מְרִירוּת

From the study of Ezekiel 21:6

Range of meaning

'Bitterness'. This exact form occurs only here. It belongs to the root mrr, 'to be bitter', which in Hebrew covers sharp physical taste and, by extension, intense anguish, grief, desperation and the bitter wailing of mourning for the dead.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT 'bitterness' can be misread in modern English as resentment or a grudge. BSB, NIV and ESV 'bitter grief' rightly steer it toward mourning.

How it drifted

In contemporary English 'bitter' and 'bitterness' most often mean resentful or aggrieved, as in 'bitter about the divorce'. In biblical Hebrew the dominant sense is the pain of grief, not hostility toward someone.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Sam 1:10: Hannah, 'bitter of soul', weeps and prays. Ruth 1:20: Naomi renames herself Mara, 'bitter', after losing husband and sons. Amos 8:10: the day of judgment will be 'like mourning for an only son… a bitter day'. Zech 12:10: 'weep bitterly as over a firstborn'. Ezekiel itself: 27:31, 'weep… in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning'; 3:14, Ezekiel goes off 'bitter, in the heat of my spirit'.