Editor’s note: Spring is here and the flowers are celebrating! Enjoy this special excerpt from The Woman’s Study Bible about flowers, gardens, and vegetation in honor of the beauty of the Lord’s creativity.
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God created plants on the third day (Genesis 1:11–13),
and when God created man, He placed Him in a garden to work it and take care of it (Genesis 2:15). One of the final moments of our Lord’s life was spent in a garden — praying and seeking His Father’s will (Matthew 26:36).
The Bible says that Jesus often brought His disciples there. Every year the spring rains turn the parched and dry hillsides of the Holy Land into a vivid blaze of wildflowers and bulbous plants. Although ancient writers as well as Biblical scholars debate some references to flora as to specifically which species is referenced, the following chart can help you visualize how the plants mentioned in the Bible may have looked.
See also Genesis 1:29, 31; 2:5, 8; Luke 22:39–40; John 18:1–2
Gardens in the Bible: Places of Shelter and Delight
The garden (Heb. gan or Gk. kepos, lit. “a covered or hidden place”) has been an important part of Near Eastern culture as well as a delightful place of repose throughout the generations. In Biblical literature, frequent references appear to the garden, picturing an enclosed or walled plot with vegetation and water, shade and quiet, beauty and utility. Enough drawings are extant of ancient gardens to confirm these general features: planning for aesthetic effect and convenience of using water supplies (Genesis 13:10; Jeremiah 31:12); beauty and fragrance of flowers and fruits (Genesis 2:9); shelter and shade (Song of Solomon 6:11; Luke 13:19); pleasure, such as the meeting place for friends (John 18:1–2) or site for social events (Esther 1:5); provision of food (Jeremiah 29:5,28; Amos 9:14); protection (Song of Solomon 4:12); retreat for quiet meditation (Esther 7:7; Matthew 26:36–46).
The garden took time and effort to prepare, yet it offered rewards in return. In Genesis 2, the Lord chose to use the garden for a metaphor to describe the first home he established for Adam and Eve. That home was to be a place of shelter and delight (Genesis 2:8, note).
Biblical gardens include: the Garden of Eden or Garden of the Lord (Genesis 2; 3; Ezekiel 28:13; 31:8–9; 36:35); the Shulammite’s figurative garden (Song of Solomon 4:12–16); Solomon’s gardens (Ecclesiastes 2:5–6); the king’s garden in Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:4; Nehemiah 3:15; Jeremiah 39:4; 52:7); the garden in the palace of Xerxes (Esther 1:5; 7:7–8); Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36; Mark 14:32; John 18:2)
Excerpted with permission from The Woman’s Study Bible, copyright Thomas Nelson.
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Your Turn
Spring has sprung and the earth itself announces the power, creativity, and kindness of our Creator God. Is your garden celebrating? ~ Devotionals Daily