poison

Types of poison

1. Hebrew: hemah, “heat,” the poison of certain venomous reptiles (Deuteronomy 32:24, 33; Job 6:4; Psalm 58:4), causing inflammation.

2. Hebrew: rosh, “a head,” a poisonous plant (Deuteronomy 29:18), growing luxuriantly (Hosea 10:4), of a bitter taste (Psalm 69:21; Lam. 3:5), and coupled with wormwood; probably the poppy.

   This word is rendered “gall”, q.v., (Deuteronomy 29:18; 32:33; Psalm 69:21; Jeremiah 8:14, etc.), “hemlock” (Hosea 10:4; Amos 6:12), and “poison” (Job 20:16), “the poison of asps,” showing that the rosh was not exclusively a vegetable poison.

3. In Romans 3:13 (compare Job 20:16; Psalm 140:3), James 3:8, as the rendering of the Greek: ios.

More information

• plants of the Bible
• serpent
• fiery serpent
• animals of the Bible