The meaning of Bitter; Bitterness in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
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, Numbers 5:23-24, Numbers 5:27; Esther 4:1; Job 3:20; Psalms 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, James 3:14; 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
DISCLAIMER: Church of the Great God (CGG) provides these resources to aid the individual in studying the Bible. However, it is up to the individual to "prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). The content of these resources does not necessarily reflect the views of CGG. They are provided for information purposes only.
