Willow-Tree

Fig. 343—Willow—Salix Aegyptiaca

Willow-tree (Eze 17:5). The species of willow here referred to is supposed to be a peculiar sort called safsaf, the Salix Aeyptiaca of botanists. The stems and twigs are long, thin, weak, and of a pale yellow color; on their twigs here and there are shoots of a span long, like unto the Cypriotish wild fig-trees, which put forth in the spring tender and woolly flowers, like unto the blossoms of the poplar-tree, only they are of a more drying quality, of a pale color, and a fragrant smell. The inhabitants pull of these great quantities, and distil a very precious and sweet water out of them.

wil´ō-trē (צפצפה, caphcāphāh): Comparison with the Arabic ṣafṣāf, “the willow,” makes it very probable that thc translation of Eze 17:5 is correct.

Psa 137:2 (c) We may use this as a type of sorrow in separation. Its drooping leaves and branches indicate the depressed and drooping spirit of those who have been separated from the things they love.