the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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Bible Encyclopedias
Poplar
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
or The word thus rendered (Libneh) occurs in two places of Scripture, viz.; , and is supposed to indicate either the white poplar or the storax tree. The arguments in support of the respective claims of these are nearly equally balanced, although those in favor of the storax appear to us to preponderate. The white poplar is said to be called white, not on account of the whiteness of its bark, but of that of the under surface of its leaves. It may perhaps be so designated from the whiteness of its hairy seeds, which have a remarkable appearance when the seed-covering first bursts. The poplar is certainly common in the countries where the scenes are laid of the transactions related in the above passages of Scripture. Lubne, both in Arabic and in Persian, is the name of a tree, and of the fragrant resin employed for fumigating, which exudes from it, and which is commonly known by the name of Storax. This resin was well known to the ancients, and is mentioned by Hippocrates and Theophrastus. Dioscorides describes several kinds, all of which were obtained from Asia Minor; and all that is now imported is believed to be the produce of that country. But the tree is cultivated in the south of Europe, though it does not there yield any storax. It is found in Greece, and is supposed to be a native of Asia Minor, whence it extends into Syria, and probably farther south. It is therefore a native of the country which was the scene of the transaction related in the above passage of Genesis.
From the description of Dioscorides, and his comparing the leaves of the styrax to those of the quince, there is no doubt of the same tree being intended: especially as in early times, as at the present day, it yielded a highly fragrant balsamic substance which was esteemed as a medicine, and employed in fumigation. From the similarity of the Hebrew name libneh to the Arabic lubne, and from the Septuagint having in Genesis translated the former by styrax, it seems most probable that this was the tree intended. It is capable of yielding white wands as well as the poplar; and it is also well qualified to afford complete shade under its ample foliage, as in the passage of . We may also suppose it to have been more particularly alluded to, from its being a tree yielding incense. 'They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under the terebinth and the storax trees, because the shadow thereof is good.'
Public Domain.
Kitto, John, ed. Entry for 'Poplar'. "Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature". https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/kbe/p/poplar.html.
