Definition and Nature:
Bitterness is a deep-seated resentment or animosity that can take root in the human heart. It is often characterized by an unforgiving spirit and a persistent feeling of anger or disappointment. In the biblical context, bitterness is seen as a destructive force that can lead to spiritual and relational decay.

Biblical References:
The Bible addresses bitterness in several passages, warning against its corrosive effects on individuals and communities. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul admonishes believers to rid themselves of bitterness. Ephesians 4:31 states, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice." This verse highlights the importance of removing bitterness to maintain spiritual health and unity within the body of Christ.

Hebrews 12:15 further warns, "See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many." Here, bitterness is likened to a root that can grow and spread, causing widespread harm if not addressed.

Old Testament Insights:
In the Old Testament, bitterness is often associated with grief and suffering. The account of Naomi in the Book of Ruth illustrates this. After experiencing the loss of her husband and sons, Naomi expresses her bitterness by saying, "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me" (Ruth 1:20). Her statement reflects the deep sorrow and resentment she felt due to her circumstances.

Spiritual Implications:
Bitterness is considered a sin that can hinder one's relationship with God. It is often linked with unforgiveness, which can block the flow of God's grace and mercy in a believer's life. Jesus taught the importance of forgiveness in the Lord's Prayer, emphasizing that forgiving others is essential for receiving God's forgiveness (Matthew 6:14-15).

Practical Guidance:
The Bible provides practical guidance for overcoming bitterness. Believers are encouraged to forgive others as Christ forgave them (Colossians 3:13). This act of forgiveness is not only a command but also a pathway to healing and freedom from the bondage of bitterness.

Additionally, believers are urged to pursue peace and reconciliation. Romans 12:18 advises, "If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone." This pursuit of peace involves letting go of grudges and seeking harmonious relationships.

Conclusion:
While bitterness is a natural human response to hurt and injustice, the Bible calls believers to rise above it through forgiveness and love. By doing so, they reflect the character of Christ and maintain the unity and purity of the church.Hebrews 12:15
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Topicalbible.org

Ephesians 4:31-32
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Topicalbible.org

Colossians 3:19
Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
Topicalbible.org

1. (n.) The quality or state of being bitter, sharp, or acrid, in either a literal or figurative sense; implacableness; resentfulness; severity; keenness of reproach or sarcasm; deep distress, grief, or vexation of mind.

2. (n.) A state of extreme impiety or enmity to God.

3. (n.) Dangerous error, or schism, tending to draw persons to apostasy.

BITTER; BITTERNESS

bit'-er, bit'-er-nes (mar, or marah = "bitter" (literally or figuratively); also (noun) "bitterness" or (adverb) "bitterly"; "angry," "chafed," "discontented," "heavy" (Genesis 27:34 Exodus 15:23 Numbers 5:18, 19, 23, 24, 27 Esther 4:1; Job 3:20 Psalm 64:3 Proverbs 5:4; Proverbs 27:7 Ecclesiastes 7:26; Isaiah 5:20 Jeremiah 2:19; Jeremiah 4:18 Ezekiel 27:31 Amos 8:10 Habakkuk 1:6); the derivatives marar, meror, and merorah, used with the same significance according to the context, are found in Exodus 1:14; Exodus 12:8 Numbers 9:11 Job 13:26 Isaiah 24:9. The derivati ves meri and meriri occur in Deuteronomy 32:24 Job 23:2 (margin); and tamrur, is found in Jeremiah 6:26; Jeremiah 31:15. In the New Testament the verb pikraino = "to embitter"; the adjective pikros = "bitter," and the noun pikria, "bitterness," supply the same ideas in Colossians 3:19 James 3:11, 14 Revelation 8:11; Revelation 10:9, 10): It will be noted that the word is employed with three principal spheres of application:

(1) the physical sense of taste;

(2) a figurative meaning in the objective sense of cruel, biting words; intense misery resulting from forsaking God, from a life of sin and impurity; the misery of servitude; the misfortunes of bereavement;

(3) more subjectively, bitter and bitterness describe emotions of sympathy;' the sorrow of childlessness and of penitence, of disappointment; the feeling of misery and wretchedness, giving rise to the expression "bitter tears";

(4) the ethical sense, characterizing untruth and immorality as the bitter thing in opposition to the sweetness of truth and the gospel;

(5) Numbers 5:18 the Revised Version (British and American) speaks of "the water of bitterness that causeth the curse." Here it is employed as a technical term.

Frank E. Hirsch

BITTERNESS

bit'-er-ness.

See BITTER.

BITTERNESS, WATER OF

See ADULTERY (2).

WATER OF BITTERNESS (OR OF JEALOUSY)

See ADULTERY, (2).

4088. pikria -- bitterness
... bitterness. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: pikria Phonetic Spelling:
(pik-ree'-ah) Short Definition: bitterness Definition: bitterness ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4088.htm - 6k

3711. orgilos -- inclined to anger, passionate
... Cognate: 3711 -- to anger and harbor resentment, nurturing anger (prejudice,
bitterness). 3711 ("punitive") occurs only in Tit 1:7. See 3709 (). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3711.htm - 6k

1387. dolioo -- to deceive
... 1387 (from 1388 , "bait") -- properly, to lure, using to pull someone in; to deceive,
preying on people who are blinded by their own bitterness, greed or lust. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1387.htm - 6k

3950. parorgismos -- irritation
... Cognate: 3950 (from 3949 , see there) -- irritation (exasperation, bitterness) which
is provoked, ie by someone causing a personal ("up-close") sense of anger ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3950.htm - 7k

894. apsinthos -- wormwood
... wormwood. Of uncertain derivation; wormwood (as a type of bitterness, ie
(figuratively) calamity) -- wormwood. (apsinthon) -- 1 Occurrence. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/894.htm - 6k

4470. memer -- bitterness
... 4469, 4470. memer. 4471 . bitterness. Transliteration: memer Phonetic Spelling:
(meh'-mer) Short Definition: bitterness. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/4470.htm - 5k

4814. meriruth -- bitterness
... 4813, 4814. meriruth. 4815 . bitterness. Transliteration: meriruth Phonetic
Spelling: (mer-ee-rooth') Short Definition: grief. ... bitterness. ...
/hebrew/4814.htm - 6k

4751. mar -- bitter, bitterness
mar or marah. 4750, 4751. mar or marah. 4752 . bitter, bitterness. Transliteration:
mar or marah Phonetic Spelling: (mar) Short Definition: bitter. ...
/hebrew/4751.htm - 6k

4787a. morrah -- bitterness
... morrah. 4787b . bitterness. Transliteration: morrah Short Definition: bitterness.
Word Origin from marar Definition bitterness NASB Word Usage bitterness (1). ...
/hebrew/4787a.htm - 5k

4787. morrah -- bitterness
... bitterness. Transliteration: morrah Phonetic Spelling: (mor-raw') Short Definition:
bitterness. bitterness A form of morah; trouble -- bitterness. ...
/hebrew/4787.htm - 5k

4786. morah -- bitterness
... bitterness. Transliteration: morah Phonetic Spelling: (mo-raw') Short Definition:
grief. Word Origin from marar Definition bitterness NASB Word Usage grief* (1) ...
/hebrew/4786.htm - 6k

8563. tamrur -- bitterness
... bitterness. Transliteration: tamrur Phonetic Spelling: (tam-roor') Short Definition:
bitter. ... From marar; bitterness (plural as collective) -- X most bitter(-ly). ...
/hebrew/8563.htm - 6k

4472. mamror -- a bitter thing
... 4471, 4472. mamror. 4473 . a bitter thing. Transliteration: mamror Phonetic
Spelling: (mam-rore') Short Definition: bitterness. ... bitterness. ...
/hebrew/4472.htm - 6k

4844. maror -- bitter thing, bitter herb
... herbs. Word Origin from marar Definition bitter thing, bitter herb NASB
Word Usage bitter herbs (2), bitterness (1). bitterness. Or ...
/hebrew/4844.htm - 6k

4846. merorah -- a bitter thing, gall, poison
... Or mrowrah {mer-o-raw'}; from marar; properly, bitterness; concretely, a bitter
thing; specifically bile; also venom (of a serpent) -- bitter (thing), gall. ...
/hebrew/4846.htm - 6k

The Bitterness and Blessedness of the Brevity of Life
... VOLUME I: PSALMS I to XLIX THE BITTERNESS AND BLESSEDNESS OF THE BREVITY
OF LIFE. 'Surely every man walketh in a vain shew....12. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture j/the bitterness and blessedness of.htm

Therefore that Bitterness of Persecution of which You Speak is Our ...
... Book II. 77 Therefore that bitterness of persecution of which you speak
is our deliverance and not persecution? Therefore that ...
/.../77 therefore that bitterness of.htm

But we must Follow Our Preacher, who Can Only Turn Away with ...
... CHAPTER IV. But we must follow our Preacher, who can only turn away with
bitterness from this? But we must follow our Preacher ...
/.../jennings/old groans and new songs/chapter iv but we must.htm

Immediately after This, Celsus, Perceiving that He Has Slandered ...
... Chapter LIX. Immediately after this, Celsus, perceiving that he has
slandered us with too great bitterness? Immediately after ...
/.../origen/origen against celsus/chapter lix immediately after this.htm

Argument: Octavius Arranges his Reply, and Trusts that He Shall be ...
... Chapter XVI."Argument: Octavius Arranges His Reply, and Trusts that He Shall Be
Able to Dilute the Bitterness of Reproach with the River of Truthful Words. ...
/.../the octavius of minucius felix/chapter xvi argument octavius arranges his.htm

Hebrews xii. 14
... "Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you." ( Deuteronomy 29:18.) This
is found in Deuteronomy; and he derived it from the metaphor of plants. ...
/.../homilies on the gospel of st john and hebrews/homily xxxi hebrews xii 14.htm

Rights
... "You know," he began, "there's a great deal of difference between eating bitterness
[Chinese idiom for 'suffering hardship ... 'Eating bitterness' is easy enough. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/williamson/have we no rights/chapter 1 rights.htm

Bread and Gravel
... its solemn completion in the future beyond. II. The bitterness of what
is sweet and wrong. There is no need to deny that 'bread ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/bread and gravel.htm

What Happened Before the Crucifixion.
... heart; I would needs seek Thy divinity, and Thou showest me Thy humanity; I would
needs seek Thy sweetness, and Thou settest before me Thy bitterness; I would ...
/.../suso/a little book of eternal wisdom/chapter ii what happened before.htm

Apart
... In true believers, mourning for sin is chastened and sweetened, and, in one sense,
the fang of bitterness is taken out; but, in another sense, the more we ...
//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 43 1897/apart.htm

Bitterness (37 Occurrences)
... 3. (n.) Dangerous error, or schism, tending to draw persons to apostasy.
Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. BITTER; BITTERNESS. bit ...
/b/bitterness.htm - 21k

Wormwood (10 Occurrences)
... It is noted for its intense bitterness (Deuteronomy 29:18; Proverbs 5:4; Jeremiah
9:15; Amos 5:7). It is a type of bitterness, affliction, remorse, punitive ...
/w/wormwood.htm - 13k

Gall (17 Occurrences)
... (1) Hebrews mererah, meaning "bitterness" (Job 16:13); ie, the bile secreted in
the liver. ... 3. (n.) Anything extremely bitter; bitterness; rancor. ...
/g/gall.htm - 17k

Marah (4 Occurrences)
...Bitterness, a fountain at the sixth station of the Israelites (Exodus 15:23, 24;
Numbers 33:8) whose waters were so bitter that they could not drink them. ...
/m/marah.htm - 8k

Bitter (203 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Bitterness is symbolical of affliction, misery,
and servitude (Exodus 1:14; Ruth 1:20; Jeremiah 9:15). ...
/b/bitter.htm - 42k

Brings (155 Occurrences)
... offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of
bitterness that brings a curse. (WEB NAS RSV NIV). Numbers 5 ...
/b/brings.htm - 33k

Grief (252 Occurrences)
... Version, margin "or pain"; Isaiah 53:3, "a man of sorrows"; 53:4, "Surely he hath
carried our sorrows"); marah and marar indicate "bitterness" (Genesis 26:35 ...
/g/grief.htm - 45k

Intermeddle (1 Occurrence)
... once (Proverbs 14:10) in a passage descriptive of "the ultimate solitude of each
man's soul at all times." "The heart knoweth its own bitterness." "Nor even ...
/i/intermeddle.htm - 8k

Mourneth (14 Occurrences)
... and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him,
as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one ...
/m/mourneth.htm - 10k

Sigh (18 Occurrences)
... do mourn, because none come to the solemn assembly; all her gates are desolate,
her priests do sigh: her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness...
/s/sigh.htm - 12k

What does the Bible say about bitterness? | GotQuestions.org

What is a root of bitterness? | GotQuestions.org

Since God withholds forgiveness, can we? | GotQuestions.org

Bitterness: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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