Reference: Gall
American
A general name for anything very bitter. In Job 16:13; 20:14,25, it means the animal secretion usually called the bile. In many other places, where a different word is used in the original, it refers to some better and noxious plant, according to some, the poppy. See De 29:18; Jer 9:15; 23:15. In Ho 10:4; Am 6:12, the Hebrew word is translated "hemlock". In Mt 27:34, it is said they gave Jesus to drink, vinegar mixed with gall, which in Mr 15:23, is called wine mingled with myrrh. It was probably the sour wine which the Roman soldiers used to drink, mingled with myrrh and other bitter substances, very much like the "bitters" of modern times, Ps 69:21. The word gall is often used figuratively for great troubles, wickedness, depravity, etc., Jer 8:14; Am 6:12; Ac 8:23.
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lest there be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart is turning to-day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations, lest there be in you a root fruitful of gall and wormwood:
Go round against me do his archers. He splitteth my reins, and spareth not, He poureth out to the earth my gall.
His food in his bowels is turned, The bitterness of asps is in his heart.
One hath drawn, And it cometh out from the body, And a glittering weapon from his gall proceedeth. On him are terrors.
And they give for my food gall, And for my thirst cause me to drink vinegar.
Wherefore are we sitting still? Be gathered, and we go in to the fenced cities, And we are silent there, For Jehovah our God hath made us silent, Yea, He causeth us to drink water of gall, For we have sinned against Jehovah.
Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am causing them -- this people -- to eat wormwood, And I have caused them to drink water of gall,
Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, concerning the prophets: Lo, I am causing them to eat wormwood, And have caused them to drink water of gall, For, from prophets of Jerusalem Hath profanity gone forth to all the land.
They have spoken words, To swear falsehood in making a covenant, And flourished as a poisonous herb hath judgment, on the furrows of a field.
Do horses run on a rock? Doth one plough it with oxen? For ye have turned to gall judgment, And the fruit of righteousness to wormwood.
Do horses run on a rock? Doth one plough it with oxen? For ye have turned to gall judgment, And the fruit of righteousness to wormwood.
they gave him to drink vinegar mixed with gall, and having tasted, he would not drink.
and they were giving him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, and he did not receive.
for in the gall of bitterness, and bond of unrighteousness, I perceive thee being.'
Easton
(1) Heb mererah, meaning "bitterness" (Job 16:13); i.e., the bile secreted in the liver. This word is also used of the poison of asps (Job 20:14), and of the vitals, the seat of life (25).
(2.) Heb rosh. In De 32:33; Job 20:16 it denotes the poison of serpents. In Ho 10:4 the Hebrew word is rendered "hemlock." The original probably denotes some bitter, poisonous plant, most probably the poppy, which grows up quickly, and is therefore coupled with wormwood (De 29:18; Jer 9:15; La 3:19). Comp. Jer 8:14; 23:15, "water of gall," Gesenius, "poppy juice;" others, "water of hemlock," "bitter water."
(3.) Gr. chole (Mt 27:34), the LXX. translation of the Hebrew rosh in Ps 69:21, which foretells our Lord's sufferings. The drink offered to our Lord was vinegar (made of light wine rendered acid, the common drink of Roman soldiers) "mingled with gall," or, according to Mark (Mr 15:23), "mingled with myrrh;" both expressions meaning the same thing, namely, that the vinegar was made bitter by the infusion of wormwood or some other bitter substance, usually given, according to a merciful custom, as an anodyne to those who were crucified, to render them insensible to pain. Our Lord, knowing this, refuses to drink it. He would take nothing to cloud his faculties or blunt the pain of dying. He chooses to suffer every element of woe in the bitter cup of agony given him by the Father (Joh 18:11).
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lest there be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart is turning to-day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations, lest there be in you a root fruitful of gall and wormwood:
The poison of dragons is their wine And the fierce venom of asps.
Go round against me do his archers. He splitteth my reins, and spareth not, He poureth out to the earth my gall.
His food in his bowels is turned, The bitterness of asps is in his heart.
And they give for my food gall, And for my thirst cause me to drink vinegar.
Wherefore are we sitting still? Be gathered, and we go in to the fenced cities, And we are silent there, For Jehovah our God hath made us silent, Yea, He causeth us to drink water of gall, For we have sinned against Jehovah.
Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am causing them -- this people -- to eat wormwood, And I have caused them to drink water of gall,
Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, concerning the prophets: Lo, I am causing them to eat wormwood, And have caused them to drink water of gall, For, from prophets of Jerusalem Hath profanity gone forth to all the land.
Remember my affliction and my mourning, Wormwood and gall!
They have spoken words, To swear falsehood in making a covenant, And flourished as a poisonous herb hath judgment, on the furrows of a field.
they gave him to drink vinegar mixed with gall, and having tasted, he would not drink.
and they were giving him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, and he did not receive.
Jesus, therefore, said to Peter, 'Put the sword into the sheath; the cup that the Father hath given to me, may I not drink it?'
Fausets
1. Mereerah ("bitterness".) Secreted in an animal's gall bladder. Poetically used for a vital part, Job 16:13; 20:25. Job 20:14, "the gall of asps," i.e. their poison, contained in a sac in the mouth; Scripture uses popular language when no moral truth is thereby endangered.
2. Rosh; a bitter and poisonous herb; the poppy (Gesenius). Rosh means "head", so we speak of poppy heads. Jer 8:14, "water of gall," i.e. opium, Jer 9:15; 23:15. Others suggest one of the Euphorbiaceae, distasteful and deadly; the "grapes of gall" answering to the rounded three berried fruit (Imperial Bible Dictionary). De 29:18 (to which Heb 12:15, "root of bitterness," refers; a root whose essence is bitterness), De 32:32. Opium water would suit well for stupefying criminals in the agony of execution (Ps 69:21; Mt 27:34; Ac 8:23).
The vinegar offered to our Lord was mingled with "gall" according to Matthew, with "myrrh" according to Mark (Mr 15:23). The myrrh was the usual seasoning of Roman wine; the gall was added to stupefy, but our Lord would meet His agony in full consciousness. Bengel supposes the gall was added in wantonness. Matthew designated the drink according to the prophetic aspect, Ps 69:21; Mark according to its outward appearance.
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lest there be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart is turning to-day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations, lest there be in you a root fruitful of gall and wormwood:
For of the vine of Sodom their vine is, And of the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes are grapes of gall -- They have bitter clusters;
Go round against me do his archers. He splitteth my reins, and spareth not, He poureth out to the earth my gall.
His food in his bowels is turned, The bitterness of asps is in his heart.
One hath drawn, And it cometh out from the body, And a glittering weapon from his gall proceedeth. On him are terrors.
And they give for my food gall, And for my thirst cause me to drink vinegar.
And they give for my food gall, And for my thirst cause me to drink vinegar.
Wherefore are we sitting still? Be gathered, and we go in to the fenced cities, And we are silent there, For Jehovah our God hath made us silent, Yea, He causeth us to drink water of gall, For we have sinned against Jehovah.
Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am causing them -- this people -- to eat wormwood, And I have caused them to drink water of gall,
Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, concerning the prophets: Lo, I am causing them to eat wormwood, And have caused them to drink water of gall, For, from prophets of Jerusalem Hath profanity gone forth to all the land.
they gave him to drink vinegar mixed with gall, and having tasted, he would not drink.
and they were giving him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, and he did not receive.
for in the gall of bitterness, and bond of unrighteousness, I perceive thee being.'
looking diligently over lest any one be failing of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up may give trouble, and through this many may be defiled;
Hastings
(1) r
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lest there be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart is turning to-day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations, lest there be in you a root fruitful of gall and wormwood:
My face is foul with weeping, And on mine eyelids is death-shade.
His food in his bowels is turned, The bitterness of asps is in his heart.
One hath drawn, And it cometh out from the body, And a glittering weapon from his gall proceedeth. On him are terrors.
And they give for my food gall, And for my thirst cause me to drink vinegar.
Wherefore are we sitting still? Be gathered, and we go in to the fenced cities, And we are silent there, For Jehovah our God hath made us silent, Yea, He causeth us to drink water of gall, For we have sinned against Jehovah.
And I have scattered them among nations Which they knew not, they and their fathers, And have sent after them the sword, Till I have consumed them.
Remember my affliction and my mourning, Wormwood and gall!
They have spoken words, To swear falsehood in making a covenant, And flourished as a poisonous herb hath judgment, on the furrows of a field.
they gave him to drink vinegar mixed with gall, and having tasted, he would not drink.
Morish
1. merorah, the gall or bile of animals. It is symbolical of 'bitterness:' "he poureth out my gall upon the ground." Job 16:13. It is also used for the 'poison' of asps. Job 20:14,25.
2. rosh, ????, some exceedingly bitter or poisonous plant not definitely identified. This word is used as symbolical of 'bitterness.' To turn to idolatry was like "a root that beareth gall and wormwood." De 29:18. God's judgements were given them as water of gall to drink. Jer 8:14; 9:15; 23:15: cf. De 32:32; La 3:5,19; Am 6:12. Gall, mixed with the sour wine or vinegar drunk by the Roman soldiers, was given to those about to be crucified, for the purpose, as is now supposed, of making them the less sensitive to the torture. It was offered to the Lord, but refused. Ps 69:21; Mt 27:34. In Mr 15:23 myrrh is read instead of gall; the meaning would be the same.
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lest there be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart is turning to-day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations, lest there be in you a root fruitful of gall and wormwood:
For of the vine of Sodom their vine is, And of the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes are grapes of gall -- They have bitter clusters;
Go round against me do his archers. He splitteth my reins, and spareth not, He poureth out to the earth my gall.
His food in his bowels is turned, The bitterness of asps is in his heart.
One hath drawn, And it cometh out from the body, And a glittering weapon from his gall proceedeth. On him are terrors.
And they give for my food gall, And for my thirst cause me to drink vinegar.
Wherefore are we sitting still? Be gathered, and we go in to the fenced cities, And we are silent there, For Jehovah our God hath made us silent, Yea, He causeth us to drink water of gall, For we have sinned against Jehovah.
Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am causing them -- this people -- to eat wormwood, And I have caused them to drink water of gall,
Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, concerning the prophets: Lo, I am causing them to eat wormwood, And have caused them to drink water of gall, For, from prophets of Jerusalem Hath profanity gone forth to all the land.
He hath built up against me, And setteth round poverty and weariness.
Remember my affliction and my mourning, Wormwood and gall!
Do horses run on a rock? Doth one plough it with oxen? For ye have turned to gall judgment, And the fruit of righteousness to wormwood.
they gave him to drink vinegar mixed with gall, and having tasted, he would not drink.
and they were giving him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, and he did not receive.
Smith
Gall.
1. Mereerah, denoting "that which is bitter;" hence the term is applied to the "bile" or "gall" (the fluid secreted by the liver), from its intense bitterness,
it is also used of the "poison" of serpents,
which the ancients erroneously believed was their gall.
2. Rosh, generally translated "gall" in the English Bible, is in
rendered "hemlock:" in
De 32:33
and Job 20:16 rosh denotes the "poison" or "venom" of serpents. From
De 29:18
and Lame 3:19 compared with Hose 10:4 it is evident that the Hebrew term denotes some bitter and perhaps poisonous plant. Other writers have supposed, and with some reason, from
De 32:32
that some berry-bearing plant must be intended. Gesenius understands poppies; in which case the gall mingled with the wine offered to our Lord at his crucifixion, and refused by him, would be an anaesthetic, and tend to diminish the sense of suffering. Dr. Richardson, "Ten Lectures on Alcohol," p. 23, thinks these drinks were given to the crucified to diminish the suffering through their intoxicating effects.
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The poison of dragons is their wine And the fierce venom of asps.
Go round against me do his archers. He splitteth my reins, and spareth not, He poureth out to the earth my gall.
His food in his bowels is turned, The bitterness of asps is in his heart.
One hath drawn, And it cometh out from the body, And a glittering weapon from his gall proceedeth. On him are terrors.
They have spoken words, To swear falsehood in making a covenant, And flourished as a poisonous herb hath judgment, on the furrows of a field.
Watsons
GALL, ???, something excessively bitter, and supposed to be poisonous, De 29:18; 32:32; Ps 69:21; Jer 8:14; 9:15; 23:15; La 3:19; Ho 10:4; Am 6:12. It is evident from the first-mentioned place, that some herb or plant is meant of a malignant or nauseous kind. It is joined with wormwood, and, in the margin of our Bibles, explained to be "a very poisonful herb." In Ps 69:21, which is justly considered as a prophecy of our Saviour's sufferings, it is said, "They gave me ??? to eat; which the LXX have rendered ?????, gall. And, accordingly, it is recorded in the history, "They gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall," ???? ???? ?????, Mt 27:34. But, in the parallel passage, it is said to be, ???????????? ?????, "wine mingled with myrrh," Mr 15:23, a very bitter ingredient. From whence it is probable that ????, and perhaps ???, may be used as a general name for whatever is exceedingly bitter; and, consequently, where the sense requires it, may be put specially for any bitter herb or plant, the infusion of which may be called ???????.
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lest there be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart is turning to-day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations, lest there be in you a root fruitful of gall and wormwood:
For of the vine of Sodom their vine is, And of the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes are grapes of gall -- They have bitter clusters;
And they give for my food gall, And for my thirst cause me to drink vinegar.
And they give for my food gall, And for my thirst cause me to drink vinegar.
Wherefore are we sitting still? Be gathered, and we go in to the fenced cities, And we are silent there, For Jehovah our God hath made us silent, Yea, He causeth us to drink water of gall, For we have sinned against Jehovah.
Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am causing them -- this people -- to eat wormwood, And I have caused them to drink water of gall,
Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, concerning the prophets: Lo, I am causing them to eat wormwood, And have caused them to drink water of gall, For, from prophets of Jerusalem Hath profanity gone forth to all the land.
Remember my affliction and my mourning, Wormwood and gall!
They have spoken words, To swear falsehood in making a covenant, And flourished as a poisonous herb hath judgment, on the furrows of a field.
Do horses run on a rock? Doth one plough it with oxen? For ye have turned to gall judgment, And the fruit of righteousness to wormwood.
they gave him to drink vinegar mixed with gall, and having tasted, he would not drink.
and they were giving him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, and he did not receive.