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satisfaction in the beauty of less violent colors, and in a i)lant 

 which is not necessarily strongly assertive and springing to the 

 eyes of every beholder. I am of opinion that this was the taste 

 of the Jews of old and that this was the taste of Jesus. Jesus' 

 own words "And I say unto you" which occur so frequently in 

 Matthew and Luke, would seem to bear this out. These words 

 "And I say unto you" spoken of the Krinon Agrion would in- 

 dicate that this plant had a special beauty all its own which was 

 not so readily obvious to the masses, and that Jesus was calling 

 attention to it as would a poet revealing an unexpected beauty. 



On the background of this conception of the verse I believe we 

 can find the correct interpretation of the "Lilies of the Field." 

 Let us remember the words of the following verse, "If God so 

 clothe the grass in the field," to which insufficient attention has 

 been paid. The Krinon Agrion, whatever it is, has to be of the 

 general character of grass. We cannot assume that the phrase 

 "grass in the field" is only a figurative expression, for this is 

 not in keeping with Hebrew style. 



What then is the solution of the problem? Among the most 

 ancient translations of Krinon Agrion is that of Dioscorides who 

 translates it abib-labon. This is an ancient Hebrew name 

 which has been forgotten for two thousand years. From the 

 linguistic point of view on the one side as well as from the point 

 of view of nature, from the aesthetic coHception involved, from 

 the term grass, the phrase about throwing into the oven — from 

 all these considerations we suggest with considerable confidence 

 that the "lily of the field" is the Anthemis Palestina. 



In ancient Hebrew, Abib-Labon, which is Dioscorides' trans- 

 lation of Krinon Agrion, means white fiower. I have learned 

 from the mouth of the Bedouin in the district south of Gaza 

 that they call the Anthemis, haisun abiad, which is the 

 Arabic for white flower. These Bedouin have lived far from 

 foreign influences, and have preserved the ancient name of this 

 plant. 



The Krinon Agrion is therefore, for all these reasons, not the 

 Lily of the Field nor any other of the flowers with which it has 

 been indentified, but is the simple Anthemis or daisy. The daisy 

 suits all the conditions demanded by the parable. It is neither 

 red nor purple but is beautiful with a modest and delicate beauty 

 of its own. It is beautiful at all hours of the day. It is beautiful 



