Poplar

There are several species of poplar in the Middle East, and that has given rise to some controversy over which one is referred to by a particular Hebrew word. Two kinds of poplar were common in Israel in Bible times, the white poplar and the Euphrates poplar.

In Genesis 30:37 Jacob’s magical recipe for multiplying sheep and goats relied on the light inner wood of the White Poplar Populus alba, a tree that grows along riverbanks in Israel. This softwood tree with gray bark was used for timber and for making tools and rafters. In some places the bark is used as medicine.

The Euphrates Poplar Populus euphratica likewise grows along riverbanks, but it is much more widespread in the Middle East than the white poplar, and that makes it a natural candidate for the reference in Psalm 137:2, which says “On the ‘aravim [‘willows’ in RSV ] there we hung up our lyres.” This is further strengthened by the fact that in Iraq this poplar is called gharab, which is cognate with ‘aravah. Zohary suggests that the Hebrew word tsaftsafah in Ezekiel 17:5 could be taken to refer to the Euphrates poplar. Hepper supports that, citing the easy-rooting properties of the poplar. However, the Arabs call the willow safsaf, and for that reason we take the Ezekiel reference as referring to the willow.

The trees mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:23 2 Samuel 5:24 and in 1 Chronicles 14:14 1 Chronicles 14:15 may possibly have been poplars (“balsam trees” in RSV; “mulberry trees” in KJV; “aspens” in NEB and REB), based on the observation that the leaves of poplars make a rustling sound when the wind blows.

Note that in Hosea 4:13, the Hebrew word livneh refers to the styrax (see 1.22 Styrax), the argument being that it is associated there with the oak and terebinth.