Wormwood is a notably bitter plant associated in Scripture with sorrow, calamity, affliction, remorse, and punitive suffering. In Revelation, wormwood symbolizes waters made bitter by a fallen star.
Definition
Wormwood is a notably bitter plant associated with the genus Artemisia. The biblical term denotes a bitter substance, though its precise botanical identity is described as uncertain. Several species of wormwood occur in Palestine, and some varieties have been used in the manufacture of absinthe or as anthelmintics.
Biblical Usage
Wormwood is commonly a metaphor for bitterness, sorrow, calamity, affliction, remorse, cruelty, and punitive suffering. Unrighteous judges are said to turn judgment to wormwood. In Revelation, a falling star makes part of the waters bitter as wormwood.
Historical Background
The Hebrew term is associated with “gall” and has several ancient translations. The name connected with the Greek absinthion means “undrinkable.” Four or five species of Artemisia are reported in Palestine, including Artemisia nilotica, Judaica, fructicosa, and cinerea.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Heb. la’anah, the Artemisia absinthium of botanists. It is noted for its intense bitterness (Deut. 29:18; Prov. 5:4; Jer. 9:15; Amos 5:7). It is a type of bitterness, affliction, remorse, punitive suffering. In Amos 6:12 this Hebrew word is rendered “hemlock” (R.V., “wormwood”). In the symbolical language of the Apocalypse (Rev. 8:10, 11) a star is represented as falling on the waters of the earth, causing the third part of the water to turn wormwood. The name by which the Greeks designated it, absinthion, means “undrinkable.” The absinthe of France is distilled from a species of this plant. The “southernwood” or “old man,” cultivated in cottage gardens on account of its fragrance, is another species of it.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Four kinds of wormwood are found in Palestine— Artemisia nilotica, A. Judaica, A. fructicosa and A. cinerea . The word occurs frequently in the Bible, and generally in a metaphorical sense. In (Jeremiah 9:15; 23:15; Lamentations 3:15,19) wormwood is symbolical of bitter calamity and sorrow; unrighteous judges are said to “turn judgment to wormwood.” (Amos 5:7) The Orientals typified sorrows, cruelties and calamities of any kind by plants of a poisonous or bitter nature.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>wurm'-wood (la'anah (De 29:18; Pr 5:4; Jer 9:15; 23:15; La 3:15,19; Am 5:7; 6:12, the King James Version hemlock); apsinthos (Re 8:11)): What the Hebrew la`anah may have been is obscure; it is clear it was a bitter substance and it is usually associated with "gall"; in the Septuagint it is variously translated, but never by apsinthos, "wormwood." Nevertheless all ancient tradition supports the English Versions of the Bible translation. The genus Artemisia (Natural Order Compositae), "wormwood," has five species of shrubs or herbs found in Palestine (Post), any one of which may furnish a bitter taste. The name is derived from the property of many species acting as anthelmintics, while other varieties are used in the manufacture of absinthe.</p><p>E. W. G. Masterman</p>
