Lamentations 3:15 — Word Study
WLCהִשְׂבִּיעַ֥נִי בַמְּרוֹרִ֖ים הִרְוַ֥נִי לַעֲנָֽה׃ ס
BSAHe has filled mesâbaʻ■ [satisfied, made full] with bitternessmᵉrôr [a strong bitter taste, painful experience] He has intoxicated merâvâh■ [made drunken, filled to excess] with wormwoodlaʻănâh [a poisonous plant]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| הִשְׂבִּיעַ֥נִי | he has surfeited me | Verb hiphil perfect third person masculine singular, suffix |
| בַמְּרוֹרִ֖ים | with bitter things | Preposition |
| הִרְוַ֥נִי | he has made drink me | Verb hiphil perfect third person masculine singular, suffix |
| לַעֲנָֽה׃ ס | wormwood | Noun common, feminine singular absolute |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood. |
| KJV | He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. |
| ASV | He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath sated me with wormwood. |
| YLT | He hath filled me with bitter things, He hath filled me [with] wormwood. |
| WEB | He has filled me with bitterness. He has stuffed me with wormwood. |
| BBE | He has made my life nothing but pain, he has given me the bitter root in full measure. |
The translations agree on the key terms used in this verse, particularly regarding the feelings of bitterness and intoxication.
The sentence comprises two main clauses connected by the speaker's experiences of bitterness and intoxication, illustrating a parallel structure.
7 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Lamentations 3:15
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Lament of Sufferinggenerated
Lamentations 3:15 captures the profound sorrow of the speaker, who feels filled with bitterness and intoxicated by wormwood. This verse reflects the broader themes of suffering and divine punishment found throughout the book of Lamentations, where the speaker grapples with their painful experiences and the consequences of sin. The surrounding verses provide a context of mockery and despair, emphasizing the depth of the speaker's anguish.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lamentations 3:19 | Remember my affliction and wandering, the wormwood and the gall. |
| 2 | Ruth 1:20 | “Do not call me Naomi, ” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me. |
| 3 | Job 9:18 | He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness. |
| 4 | Psalm 60:3 | You have shown Your people hardship; we are staggered from the wine You made us drink. |
| 5 | Isaiah 51:17–22 | Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs— the cup that makes men stagger. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 8 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — הִשְׂבִּיעַ֥נִי, his.bi.'A.nigenerated
The verb הִשְׂבִּיעַ (his.bi.'A) is a Hiphil perfect form, indicating an action performed by a subject — in this case, the subject is God. It conveys the sense of being filled or satisfied, but here it carries a negative connotation of being overwhelmed with bitterness. The root שָׂבֵעַ (saba`) relates to the idea of being sated, often in a way that suggests excess, which aligns with the speaker's painful experience of bitterness.
This word choice emphasizes the intensity of the speaker's suffering, as they feel not just a mild bitterness but a profound and overwhelming state. The use of the Hiphil form suggests that this filling is an action done to the speaker, highlighting their lack of control over their situation.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The finite verbs הִשְׂבִּיעַ and הִרְוַ֥ן govern the structure of the verse, with two phrases describing the objects of these actions: the speaker and the substances that fill them. The Hebrew word order emphasizes the actions performed upon the speaker, underscoring their helplessness.
The prepositional phrases בַמְּרוֹרִ֖ים and לַעֲנָֽה follow the verbs, clarifying what the speaker is filled with and intoxicated by. This structure highlights the duality of their experience: filled with bitterness and intoxicated by a harmful substance.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates הִשְׂבִּיעַ as με (me), indicating a direct correspondence to the Hebrew. This choice emphasizes the personal nature of the experience, as it directly addresses the speaker's condition.
For לַעֲנָֽה, the LXX uses ξολῆς, which carries connotations of bitterness and poison, aligning with the Hebrew's metaphorical use of wormwood to signify something harmful and accursed.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Lamentations 3:15 expresses the speaker's deep sorrow, stating that they feel filled with bitterness and intoxicated by wormwood, a poisonous plant. This verse highlights the intense suffering and pain the speaker is enduring, reflecting a broader theme of lamentation and despair.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
To be filled with bitterness means to experience deep emotional pain and sorrow, often resulting from difficult circumstances or loss.
Wormwood is a poisonous plant that symbolizes bitterness and suffering in the Bible, often used to represent something harmful or accursed.
This verse reflects the themes of suffering and divine judgment found throughout Lamentations, where the speaker laments their painful experiences and the consequences of sin.
The speaker's expression of anguish serves as a reminder of the reality of suffering and the importance of acknowledging and processing our pain.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- In what ways have I experienced bitterness in my own life, and how have I dealt with it?
- How can I support others who are going through painful experiences similar to what is described in this verse?
- What does the imagery of wormwood teach us about the nature of suffering?
- How can I find hope and healing in the midst of bitterness and sorrow?
The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it
Thomas Aquinas comments on this verse, discussing the nature of affliction and the implications of divine governance.
Here secondly the affliction of penalty says: "He drove into my heart." Namely, by which the luxury of a people is indicated. Then: "the arrows of his quiver". That is, difference of penalties issuing forth from his governance.Early Church Fathers on Lamentations 3 →
Commentators on this verse — 7 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Lamentations 3:15 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleHe hath filled me with bitterness,.... Or "with bitternesses" (m); instead of food, bitter herbs; the allusion perhaps is to the bitter herbs eaten at the passover, and signify bitter afflictions,
Read John Gill on Lamentations 3 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryHe hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. Arrows - literally, sons of His quiver (cf. Job 6:4, "The arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit"). Verse 14.
Read Robert Jamieson on Lamentations 3 →Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy BibleThat is, he hath filled me with severe and bitter dispensations. Wormwood is a bitter herb, but it is also a wholesome herb, and therefore some think that the Hebrew word should rather be translated henbane, and that it signifies some herb whose juice is intoxicating and poisonous.
Read Matthew Poole on Lamentations 3 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsLamentations 3:15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.Ver. 15. He hath filled me with bitterness.] Heb., Bitternesses: alluding, as some think, to that ius seu embamma in quo intingebant agnum Paschalem, sauce of bitter herbs wherewith they did eat the Passover - the juice of them expressed - to mind them of the bitter afflictions which they suffered in Egypt. He hath made me drunk with wormwood.] Or, Hensbane, or wolfsbane rather, succo cicutae. Exarescunt torrentes, metalla exhauriuntur, flumina deficiunt, prata item cum structibus, &c.
Read John Trapp on Lamentations 3 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(15) Bitterness.—The Hebrew gives the plural, bitternesses. With these, the sorrows which are as the bitter herbs of life (the same word meets us in Exodus 12:8, and Numbers 9:11), the mourner had been filled even to satiety, even as he had been made drunk with wormwood.
Read Charles John Ellicott on Lamentations 3 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleVerse 15. He hath filled me with bitterness] במרורים bimrorim, with bitternesses, bitter upon bitter. He hath made me drunken with wormwood.] I have drunk the cup of misery till I am intoxicated with it. Almost in all countries, and in all languages, bitterness is a metaphor to express trouble and affliction. The reason is, there is nothing more disagreeable to the taste than the one; and nothing more distressing to the mind than the other. An Arabic poet. Amralkeis, one of the writers of the Moallakat, terms a man grievously afflicted [Arabic] a pounder of wormwood.
Read AdamClarke on Lamentations 3 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges15. wormwood] See on Jeremiah 9:15; Jeremiah 23:15.
Read Cambridge on Lamentations 3 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood.
He has filled me with bitterness. He has stuffed me with wormwood.
He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood.
He has given me my fill of bitter herbs and made me drunk with bitterness.
Tyndale line
He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.
He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath sated me with wormwood.
He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath sated me with wormwood.
He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.
He hath filled me with bitternes, and made me drunken with wormewood.
Strictly literal
He hath sated me with bitterness, he hath made me drunk with wormwood.
He hath filled me with bitter things, He hath filled me [with] wormwood.
He has filled me with bitter things, || He has filled me [with] wormwood.
He hath sated me with bitter things, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.
He filled me with bitterness and forced me to drink wormwood.
From the Latin
He. He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me with wormwood.
Simplified
He has filled me with bitterness; he has filled me up with bitter wormwood.
He has made my life nothing but pain, he has given me the bitter root in full measure.
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint agree in the wording of this verse, with all four words matched. This consistency indicates a shared understanding of the speaker's anguish and the bitter experiences being lamented.
הִשְׂבִּיעַ֥נִי בַמְּרוֹרִ֖ים הִרְוַ֥נִי לַעֲנָֽה׃ ס
4 of the 4 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Lamentations 3:15
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
שָׂבֵעַ (saba`) means to be sated or satisfied, particularly in relation to food. It can also imply having one's desires fulfilled or being surfeited with excess. The verb has various forms, including Qal, Piel, and Hiphil, which cover meanings from simply being full to enriching or satisfying others. The entries indicate a focus on both literal and figurative senses of satisfaction.
[שָׂבֵעַ], שָׂבַע 96 vb. be sated, satisfied, surfeited
Qal 79
be sated (with food), esp. human subj.
more gen., be sated, have desire satisfied
have in excess, be surfeited with
Niph. Pt. sated
Pi. satisfy
Hiph.
satisfy (esp. with material blessings), subj. י׳
c. acc. of food pers., י׳ subj.
י׳ subj.
י׳ subj., c. acc. of beasts
enrich
sate, glut (with the undesired)
base
H7646 שָׂבֵעַ, שָׂבַע be sated, satisfied, surfeited .. be sated (with food), esp. human subj.
. more gen., be sated, have desire satisfied
. have in excess, be surfeited with
. Pt. sated
. satisfy
. . . satisfy (esp. with material blessings), subj. י׳
. c. acc. of food + pers., י׳ subj.
. י׳ subj.
. י׳ subj., c. acc. of beasts
. enrich
. sate, glut (with the undesired)
7646 saba` saw-bah'
or sabeay {saw-bay'-ah}; a primitive root; to sate, i.e. fill
to satisfaction (literally or figuratively):--have enough,
fill (full, self, with), be (to the) full (of), have plenty
of, be satiate, satisfy (with), suffice, be weary of.
שָׂבֵעַ (sa.va) — to satisfy.
1) to be satisfied, be sated, be fulfilled, be surfeited
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to be sated (with food)
1a2) to be sated, be satisfied with, be fulfilled, be filled, have one's fill of (have desire satisfied)
1a3) to have in excess, be surfeited, be surfeited with
1a3a) to be weary of (fig)
1b) (Piel) to satisfy
1c) (Hiphil)
1c1) to satisfy
1c2) to enrich
1c3) to sate, glut (with the undesired)
V-Hiphil-Perf-3ms | Suff — Verb hiphil perfect third person masculine singular · suffixHVhp3ms/Sp1bs
מָרֹר (mā́rôr) refers to a bitter thing or bitter herb, emphasizing the concept of bitterness. It is derived from the root associated with bitterness, specifically noted in Strong's H4843. The entries consistently highlight its association with bitterness without significant disagreement among lexicons.
[מָרֹר] n.m. bitter thing, bitter herb
base
H4844 [מָרֹר] bitter thing, bitter herb
4844 mror mer-ore'
or mrowr {mer-ore'}; from 4843; a bitter herb:--
bitter(-ness).
see HEBREW for 04843
מָרֹר (me.ror) — bitterness.
bitter thing, bitter herb, bitterness
Prep | N-mp — PrepositionHRd/Aampa
רָוָה (ravah) is a Hebrew verb meaning to saturate or quench thirst, often applied to drinking one's fill. It includes various forms such as being intoxicated or abundantly watering something. The entries indicate that it can express both the act of satisfying thirst and the causative action of drenching or saturating.
[רָוָה] vb. be saturated, drink one's fill
Qal we will take our fill of love
Pi.
intens. be intoxicated, drunk
causat. drench, water abundantly
Hiph. saturate, water
Hoph. Impf.
base
H7301 רָוָה be saturated, drink one's fill .we will take our fill of love
. . intens. be intoxicated, drunk
. causat. drench, water abundantly
. saturate, water
. Impf.
7301 ravah raw-vaw'
a primitive root; to slake the thirst (occasionally of other
appetites):--bathe, make drunk, (take the) fill, satiate,
(abundantly) satisfy, soak, water (abundantly).
רָוָה (ra.vah) — to quench.
1) to be satiated or saturated, have or drink one's fill
1a) (Qal) to take one's fill
1b) (Piel)
1b1) to be drunk, be intoxicated
1b2) to drench, water abundantly, saturate
1c) (Hiphil) to saturate, water, cause to drink
V-Hiphil-Perf-3ms | Suff — Verb hiphil perfect third person masculine singular · suffixHVhp3ms/Sp1bs
לַעֲנָה (la'anah) refers to wormwood, a plant often associated with bitterness and poison. The term is derived from a root that suggests a meaning related to cursing. It is mentioned in contexts that highlight its harmful qualities.
לַעֲנָה n.f. wormwood
base
H3939 לַעֲנָה wormwood
3939 la`anah lah-an-aw'
from an unused root supposed to mean to curse; wormwood
(regarded as poisonous, and therefore accursed):--hemlock,
wormwood.
לַעֲנָה (la.a.nah) — wormwood.
1) wormwood
1a) bitterness (metaph.)
N-fs — Noun common · feminine singular absoluteHNcfsa
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…
Wormwood
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.
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.
La 3:15, an intensely bitter and poisonous plant, a symbol for whatever is nauseous and destructive, De 29:18 Jer 9:15. The fruits of vicious indulgence are "better as wormwood," Pr 5:3; and injustice and oppression are like wormwood and gall, Am 5:7 6:12.
The Chaldee paraphrase calls it "the wormwood of death." In Re 8:10-11, the star called wormwood seems to denote a mighty prince, or power of the air, the instrument, in its fall, of sore judgments on large numbers of the wicked. Compare Da 10:20-21