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Bible Dictionaries
Gall
Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary
or This word is used in Scripture, variously, but in all it means to convey an idea of great bitterness. The drink of bitter sorrow, is called, "the water of gall." (Jeremiah 8:14) And sin is sometimes described under the figure of "the gall of bitterness, and bond of iniquity." (Acts 8:23) Moses, describing the apostacy of any man or woman, or family, or tribe in Israel, calls it, "the root that beareth gall and wormwood." (Deuteronomy 29:18) And elsewhere, speaking of Israel's enemies, and their sad prospects, strongly marks the bitterness even of their comforts under this figure. "For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter." (Deuteronomy 32:32) The Lord Jesus, speaking of his sufferings on the cross, noticeth "the gall the Jews gave him to eat, and the vinegar to drink." We are told, that in his thirst they gave the Lord "wine mingled with myrrh." It was a custom with the Romans in their execution of criminals, to blunt their pains in this way. Bitter myrrh, with wine or vinegar, had a tendency, it was thought, to accomplish this purpose. And thus they treated "the Lord of life and glory." But how little did they know, what thirst of soul Jesus felt in that earnestness and vehemeney he endured for the salvation of his people. Solomon had before said, "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine to those that be of heavy hearts; let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more." (Proverbs 31:6-7) The strong drink of Jesus was the cup of salvation for his redeemed. To Jesus "a cup of trembling;" to them the cup of rejoicing. Here he was to see "the travail of his soul, and be satisfied." In drinking of this draught, bitter as it was, and to the dregs, Jesus forgot all his sorrows, and remembered his misery no more. Oh! that the drunkards of Ephraim would seriously lay this to heart. Oh! that every follower of the Lord Jesus would now take "the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord."
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Hawker, Robert D.D. Entry for 'Gall'. Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance and Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/pmd/g/gall.html. London. 1828.
