gall Summary and Overview

(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 (20:14), and of the vitals, the seat of life (25). (2.) Heb. rosh. In Deut. 32:33 and Job 20:16 it denotes the poison of serpents. In Hos. 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 (Deut. 29:18; Jer. 9:15; Lam. 3:19). Compare Jer. 8:14; 23:15, "water of gall," Gesenius, "poppy juice;" others, "water of hemlock," "bitter water." (3.) Gr. chole (Matt. 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 (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 (John 18:11).

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, #Job 16:13; 20:25| it is also used of the "poison" of serpents, #Job 20:14| which the ancients erroneously believed was their gall. 2. Rosh, generally translated "gall" in the English Bible, is in #Ho 10:4| 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.

GALL , BILE, an animal fluid, of exceedingly bitter taste, secreted by the liver. Ps 69:21. Allusion is made to it in Job 16:13; Job 20:14, Job 20:25; Lam 2:11, and elsewhere. But by the same word, in Ps 69:21, reference is made to the extraction of a very bitter herb, Deut 29:18; Deut 32:32, perhaps hemlock. Hos 10:4. It was so bitter as to be used as a generic term for bitter substances; as sour wine or sour cider, etc., is called "vinegar." Comp. Matt 27:34; Mark 15:23; Acts 8:23. See Myrrh. GAL'LERY a veranda common in Eastern houses. But the word in the A.V. is not a correct translation of the Hebrew, which means, according to the latest researches, the colonnade or else wainscoting. Song 1:17; Zeph 41:15.

1. Mereerah ("bitterness".) Secreted in an animal's gall bladder. Poetically used for a vital part, Job 16:13; Job 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. Jeremiah 8:14, "water of gall," i.e. opium, Jeremiah 9:15; Jeremiah 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). Deuteronomy 29:18 (to which Hebrews 12:15, "root of bitterness," refers; a root whose essence is bitterness), Deuteronomy 32:32. Opium water would suit well for stupefying criminals in the agony of execution (Psalm 69:21; Matthew 27:34; Acts 8:23). The vinegar offered to our Lord was mingled with "gall" according to Matthew, with "myrrh" according to Mark (Mark 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, Psalm 69:21; Mark according to its outward appearance.