Bitter

"Bitterness is symbolical of affliction, misery, and servitude" (Ex. 1:14; Ruth 1:20; Jer. 9:15). The Chaldeans are called the "bitter and hasty nation (Hab. 1:6). The "gall of bitterness" "expresses a state of great wickedness (Acts 8:23). A "root of" "bitterness" is a wicked person or a dangerous sin (Heb. 12:15)." "The Passover was to be eaten with "bitter herbs" (Ex. 12:8; Num. 9:11). The kind of herbs so designated is not known. Probably they were any bitter herbs obtainable at the place and time when the Passover was celebrated. They represented the severity of the servitude under which the people groaned; and have been regarded also as typical of the sufferings of Christ.

Is found three times in connection with the desolations to come "upon Babylon, Idumea, and Nineveh (Isa. 14:23; 34:11; Zeph." 2:14). This bird belongs to the class of cranes. Its scientific "name is Botaurus stellaris. It is a solitary bird, frequenting" marshy ground. The Hebrew word (kippod) thus rendered in the "Authorized Version is rendered "porcupine" in the Revised" Version. But in the passages noted the kippod is associated with "birds, with pools of water, and with solitude and desolation." "This favours the idea that not the "porcupine" but the "bittern" is really intended by the word.