POPLAR (לִבְנֶה, H4242). The poplar is mentioned only twice: “Jacob took fresh rods of poplar” (Gen 30:37); and “they...make offerings upon the hills, under...poplar” (Hos 4:13).

The poplar referred to is Populus alba, which can grow to a height of sixty ft. and produces very thick shade. The leaves are a pretty shiny green above, and a showy-white below. The flowers are inside the catkins, which inevitably appear before the foliage unfolds. The buds as they open produce a pleasant fragrance in the spring. Because of the shade and privacy the poplars afforded, they were widely used as groves in which heathen worship took place. In fact, Isaiah 65:3 is rendered by Moffatt “burning incense under the white poplars.”

Because the roots of poplars are notorious in spreading vigorously to seek water, Moffatt considers that Hosea 14:5 should read “strike roots down like a poplar,” and his tr. seems correct.

There has been much conjecture regarding Jacob’s use of poplar boughs in producing prenatal influences on ewes for his own benefit (Gen 30:37). The Heb. word is לִבְנֶה, H4242, which when tr. literally means “white.” This is said to refer to the white, woolly backs of the leaves of Populus alba. Jacob prob. cut off young shoots to use them for his “nefarious” purpose. It should be added that the passage ascribes Jacob’s success to God’s providence rather than to Jacob’s scheming.