Before the captivity the willow was an emblem of joy
(Lev. 23:40; Job 40:22; Isa. 44:4); but in allusion to the captivity, the weeping willow of Babylonia became the poetical type of sorrow (Psa. 137:2). The “brook of willows” (Isa. 15:7), was in the land of Moab, and is called “valley of Arabians” in margin.