Bitter, Bitterly, Bitterness
Bitter, Bitterly, Bitterness
from a root pik, meaning “to cut, to prick,” hence, lit., “pointed, sharp, keen, pungent to the sense of taste, smell, etc.,” is found in Jam 3:11, Jam 3:14. In Jam 3:11 it has its natural sense, with reference to water; in Jam 3:14 it is used metaphorically of jealousy, RV.
related to A, signifies, in the Active Voice, “to be bitter,” Col 3:19, or “to embitter, irritate, or to make bitter,” Rev 10:9; the Passive Voice, “to be made bitter,” is used in Rev 8:11; Rev 10:10.
denotes “bitterness.” It is used in Act 8:23, metaphorically, of a condition of extreme wickedness, “gall of bitterness” or “bitter gal;” in Rom 3:14, of evil speaking; in Eph 4:31, of “bitter” hatred; in Heb 12:15, in the same sense, metaphorically, of a root of “bitterness,” producing “bitter” fruit.
“bitterly,” is used of the poignant grief of Peter’s weeping for his denial of Christ, Mat 26:75; Luk 22:62.
Note: In the Sept., pikros (not in the NT), “a bitter herb,” is used in Exo 12:8; Num 9:11.