Either the cedars of Lebanon or the mountains of Lebanon. By a change of the Hebrew, reading libneh instead of lebanon, the RSV reads, “as a poplar.”
His roots.
The roots of the lily are weak, and hence not a suitable figure of Ephraim’s promised stability.
Grow as the lily.
A figure suggesting such qualities as beauty, purity, perfume, and rapidity of growth (see Matt. 6:28, 29).
As the dew.
In lands where there is little rain, the dew helps to refresh the needy plants. Thus the dew becomes a symbol of fruitfulness and the absence of dew a symbol of drought and devastation. So God would become the source of Israel’s spiritual fruitfulness. As the dew comes night after night, so God day by day supplies grace sufficient for the day.