H4814 H4814
Bitterness, specifically intense emotional anguish expressed in groaning or lamentation
This noun appears in Ezekiel 21:6 (Hebrew 21:11) in God's dramatic command to the prophet: "Groan with breaking heart and bitter grief before their eyes." The term denotes the deepest emotional pain—not mere sadness but visceral, soul-level bitterness. Ezekiel must perform this acted prophecy, groaning publicly to symbolize Israel's coming devastation. The word connects to the root meaning "bitter," evoking both taste and experience. When onlookers ask why he groans, Ezekiel will explain that news is coming to make every heart melt. This embodied prophetic sign makes abstract judgment tangibly real through the prophet's bitter anguish.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Denotes bitterness or bitter anguish, particularly intense emotional pain expressed through groaning or lamentation. Ezekiel 21:6 commands the prophet to groan "with bitterness" as a sign-act symbolizing Israel's coming catastrophe. The term emphasizes visceral, gut-level grief—not intellectual sorrow but embodied pain. The root connects to sensory bitterness (bitter taste) extended to emotional experience. Cross-linguistic glosses (Spanish "amargura," French "amertume") preserve the metaphorical extension from taste to feeling, a widespread semantic pattern capturing how emotional pain mirrors physical sensation. 1×
AR["وَبِمَرَارَةٍ"]·ben["এবং-সহিত-তিক্ততার"]·DE["[ובמרירות]"]·EN["and-with-bitterness"]·FR["et-amertume"]·heb["ו-ב-מרירות"]·HI["और-से-कड़वाहट"]·ID["dan-dengan-kepahitan"]·IT["[ובמרירות]"]·jav["lan-sarana-pait,"]·KO["그리고-쓴맛-안에서"]·PT["e-com-amargura"]·RU["и-в-горечи"]·ES["y-con-amargura"]·SW["na-kwa-uchungu"]·TR["ve-acılıkla"]·urd["اور-تلخی-سے"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† מְרִירוּת n.f. bitterness;—וּבִמ׳ תֵּאָנַח Ez 21:11 and in bitterness (bitterly) shalt thou groan.