The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a
great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers
and on the springs of water— the name of the star is
Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the
waters that had become bitter. Revelation 8:10-11
In the New
Testament, this word only appears once and means “bitter.” It relates to a star that falls from the sky
and makes all the waters bitter to taste.
The water sources of earth cannot be consumed because of the taste and
the people die of thirst.
In the Old
Testament, a similar word is used (la`anah) that means
poison or gall. The King James
translation uses the word “wormwood” in these instances.
Therefore
this is what the Lord
Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter
food and drink poisoned water. Jeremiah
9:15
I
remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall. Lamentations 3:19
the bitterness and the gall. Lamentations 3:19
Do
horses run on the rocky crags?
Does one plow the sea with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness—Amos 6:12
Does one plow the sea with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness—Amos 6:12
The word
is also similar to the word “gall” (cholē). It was a greenish hue, like bile, and poisonous. Jesus received a similar drink on the cross.
There
they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall;
but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.
Matthew 27:34
Some
believe that gall was myrrh, a gift Jesus received at his birth. Jesus refused the poison because he didn’t
want to die from poison, but from the crucifixion. He didn’t want to deaden the pain of death.