Bible Encyclopedia: Bitterness

◄ Bitterness ►

Jump to: Topical • ISBE • Webster's • Concordance • Thesaurus • Greek • Hebrew • Library • Subtopics • Terms

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

BITTER; BITTERNESS

bit'-er, bit'-er-nes (mar, or marah = "bitter" (literally or figuratively); also (noun) "bitterness" or (adverb) "bitterly"; "angry," "chafed," "discontented," "heavy" (Genesis 27:34 Exodus 15:23 Numbers 5:18, 19, 23, 24, 27 Esther 4:1; Job 3:20 Psalm 64:3 Proverbs 5:4; Proverbs 27:7 Ecclesiastes 7:26; Isaiah 5:20 Jeremiah 2:19; Jeremiah 4:18 Ezekiel 27:31 Amos 8:10 Habakkuk 1:6); the derivatives marar, meror, and merorah, used with the same significance according to the context, are found in Exodus 1:14; Exodus 12:8 Numbers 9:11 Job 13:26 Isaiah 24:9. The derivati ves meri and meriri occur in Deuteronomy 32:24 Job 23:2 (margin); and tamrur, is found in Jeremiah 6:26; Jeremiah 31:15. In the New Testament the verb pikraino = "to embitter"; the adjective pikros = "bitter," and the noun pikria, "bitterness," supply the same ideas in Colossians 3:19 James 3:11, 14 Revelation 8:11; Revelation 10:9, 10): It will be noted that the word is employed with three principal spheres of application:

(1) the physical sense of taste;

(2) a figurative meaning in the objective sense of cruel, biting words; intense misery resulting from forsaking God, from a life of sin and impurity; the misery of servitude; the misfortunes of bereavement;

(3) more subjectively, bitter and bitterness describe emotions of sympathy;' the sorrow of childlessness and of penitence, of disappointment; the feeling of misery and wretchedness, giving rise to the expression "bitter tears";

(4) the ethical sense, characterizing untruth and immorality as the bitter thing in opposition to the sweetness of truth and the gospel;

(5) Numbers 5:18 the Revised Version (British and American) speaks of "the water of bitterness that causeth the curse." Here it is employed as a technical term.

Frank E. Hirsch

BITTERNESS

bit'-er-ness.

See BITTER.

BITTERNESS, WATER OF

See ADULTERY (2).

WATER OF BITTERNESS (OR OF JEALOUSY)

See ADULTERY, (2).

Greek

4088. pikria -- bitterness
... bitterness. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: pikria Phonetic Spelling:
(pik-ree'-ah) Short Definition: bitterness Definition: bitterness ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4088.htm - 6k

3711. orgilos -- inclined to anger, passionate
... Cognate: 3711 -- to anger and harbor resentment, nurturing anger (prejudice,
bitterness). 3711 ("punitive") occurs only in Tit 1:7. See 3709 (). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3711.htm - 6k

1387. dolioo -- to deceive
... 1387 (from 1388 , "bait") -- properly, to lure, using to pull someone in; to deceive,
preying on people who are blinded by their own bitterness, greed or lust. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1387.htm - 6k

3950. parorgismos -- irritation
... Cognate: 3950 (from 3949 , see there) -- irritation (exasperation, bitterness) which
is provoked, ie by someone causing a personal ("up-close") sense of anger ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3950.htm - 7k

894. apsinthos -- wormwood
... wormwood. Of uncertain derivation; wormwood (as a type of bitterness, ie
(figuratively) calamity) -- wormwood. (apsinthon) -- 1 Occurrence. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/894.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

4470. memer -- bitterness
... 4469, 4470. memer. 4471 . bitterness. Transliteration: memer Phonetic Spelling:
(meh'-mer) Short Definition: bitterness. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/4470.htm - 5k

4814. meriruth -- bitterness
... 4813, 4814. meriruth. 4815 . bitterness. Transliteration: meriruth Phonetic
Spelling: (mer-ee-rooth') Short Definition: grief. ... bitterness. ...
/hebrew/4814.htm - 6k

4751. mar -- bitter, bitterness
mar or marah. 4750, 4751. mar or marah. 4752 . bitter, bitterness. Transliteration:
mar or marah Phonetic Spelling: (mar) Short Definition: bitter. ...
/hebrew/4751.htm - 6k

4787a. morrah -- bitterness
... morrah. 4787b . bitterness. Transliteration: morrah Short Definition: bitterness.
Word Origin from marar Definition bitterness NASB Word Usage bitterness (1). ...
/hebrew/4787a.htm - 5k

4787. morrah -- bitterness
... bitterness. Transliteration: morrah Phonetic Spelling: (mor-raw') Short Definition:
bitterness. bitterness A form of morah; trouble -- bitterness. ...
/hebrew/4787.htm - 5k

4786. morah -- bitterness
... bitterness. Transliteration: morah Phonetic Spelling: (mo-raw') Short Definition:
grief. Word Origin from marar Definition bitterness NASB Word Usage grief* (1) ...
/hebrew/4786.htm - 6k

8563. tamrur -- bitterness
... bitterness. Transliteration: tamrur Phonetic Spelling: (tam-roor') Short Definition:
bitter. ... From marar; bitterness (plural as collective) -- X most bitter(-ly). ...
/hebrew/8563.htm - 6k

4472. mamror -- a bitter thing
... 4471, 4472. mamror. 4473 . a bitter thing. Transliteration: mamror Phonetic
Spelling: (mam-rore') Short Definition: bitterness. ... bitterness. ...
/hebrew/4472.htm - 6k

4844. maror -- bitter thing, bitter herb
... herbs. Word Origin from marar Definition bitter thing, bitter herb NASB
Word Usage bitter herbs (2), bitterness (1). bitterness. Or ...
/hebrew/4844.htm - 6k

4846. merorah -- a bitter thing, gall, poison
... Or mrowrah {mer-o-raw'}; from marar; properly, bitterness; concretely, a bitter
thing; specifically bile; also venom (of a serpent) -- bitter (thing), gall. ...
/hebrew/4846.htm - 6k

Library

The Bitterness and Blessedness of the Brevity of Life
... VOLUME I: PSALMS I to XLIX THE BITTERNESS AND BLESSEDNESS OF THE BREVITY
OF LIFE. 'Surely every man walketh in a vain shew....12. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture j/the bitterness and blessedness of.htm

Therefore that Bitterness of Persecution of which You Speak is Our ...
... Book II. 77 Therefore that bitterness of persecution of which you speak
is our deliverance and not persecution� Therefore that ...
/.../77 therefore that bitterness of.htm

But we must Follow Our Preacher, who Can Only Turn Away with ...
... CHAPTER IV. But we must follow our Preacher, who can only turn away with
bitterness from this� But we must follow our Preacher ...
/.../jennings/old groans and new songs/chapter iv but we must.htm

Immediately after This, Celsus, Perceiving that He Has Slandered ...
... Chapter LIX. Immediately after this, Celsus, perceiving that he has
slandered us with too great bitterness� Immediately after ...
/.../origen/origen against celsus/chapter lix immediately after this.htm

Argument: Octavius Arranges his Reply, and Trusts that He Shall be ...
... Chapter XVI."Argument: Octavius Arranges His Reply, and Trusts that He Shall Be
Able to Dilute the Bitterness of Reproach with the River of Truthful Words. ...
/.../the octavius of minucius felix/chapter xvi argument octavius arranges his.htm

Hebrews xii. 14
... "Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you." ( Deuteronomy 29:18.) This
is found in Deuteronomy; and he derived it from the metaphor of plants. ...
/.../homilies on the gospel of st john and hebrews/homily xxxi hebrews xii 14.htm

Rights
... "You know," he began, "there's a great deal of difference between eating bitterness
[Chinese idiom for 'suffering hardship ... 'Eating bitterness' is easy enough. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/williamson/have we no rights/chapter 1 rights.htm

Bread and Gravel
... its solemn completion in the future beyond. II. The bitterness of what
is sweet and wrong. There is no need to deny that 'bread ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/bread and gravel.htm

What Happened Before the Crucifixion.
... heart; I would needs seek Thy divinity, and Thou showest me Thy humanity; I would
needs seek Thy sweetness, and Thou settest before me Thy bitterness; I would ...
/.../suso/a little book of eternal wisdom/chapter ii what happened before.htm

Apart
... In true believers, mourning for sin is chastened and sweetened, and, in one sense,
the fang of bitterness is taken out; but, in another sense, the more we ...
//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 43 1897/apart.htm

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) The quality or state of being bitter, sharp, or acrid, in either a literal or figurative sense; implacableness; resentfulness; severity; keenness of reproach or sarcasm; deep distress, grief, or vexation of mind.

2. (n.) A state of extreme impiety or enmity to God.

3. (n.) Dangerous error, or schism, tending to draw persons to apostasy.

Topical Bible Verses

Hebrews 12:15
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Topicalbible.org

Ephesians 4:31-32
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Topicalbible.org

Colossians 3:19
Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
Topicalbible.org

Thesaurus

Bitterness (37 Occurrences)
... 3. (n.) Dangerous error, or schism, tending to draw persons to apostasy.
Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. BITTER; BITTERNESS. bit ...
/b/bitterness.htm - 21k

Wormwood (10 Occurrences)
... It is noted for its intense bitterness (Deuteronomy 29:18; Proverbs 5:4; Jeremiah
9:15; Amos 5:7). It is a type of bitterness, affliction, remorse, punitive ...
/w/wormwood.htm - 13k

Gall (17 Occurrences)
... (1) Hebrews mererah, meaning "bitterness" (Job 16:13); ie, the bile secreted in
the liver. ... 3. (n.) Anything extremely bitter; bitterness; rancor. ...
/g/gall.htm - 17k

Marah (4 Occurrences)
...Bitterness, a fountain at the sixth station of the Israelites (Exodus 15:23, 24;
Numbers 33:8) whose waters were so bitter that they could not drink them. ...
/m/marah.htm - 8k

Bitter (203 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Bitterness is symbolical of affliction, misery,
and servitude (Exodus 1:14; Ruth 1:20; Jeremiah 9:15). ...
/b/bitter.htm - 42k

Brings (155 Occurrences)
... offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of
bitterness that brings a curse. (WEB NAS RSV NIV). Numbers 5 ...
/b/brings.htm - 33k

Grief (252 Occurrences)
... Version, margin "or pain"; Isaiah 53:3, "a man of sorrows"; 53:4, "Surely he hath
carried our sorrows"); marah and marar indicate "bitterness" (Genesis 26:35 ...
/g/grief.htm - 45k

Intermeddle (1 Occurrence)
... once (Proverbs 14:10) in a passage descriptive of "the ultimate solitude of each
man's soul at all times." "The heart knoweth its own bitterness." "Nor even ...
/i/intermeddle.htm - 8k

Mourneth (14 Occurrences)
... and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him,
as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one ...
/m/mourneth.htm - 10k

Sigh (18 Occurrences)
... do mourn, because none come to the solemn assembly; all her gates are desolate,
her priests do sigh: her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness...
/s/sigh.htm - 12k

Bible Concordance

Bitterness (37 Occurrences)

Acts 8:23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity."
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Romans 3:14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Hebrews 12:15 looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it;
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Genesis 26:35 And they were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
(See JPS YLT)

Numbers 5:18 The priest shall set the woman before Yahweh, and let the hair of the woman's head go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings a curse.
(WEB JPS ASV NAS RSV)

Numbers 5:19 The priest shall cause her to swear, and shall tell the woman, "If no man has lain with you, and if you haven't gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse.
(WEB JPS ASV NAS RSV)

Numbers 5:23 "'The priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out into the water of bitterness.
(WEB JPS ASV NAS RSV)

Numbers 5:24 He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY NAS RSV)

Numbers 5:27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, if she have been defiled, and have committed unfaithfulness against her husband, that the water that bringeth the curse shall enter into her, for bitterness, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall shrink; and the woman shall become a curse among her people.
(DBY NAS)

Deuteronomy 32:32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter;
(See NIV)

Ruth 1:13 would ye wait on that account till they were grown? Would ye stay on that account from having husbands? No, my daughters, for I am in much more bitterness than you; for the hand of Jehovah is gone out against me.
(DBY)

1 Samuel 1:10 She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Yahweh, and wept sore.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NIV)

1 Samuel 15:32 Then said Samuel, "Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites!" Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Samuel 2:26 Then Abner called to Joab, and said, "Shall the sword devour forever? Don't you know that it will be bitterness in the latter end? How long shall it be then, before you bid the people return from following their brothers?"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NIV)

Job 7:11 "Therefore I will not keep silent. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Job 9:18 He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Job 10:1 "My soul is weary of my life. I will give free course to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Job 20:14 His food in his bowels is turned, The bitterness of asps 'is' in his heart.
(YLT)

Job 21:25 Another dies in bitterness of soul, and never tastes of good.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Job 27:2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my right; and the Almighty, who hath dealt bitterly with me;
(See NIV)

Proverbs 14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness and joy; he will not share these with a stranger.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Proverbs 17:25 A foolish son brings grief to his father, and bitterness to her who bore him.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 38:15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS

Isaiah 38:17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Lamentations 1:4 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn assembly; all her gates are desolate, her priests do sigh: her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Lamentations 1:7 Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that were from the days of old: when her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and none did help her, The adversaries saw her, they did mock at her desolations.
(See RSV)

Lamentations 3:5 He has put up a wall against me, shutting me in with bitter sorrow.
(See NAS RSV NIV)

Lamentations 3:15 He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Lamentations 3:19 Keep in mind my trouble and my wandering, the bitter root and the poison.
(See NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 3:14 So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 21:6 Sigh therefore, you son of man; with the breaking of your thighs and with bitterness you will sigh before their eyes.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Ezekiel 27:31 and they shall make themselves bald for you, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for you in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Amos 5:7 You who make the work of judging a bitter thing, crushing down righteousness to the earth;
(See NIV)

Amos 6:12 Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;
(WEB NIV)

Amos 8:10 And have turned your festivals to mourning, And all your songs to lamentation, And caused sackcloth to come up on all loins, And on every head -- baldness, And made it as a mourning 'of' an only one, And its latter end as a day of bitterness.
(YLT)

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Subtopics

Bitterness

Related Terms

Wormwood (10 Occurrences)

Gall (17 Occurrences)

Marah (4 Occurrences)

Bitter (203 Occurrences)

Brings (155 Occurrences)

Grief (252 Occurrences)

Intermeddle (1 Occurrence)

Mourneth (14 Occurrences)

Sigh (18 Occurrences)