WILLOW ( ‘ăr âbîm , Leviticus 23:40 , Job 40:22 , Psalms 137:2 , Isaiah 15:7; Isaiah 44:4 [cf. Arab. [Note: Arabic.] gharab ‘willow’ or ‘poplar’]; tsaph-tsâphâh , Ezekiel 17:5 [cf. Arab [Note: Arabic.] , safsaf ‘the willow’]). Most of the references are to a tree growing beside water, and apply well to the willow, of which two varieties, Salix fragilis and S. alba , occur plentifully by watercourses in the Holy Land. Some travellers consider the poplar , especially the willow-like Populus euphratica , of the same Nat. Ord. ( SalicaceÅ“ ) as the willows, more probable. Tristram, without much evidence, considered that tsaphtsâphâh might be the oleander , which covers the banks of so many streams.
E. W. G. Masterman.