poplar

There are several species of poplar in the Middle East, and that has given rise to some controversy over which one is referred to by a particular Hebrew word. Two kinds of poplar were common in Israel in Bible times, the white poplar and the Euphrates poplar.

In Genesis 30:37 (see also plane) Jacob’s magical recipe for multiplying sheep and goats relied on the light inner wood of the white poplar Populus alba, a tree that grows along riverbanks in Israel. This softwood tree with gray bark was used for timber and for making tools and rafters. In some places the bark is used as medicine.

The Euphrates poplar Populus euphratica likewise grows along riverbanks, but it is much more widespread in the Middle East than the white poplar, and that makes it a natural candidate for the reference in Psalm 137:2, which says “On the ‘aravim [‘willows’ in RSV and NRSVue] there we hung up our lyres.” This is further strengthened by the fact that in Iraq this poplar is called gharab, which is cognate with ‘aravah.

The white poplar is a tall tree reaching perhaps 20 meters (66 feet). Its seeds are dispersed by the wind in bunches of long, silky hair. The Euphrates poplar is also tall. It has two types of leaves. When young, it produces a narrow leaf like a willow; when it matures, its leaves are broader. This has led to some confusion among scholars as to the identity of willows and poplars mentioned in the Bible.

Populus species (cottonwood, aspen) are known throughout Europe and North America. In Africa, apart from North Africa and South Africa where a number of kinds of poplars have been introduced from Europe, there do not seem to be any Populus species. Where Populus species are known, and if the inner bark is known to be white, they could be used in Genesis, but keep in mind that another tree of the same family (willow) is mentioned in Leviticus 23:40. Where Populus species are not known, we advocate transliterating from a major language in Genesis 30:37 (for example, popula, populari, hawur [Arabic], or abele [French]), since this is a historical setting rather than a rhetorical one.

Euphrates poplar, Wikimedia Commons
White poplar trunk, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

Jacob

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Jacob” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “lentil,” referring to the soup he gave his brother in exchange for his birthright (see Genesis 25:34). Note that another Spanish Sign Language sign for Jacob also users the sign for Jewish. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Jacob” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In German Sign Language it is a sign that shows the touching of the hip, described in Genesis 32:25:


“Jacob” in German Sign Language (source: Taub und katholisch )

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the signs signifying “smooth arm” (referring to the story starting at Genesis 27:11). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Jacob” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Esau.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jacob .

plane

Zohary (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982) confidently equates the ‘armon of Ezekiel 31:8 with Oriental Plane Platanus orientalis, mostly on the basis of the fact that Arabs call it dilba, which is derived from the Aramaic. The name ‘armon may come from the Hebrew word ‘erom meaning “naked,” referring to the way the bark peels off, leaving the seemingly naked trunk.

Plane trees may have been abundant in the past, if the common name “Wadi Dilb” is related to the Arabic dilba. In the present day, plane trees are fairly common in the upper Jordan Valley and its tributaries. It is widespread throughout the eastern Mediterranean region and in the hills of Iraq and Iran.

The plane tree is large and wide-spreading, with big branches and lobed, hairy leaves shaped like a hand. In Israel it can reach a height of 20 meters (66 feet) and the trunk 50 centimeters (2 feet) in diameter. Its flowers are small and green. The small seeds are contained in round, bristly fruits, which, when open, release the seeds with plumes that carry them great distances on the wind.

In Genesis 30:37 Jacob presumably chose to use branches of the plane tree because its bark can easily be peeled off in strips, exposing the white or yellow inner layer. In ancient times the plane tree was praised as a shade tree by the Greeks, Romans, and Persians. Ezekiel 31:8 associates planes, cedars, and beroshim (“cypresses” or “Grecian junipers”) with the “garden of God,” suggesting special beauty. In Sirach 24:14 wisdom is compared to the plane as a beautiful, big tree.

True plane trees are limited to Europe and North America, apart from the species that grows in the eastern Mediterranean region and Iran. (A wild maple tree in Britain is misleadingly called a “plane.”) Translators in Asia, Latin America, and Africa will have no local species available for the story of Jacob’s goat-breeding experiment in Genesis 30:37 and will have to consider a transliteration in keeping with the other trees mentioned there (poplar and almond). However, the passage in Ezekiel 31:8, where the plane is used in a metaphorical context, leaves room for local equivalents. Egypt, in this passage, is compared to a mighty cedar, against which other trees, such as the plane and the fir, do not match up. Rendering “plane” here will depend on what the translator does with the other trees.

Platanus orientalis, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

almond

The almond is one of a group of fruit-bearing trees (Prunus) that also includes plums, cherries, peaches, and apricots. There are fifteen species of wild almond in Iran, two wild species in Israel, and one cultivated one (Prunus dulcis, also called Amygdalus communis). They are plentiful now in the hills of Israel, and probably were so in Bible times, even in the hot, dry Negev.

The almond tree grows to around 4 meters (13 feet) tall. It loses its leaves in winter and then, before the new leaves appear in spring, a profusion of white or pink flowers appears. The flowers are quite flat, with oval petals. The fuzzy fruit, about the size of a date palm fruit, comes about ten weeks later. The seed (“nut” in English) is fifty percent oil, and can be eaten raw but is usually roasted.

Three passages make reference to physical features of the almond tree. In Exodus 25:33f. and 37:19f. 20 we find the Hebrew word meshuqad (“almond-like”) referring to the shape of the almond blossom. The flat almond flower made a reasonable model for the lamp holders at the top of the branches of the lampstand in the Tabernacle.

The writer of Ecclesiastes 12:5 uses the profusion of white blossoms on the almond tree as a symbol of old age. The comparison is of course to the white hair of the elders.

In Jeremiah 1:11 the author makes use of the similarity of the Hebrew name shaqed (“almond”) to the word shoqed (“watching” or “wakeful”) to emphasize that Yahweh is “watching” over Israel (see almond tree / watching). Some commentators add to this that since the almond is the first of the trees to blossom in the spring—even before the leaves emerge — it was “waking up early,” and God, likewise, is an “early help” in time of trouble.

The Prunus family has members in various parts of the world, such as Prunus salicina in China and Prunus munsoniana in eastern North America. However, the branches and fruit of many of these are so different from the true almond that in non-figurative passages local names will not really be usable. In a passage such as Genesis 30:37, a transliteration from a major language is recommended; for example, shaked/lus (Hebrew), lawus (Arabic), amande (French), amendoa (Portuguese), almendra (Spanish), and alimondi. In English the “l” is not pronounced, so “almond” may be transliterated amond. Elsewhere, where the tree is used figuratively, as in Exodus and Ecclesiastes (see below), translators can use a blossom with a similar shape and color.

Almond tree, photo by Gloria Suess
Almond flowers, photo by Ray Pritz

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Genesis 30:37)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 30:37:

  • Newari: “Jacob cut branches of poplar, almond and chestnut, pealing [them] white, spilting them into strips,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Now, Jacob took branches of almond, abilyano, and platano/kastanyo and then he peeled/[lit. skinned] some parts of these, so there (were) white stripes when looking-at the branches.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then Jacob cut some branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees/three kinds of trees that had white wood. He peeled strips of bark from the branches, so that where the bark had been peeled off, the branches were light in color.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 30:37

Verses 37-43 describe the way in which Jacob outwits his uncle and increases his wealth in animals. It is the cunning of the young nephew against the older uncle that enables Jacob to overcome Laban and become a rich man. Jacob’s methods for producing spotted animals reveal his cunning behavior and should be understood as tricks and not as facts of animal breeding. According to what Jacob says to his wives in 31.9-12, it is God who causes these tricks to succeed.

There are really three different tricks that Jacob played with Laban’s flocks:
Trick 1 is described in verses 37-39. By peeling some of the bark from the branches of certain trees, Jacob causes them to have a striped appearance. He then places these where the flocks see them as they come to mate, and this causes the females to give birth to striped and spotted offspring.
Trick 2 is described in verse 40 and is similar to Trick 1. In this case Jacob separates out the mating females of the flock and causes them to be looking at only the black and striped animals; this also has the effect of causing them to give birth to striped and spotted kids, and black lambs.
Trick 3 is described in verses 41-42 and may be seen as a refinement of Trick 1. In this case Jacob uses Trick 1 only when the stronger animals in the flock are mating, and not when the weaker animals are mating. By this selective breeding Jacob builds up his flock from the strongest of Laban’s stock.

Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane: rods refers to sticks that have been cut from branches of a tree. In this case the branches are green, still growing, fresh. To make clear that they are green branches, it may be clearer to say “cut green branches from … trees.” These trees may not be known in the area of the translation. Other names of trees may need to be substituted. The important point is that, where these branches have the bark peeled, the exposed area is white. In some cases it may be necessary to use borrowed words for these trees. A general expression may also be used such as “new young branches of trees, three kinds” or “branches of three kinds of trees that had white wood.”

Peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods: peeled means removed the bark or cut away the bark. However, he did not remove all the bark but rather peeled it in sections so that the branch had strips of peeled areas and strips of bark covered areas. The areas where the bark was removed were white. In this way the branch had alternating strips of light and dark colors. Good News Translation provides a satisfactory model for many languages: “and stripped off some of the bark so that the branches had white stripes on them.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .