Hebrew word · H8563

תַּמְרוּר

tamrurim

bitterness

From the root mrr, 'to be bitter'. It occurs only in the plural, which intensifies it: 'bitternesses', meaning the most extreme bitterness. A separate word spelled the same way means 'signposts, road markers' (Jer 31:21).

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

bitterness

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Jeremiah 31:15

Range of meaning

From the root mrr, 'to be bitter'. It occurs only in the plural, which intensifies it: 'bitternesses', meaning the most extreme bitterness. A separate word spelled the same way means 'signposts, road markers' (Jer 31:21).

Against the English

KJV/WEB/ESV 'bitter weeping' is accurate. BSB/NIV 'great weeping' keeps the intensity but loses the taste of bitterness, which in Hebrew is the flavour of grief (compare Naomi, 'call me Mara', Ruth 1:20).

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 6:26: 'make mourning as for an only son, a lament of tamrurim'. Hosea 12:15 [14]: Ephraim provoked God 'bitterly'. In Jeremiah 31:21, six verses later, God tells 'virgin Israel' to 'set up tamrurim', that is, road markers for the journey home.

From the study of Jeremiah 6:26

Range of meaning

'Bitterness', from mārar, 'to be bitter'. Always plural, which makes it stronger. It occurs in Jer 6:26; 31:15; Hos 12:15 (Eng. 12:14). A different word spelled the same way in Jer 31:21 means 'guideposts' or 'markers'.

Against the English

'Most bitter' (KJV, WEB, YLT) captures the intensifying plural well. BSB/NIV 'bitter wailing' is accurate but slightly weaker.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 31:15: 'A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping of bitternesses (bəkî tamrûrîm), Rachel weeping for her children'. That is the same phrase-type and the same theme of a mother losing her children, and Matthew 2:18 quotes it.

Similar words

Where it appears

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 6:26 תַּמְרוּרִ֑ים bitterness<es>

    O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

    Here: 'Of bitternesses'. The plural makes it stronger: the most bitter wailing there is. It is related to the word for 'bitter' (mar).

  2. Jeremiah 31:15 תַמְרוּרִ֔ים bitterness<es>

    This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

    Here: A plural of intensity: 'bitternesses' means utter bitterness. It is used for the worst mourning, such as mourning an only son (Jer 6:26).

Hosea · 1

  1. Hosea 12:14 תַּמְרוּרִ֑ים bitterness<es>

    Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt upon him and repay him for his contempt.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.