Gall

A yellowish-brown bitter substance made by the liver (Job 16:13) or the organ containing the gall (20:25).

A very bitter, poisonous herb. It might be the same as hemlock, colocynth, or poppy. The Hebrew word for "gall" also refers to:

“Bitter fruit” (Deuteronomy 29:18)

The “venom” of a venomous snake (Job 20:14, 16)

A poison given to a person for food (Psalm 69:21)

A divine punishment as “poisoned water” (Jeremiah 8:14; 9:15; 23:15)

Israel’s bitter experience of divine judgment (Lamentations 3:5, 19)

Divine judgment against Israel sprouting up like “poisonous weeds” in a field (Hosea 10:4)

Israel’s perversion of justice by turning “justice into poison” (Amos 6:12).

An unpleasant-tasting substance in the New Testament. Matthew 27:34 mentions the gall mixed with wine that was offered to Christ on the cross. Mark 15:23 calls the substance “myrrh,” which might be the specific substance mixed with the wine. In Acts 8:23, Peter described the spiritual state of Simon the magician as being “poisoned by bitterness.”

See also Plants; Wild Gourd.