Bible Dictionaries

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Gall

Gall. A word which in the A. V. represents two or more Hebrew words. 1. The Hebrew word rôsh, rendered "hemlock" in Hosea 10:4; Amos 6:12, R. V., "gall," is generally rendered "gall," Deuteronomy 29:18; Psalms 69:21, meaning most probably the poppy; and thus Jeremiah 8:14, "water of gall," would be poppy-juice. It stands sometimes for poison generally. Deuteronomy 32:32. 2. Another word, merĕrah, or merorah, means the gall of the human body, Job 16:13; Job 20:25, and that of asps, Job 20:14, the poison being supposed to lie in the gall. The Greek cholç means a bitter humor of man or beast, taking sometimes a more general signification. Matthew 27:34. It is used metaphorically in Acts 8:23. The draught offered to our Lord at his crucifixion is said by Matthew to be mingled with gall, by Mark with myrrh. Matthew 27:34; Mark 15:23. If the two refer to the same act, Mark specifies the ingredient, while Matthew shows that the effect was to render the mixture bitter: as we say, "bitter as gall."