The Definition of the word Gall

Gall

(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). Comp. 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).