Easton's Bible Dictionary (1) Hebrews 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.) Hebrews rosh. In Deuteronomy 32:33 and Job 20:16 it denotes the poison of serpents. In Hosea 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 (Deuteronomy 29:18; Jeremiah 9:15; Lamentations 3:19). Comp. Jeremiah 8:14; 23:15, "water of gall," Gesenius, "poppy juice;" others, "water of hemlock," "bitter water." (3.) Gr. chole (Matthew 27:34), the LXX. translation of the Hebrew rosh in Psalm 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). Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (n.) The bitter, alkaline, viscid fluid found in the gall bladder, beneath the liver. It consists of the secretion of the liver, or bile, mixed with that of the mucous membrane of the gall bladder. 2. (n.) The gall bladder. 3. (n.) Anything extremely bitter; bitterness; rancor. 4. (n.) Impudence; brazen assurance. 5. (n.) An excrescence of any form produced on any part of a plant by insects or their larvae. They are most commonly caused by small Hymenoptera and Diptera which puncture the bark and lay their eggs in the wounds. The larvae live within the galls. Some galls are due to aphids, mites, etc. See Gallnut. 6. (v. t.) To impregnate with a decoction of gallnuts. 7. (v. t.) To fret and wear away by friction; to hurt or break the skin of by rubbing; to chafe; to injure the surface of by attrition; as, a saddle galls the back of a horse; to gall a mast or a cable. 8. (v. t.) To fret; to vex; as, to be galled by sarcasm. 9. (v. t.) To injure; to harass; to annoy; as, the troops were galled by the shot of the enemy. 10. (v. i.) To scoff; to jeer. 11. (n.) A wound in the skin made by rubbing. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia GALL gol: (1) ro'sh, or rosh (Deuteronomy 32:32 only, "grapes of gall"): Some very bitter plant, the bitterness as in (2) being associated with the idea of poison. Deuteronomy 29:18 margin "rosh, a poisonpus herb"; Lamentations 3:5, 19 Jeremiah 8:14; Jeremiah 9:15; Jeremiah 23:15, "water of gall," margin "poison"; Hosea 10:4, translated "hemlock"; Amos 6:12, "Ye have turned justice into gall"; Job 20:16, the "poison of asps": here rosh clearly refers to a different substance from the other references, the points in common being bitterness and poisonous properties. Hemlock (Conium maculatum), colocynth (Citrullus colocynthus) and the poppy (Papaver somniferum) have all been suggested as the original rosh, the last having most support, but in most references the word may represent any bitter poisonous substance. Rosh is associated with la`anah, "wormwood" (Deuteronomy 29:18 Lamentations 3:19 Amos 6:12). (2) mererah (Job 16:13), and merorah (Job 20:14, 25), both derived from a root meaning "to be bitter," are applied to the human gall or "bile," but like (1), merorah is once applied to the venom of serpents (Job 20:14). The poison of these animals was supposed to reside in their bile. (3) chole (Matthew 27:34), "They gave him wine to drink mingled with gall"; this is clearly a reference to the Septuagint version of Psalm 69:21: "They gave me also gall (chole, Hebrew rosh) for my food; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." In Mark 15:23, it says, "wine mingled with myrrh." It is well known that the Romans gave wine with frankincense to criminals before their execution to alleviate their sufferings; here the chole or bitter substance used was myrrh (Pliny Ep. xx0.18; Sen. Ep. 83). E. W. G. Masterman

Multi-Version Concordance Gall (17 Occurrences) Matthew 27:34 They gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall. When he had tasted it, he would not drink. (WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Acts 8:23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity." (WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV) Deuteronomy 29:18 lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood; (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT) Deuteronomy 32:32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, Their clusters are bitter. (WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS YLT) Job 16:13 His archers surround me. He splits my kidneys apart, and does not spare. He pours out my gall on the ground. (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Job 20:14 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him. (KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS RSV) Job 20:16 Gall of asps he sucketh, Slay him doth the tongue of a viper. (YLT) Job 20:25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him. (KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV) Psalms 69:21 They also gave me gall for my food. In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink. (WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV) Proverbs 5:4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword; (See NIV) Jeremiah 8:14 Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for Yahweh our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Yahweh. (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT) Jeremiah 9:15 therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT) Jeremiah 23:15 Therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is ungodliness gone forth into all the land. (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT) Lamentations 3:5 He has built against me, and surrounded me with gall and travail. (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS) Lamentations 3:15 He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood. (See NIV) Lamentations 3:19 Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV) Amos 6:12 Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock: (KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)