Topic
Willows
9 passages cited, from 3 classic reference works.
These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Leviticus 23:40Easton · Smith · ISBE
And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.
- Job 40:22Easton · Smith · ISBE
The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
- Psalms 137:2Easton · Smith · ISBE
We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
- Isaiah 44:4Easton · Smith · ISBE
And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
- Isaiah 15:7Easton · ISBE
Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.
- Psalms 137:1Easton
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
- Psalms 137:1–9Easton
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth,…
- Isaiah 44:3Easton
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
- Ezekiel 17:5Easton
He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 9 references
(1.) Heb. ‘arabim (Lev. 23:40; Job 40:22; Isa. 15:7; 44:3, 4; Ps. 137:1, 2). This was supposed to be the weeping willow, called by Linnaeus Salix Babylonica, from the reference in Ps. 137. This tree is frequently found “on the coast, overhanging wells and pools. There is a conspicuous tree of this species over a pond in the plain of Acre, and others on the Phoenician plain.” There are several species of the salix in Palestine, but it is not indigenous to Babylonia, nor was it cultivated there. Some are of opinion that the tree intended is the tamarisk or poplar.
(2.) Heb. tzaphtzaphah (Ezek. 17:5), called by the Arabs the safsaf, the general name for the willow. This may be the Salix AEgyptica of naturalists.
Tristram thinks that by the “willow by the water-courses,” the Nerium oleander, the rose-bay oleander, is meant. He says, “It fringes the Upper Jordan, dipping its wavy crown of red into the spray in the rapids under Hermon, and is nutured by the oozy marshes in the Lower Jordan nearly as far as to Jericho...On the Arnon, on the Jabbok, and the Yarmuk it forms a continuous fringe. In many of the streams of Moab it forms a complete screen, which the sun’s rays can never penetrate to evaporate the precious moisture. The wild boar lies safely ensconced under its impervious cover.”
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 4 references
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 7 references
wil'-oz (`arabhim); itea (Le 23:40; Job 40:22; Ps 137:2; Isa 15:7; 44:4)): In all references this tree is mentioned as beside running water. They may all refer to the willow, two varieties of which, Salix fragilis and S. alba, occur commonly in Palestine, or to the closely allied Populus euphratus (also Natural Order Salicaceae), which is even more plentiful, especially on the Jordan and its tributaries. The Brook of the Willows (Isa 15:7) must have been some stream running from Moab to the Jordan or Dead Sea. Popular fancy has associated the willows of Ps 137:2 with the so-called "weeping willow" (Salix babylonica), but though this tree is found today in Palestine, it is an introduction from Japan and cannot have existed "by the waters of Babylon" at the time of the captivity.
E. W. G. Masterman
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.