Hebrew word · H6155
עֲרָבָה
ve'arvei-
willow
A tree that grows by water. Older translations have "willow". Plant specialists mostly identify it with the Euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica). This tree lines the Jordan, the Tigris and the Euphrates, grows fast, and needs a constant water table.
Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) poplar, willow
1a) a tree characterised by dark wood
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
A tree that grows by water. Older translations have "willow". Plant specialists mostly identify it with the Euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica). This tree lines the Jordan, the Tigris and the Euphrates, grows fast, and needs a constant water table. Willows (Salix) also grew in the region, and the Hebrew word may have covered both.
- Against the English
KJV, WEB, BSB and ESV have "willows". NASB and NIV have "poplars". Neither is a serious error. But "willow" can call up the wrong picture for English readers (see drift).
- How it drifted
English Bibles have said "willow" since the 16th century. In 1753 Linnaeus named the weeping willow Salix babylonica because of Psalm 137:2, "by the rivers of Babylon… we hung our harps on the ʿarabim". In fact that weeping tree comes from China, not Babylon.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Leviticus 23:40 has "ʿarbê-naḥal", the trees of the brook carried at the Feast of Booths. In Job 40:22 they shade the riverbank. In Isaiah 15:7 there is the "Wadi of the Poplars". Psalm 137:2 is the exiles' lament by the canals of Babylon.
From the study of Leviticus 23:40
- Range of meaning
ʿĂrābâ (plural ʿărābîm) is a tree of watercourses, the willow and/or the Euphrates poplar. Nāḥal is a wadi or stream valley, often seasonal: in flood during winter rains, shrinking or dry in summer.
- Against the English
'Willows of the brook' (KJV/BSB/WEB/ESV). The supplied gloss has 'poplars'. 'Brook' suggests a gentle year-round English stream, which is not quite a Judean wadi.
- How it drifted
English 'brook' calls up a small, steadily flowing stream in green country. A nāḥal is a ravine whose water depends on the rains, so its trees are a sign of water in a dry land.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Ps 137:2 (the exiles hang their lyres on the ʿărābîm by Babylon's rivers); Isa 44:4 ('like willows by flowing streams', an image of thriving). Job 40:22. The Talmud (b. Shabbat 36a) notes that the names of willow and poplar were later swapped. In Second Temple practice, large willow branches were set around the altar during the feast, accompanied by Hosanna cries (Mishnah Sukkah 4:5–6). This goes with the water-pouring rite and with prayer for the coming rains.
Where it appears
Leviticus · 1
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Leviticus 23:40 וְעַרְבֵי־ and poplars of
On the first day you are to gather the fruit of majestic trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of leafy trees and of willows of the brook. And you are to rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.
Here: 'And willows of.' These are trees that need water, either the willow (Salix) or the Euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica). Both grow along streambeds, and the ancient terms may have covered both.
Job · 1
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Job 40:22 עַרְבֵי־ [the] poplars of
The lotus plants conceal him in their shade; the willows of the brook surround him.
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 137:2 עֲרָבִ֥ים poplars
There on the willows we hung our harps,
Isaiah · 2
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Isaiah 15:7 הָעֲרָבִ֖ים the poplars
So they carry their wealth and belongings over the Brook of the Willows.
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Isaiah 44:4 כַּעֲרָבִ֖ים like poplars
They will sprout among the grass like willows by flowing streams.
Here: "Like ʿarabim": tall trees that grow along watercourses, probably the Euphrates poplar. They were tall and quick-growing, and they lined the rivers and canals of Babylonia. They are the same trees the exiles hung their harps on in Psalm 137:2.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.