Word study
Bitterness
7 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “bitterness”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “bitterness” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- מַר marbitter, bitternesstranslated this way 6 times of its 39 uses · Strong’s H4751Adjective · Translated: bitter 16, bitterness 6, bitterly 3, anguish 2Full study and all 36 verses →
1 Samuel 15:32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.” Agag came to him cheerfully, for he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
2 Samuel 2:26 Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”
- מָרַר mârarbe bittertranslated this way 1 time of its 14 uses · Strong’s H4843Verb · Translated: bitter 2, rage 2Full study and all 13 verses →
Genesis 49:23 The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.
- מַמְרֹר mamrôrbitter thingtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H4472Noun · Translated: bitterness 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Job 9:18 He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness.
- מׇרָּה morrâhbitternesstranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H4787Noun · Translated: bitterness 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Proverbs 14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares in its joy.
- מֶמֶר memerbitternesstranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H4470Noun · Translated: bitterness 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Proverbs 17:25 A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.
- רֹאשׁ rôshheadtranslated this way 1 time of its 12 uses · Strong’s H7219Noun · Translated: poison 3, poisonous 2, gall 2, give them poisoned 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Lamentations 3:5 He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
- מְרֹר merôrbitter thing, bitter herbtranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H4844Noun · Translated: bitter herbs 2, bitterness 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Lamentations 3:15 He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood.
Greek words (New Testament)
- πικρία pikríabitternesstranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G4088Noun · Translated: bitterness 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Acts 8:23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and captive to iniquity.”
Romans 3:14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.