Hebrew word · H2261
חֲבַצֶּלֶת
chavatzelet
crocus
A wild flower that grows from a bulb. It occurs only here and in Song of Songs 2:1 ('I am the chavatselet of Sharon'). The name is probably related to Akkadian (ancient Mesopotamian) ḫabaṣillatu, a word for a plant stalk or reed. Some connect it with Hebrew betsel, 'onion/bulb'.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
meadow-saffron, crocus, rose
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
A wild flower that grows from a bulb. It occurs only here and in Song of Songs 2:1 ('I am the chavatselet of Sharon'). The name is probably related to Akkadian (ancient Mesopotamian) ḫabaṣillatu, a word for a plant stalk or reed. Some connect it with Hebrew betsel, 'onion/bulb'. Proposed identifications include crocus, autumn crocus or meadow saffron (Colchicum), narcissus, asphodel, the sea daffodil (Pancratium maritimum) and tulip. No identification is certain, but every serious candidate is a bulb plant of open country, not a cultivated shrub.
- Against the English
'Rose' (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT) brings in a cultivated garden shrub with thorns, centuries of romantic symbolism, and no particular link to dry steppe. 'Crocus' (ESV, NASB, NIV, NLT) is closer, though still a best guess. The ancient translations had 'lily' (Septuagint krinon, Vulgate lilium).
- How it drifted
Early English Bibles chose 'rose' as a generic name for a beautiful flower. Some medieval Jewish interpreters also identified the word with a rose. The KJV fixed that choice, and the phrases 'blossom as the rose' and 'rose of Sharon' became proverbial in English.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Song 2:1. Akkadian ḫabaṣillatu (Chicago Assyrian Dictionary). The Targum and rabbinic tradition give various identifications. The Septuagint uses krinon here and anthos ('flower') in Song 2:1.
Where it appears
Song of Songs · 1
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Song of Songs 2:1 חֲבַצֶּ֣לֶת [am] [the] crocus of
I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley.
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 35:1 כַּחֲבַצָּֽלֶת׃ like a crocus
The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.
Here: 'Like the crocus.' The word occurs only here and in Song of Songs 2:1. It names a wild flower that grows from a bulb and springs up in dry ground after the winter rains. It is not a cultivated rose. Scholars do not agree on the exact species.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.