An exploration of the symbolic significance of the numerous trees, plants, flowers, and fruits of the Bible, illustrated with an array of exquisite paintings by Anne Ophelia Dowden, one of the world's most distinguished botanical artists. Bible passages are followed by full-color paintings and a description of the plants and their use in biblical times. A Horn Book Fanfare book originally published in 1986, Consider the Lilies is now reissued in paperback format as a companion book to Images of God, also by John and Katherine Paterson, and published in hardcover this spring by Clarion. A dove bearing a sprig of olive in her beak, a vine loaded with sweet purple grapes . . .
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up Handsomely presented material on 45 shrubs, crops, trees, weeds, fruits, and flowers mentioned in the Old and New Testaments with emphasis on the rich symbolic values of each. Divided into three groupsplants of Revelation, Necessity, and Celebrationeach plant is cited in a Bible story or passage (quoted from the King James, New English, or Revised Standard versions of the Bible or paraphrased with graceful dignity). Plants of Revelation include the apple in the Garden of Eden, Jeremiah's Balm of Gilead, the mustard seed, etc. Plants of Necessity are foods such as Esau's lentils and Ruth's barley. Solomon's lily, the oils of anointment, and palm branches represent some of the plants of Celebration. Sometimes the categories overlap, as with the olive and the grape, which fit into all three, but the groupings help give order to the work. Most of the plants are shown, alone or in groups, in meticulous and elegant color illustrations painted from living specimens and shown two-thirds of their actual size. Botanic names are given. Each is accompanied by a lengthy caption discussing the Biblical history, usages, and symbolic meanings. Added beauty is given by an attractive variety of clear type-faces. Carol Lerner's A Biblical Garden (Morrow, 1982) is also a fine book on this subject, but it covers only half as many plants and uses only citations from the Old Testament. Pat Pearl, First Presbyterian Church Library, Martinsville, Va..
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"A visual delight which may find an audience with both Bible students and naturalists." (Kirkus Reviews )
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous pictures & relevant information,
This review is from: Consider the Lilies: Plants of the Bible (Paperback)
This book has great drawings that look more like photographs of some plants mentioned in the Bible. It is by no means an exhaustive reference. It quotes the biblical background first and then tells about the plant. It includes how it was used, how common it was, what it looked like and how it grew, etc. For example, it tells the wheat/weeds/mustard seed story from the NT parable, then has a full-page painting of wheat, mustard and darnel (the weed) next to each other, gives the latin name for each, and then writes this:
'For more than 8,000 years, various species of wheat have been cultivated in Asia Minor, and in Bible times, wheat was the main field crop. Since it was grown without irrigation, it suffered seriously in years of drought, and disastrous famines often resulted. The 'weeds' referred to here were probably darnel grass or 'tares,' a hardy grass that grows only in grain fields. Before its seed heads form, it looks very much like wheat, and its seeds are about the same size and shape as wheat seeds, so they easily become mixed with the threshed grain. they not only adulterate the wheat but also can carry a poisonous fungus that causes blindness or even death. The mustard seed in this passage is probably that of the common black mustard. In powdered form, these seeds have since earliest times been used for flavoring and medicine, but the Hebrews valued them chiefly for the oil they produce. In northern gardens, mustard is usually no more than three or four feet tall, but in hot countries it sometimes grows ten to fifteen feet high, with a stalk as thick as a man's arm." I think it's a great book - great info, biblical relevance and great pictures (they're all like the cover basically).
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