willow Summary and Overview

WIL'LOW , a familiar tree, often referred to in the Bible, which flourishes best in marshy ground and on the borders of watercourses. Several species grow in Palestine. The beautiful weeping willow is also called the Babylonian willow, in allusion to Ps 137:2; and, as this tree flourishes on the banks of the Euphrates, the name is otherwise appropriate. Before the Captivity the willow was an emblem of joy, Lev 23:40, but afterward, through the influence of the Psalm mentioned above, it ceased to be associated with the palm, and, like the cypress, became significant of sorrow. The oleander of our conservatories is indigenous in the Holy Land and fringes many of its waters with living green, the lower Jordan, however, being too warm for it. Sometimes it grows to such size that travellers encamp under its shade. On the western shore of the Sea of Galilee it is especially abundant, as the poet Keble beautifully sings: "Where Gennesaret's wave Delights the flowers to lave, That o'er her western slope breathe airs of balm. All through the summer's night Those blossoms, red and bright, Spread their soft breasts, unheeding, to the breeze, Like hermits watching still Around the sacred hill. Where erst our Saviour watch'd upon his knees." As the oleander resembles the willow in leaf, general appearance, and love of water, it may be sometimes referred to under that name. Dean Stanley has suggested that it may be the tree "planted by the rivers of water," mentioned in Ps 1:3. But the oleander was a wild shrub, and was not planted. The palm meets the conditions better.