fixed to the inside of the calyx.

2. A knot of ribbon in the form of a rose, used as an ornamental tie of a shoe.

Under the rose, in secret; privately; in a manner that forbids disclosure.

Rose of Jericho, a plant growing on the plain of Jericho, the Anastatica hierochuntica.

ROSE, pret. of rise.

Matthew George Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary; Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)

The article in Easton + Webster 1828

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE 1915)

roz: (1) (chabhatstseleth; anthos, "a flower" (So 2:1) krinon, "a lily" (Isa 35:1)): By general consent English Versions of the Bible is wrong: in So 2:1 margin reads "Hebrew habazzeleth, the autumn crocus" and in Isa 35:1, margin reads "or autumn crocus." This is the Colchicum autumnale (Natural Order, Liliaceae). A Targum on So 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) (rhodon, "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.

E. W. G. Masterman

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia — James Orr, general editor and contributors; CrossWire SWORD module ISBE 2.2

The article in ISBE 1915

Smith’s Bible Dictionary

occurs twice only, viz. in (Solomon 2:1; Isaiah 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.

William Smith; revised by F. N. Peloubet and M. A. Peloubet; CrossWire SWORD module Smith 1.3

The article in Smith