Lilies of the Field

Jesus encouraged his disciples to “consider how the lilies grow” and to “take a lesson” from them. The original-language word often rendered “lilies” in Bible translations may have embraced a great variety of flowers, such as tulips, anemones, hyacinths, irises, and gladiolus. Some scholars suggest that Jesus probably had the anemone in mind. However, Jesus may simply have been referring to lilylike flowers in general. Shown here are scarlet crown anemones (Anemone coronaria). These flowers are common in Israel and can also be found in blue, pink, purple, or white.