מַר
mar · H4751 · Hebrew · 38 occurrences
Meanings
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bitter
State in which a substance has a sharp, pungent taste, associated with desperation and distress
ExamplesExodus 15:23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter; for that reason it was named Marah.
Numbers 5:18 ‘The priest shall then have the woman stand before the LORD and let down the hair of the woman’s head, and place the grain offering of reminder in her hands, that is, the grain offering of jealousy; and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse.
Numbers 5:19 ‘And the priest shall have her take an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has had sexual relations with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness, as you are under the authority of your husband, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse;
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ruthless, fierce
State in which humans are in a state of anger, lack compassion, and do not tolerate any opposition
ExamplesJudges 18:25 Then the sons of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, or else fierce men will attack you, and you will lose your life and the lives of your household.”
2 Samuel 17:8 Then Hushai said, “You yourself know your father and his men, that they are warriors and they are fierce, like a bear deprived of her cubs in the field. And your father is an expert in warfare, and he will not spend the night with the people.
Psalm 64:3 Who have sharpened their tongues like a sword. They aimed bitter speech as their arrows,
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in distress, desperate
Literally: bitter; hence: state in which humans are in deep distress
Examples1 Samuel 1:10 She, greatly distressed, prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.
1 Samuel 22:2 Then everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.
Job 3:20 “Why is light given to one burdened with grief, And life to the bitter of soul,
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bitter, harmful
Literally: bitter; hence: state in which humans have a character that causes other humans to be in deep distress
ExamplesProverbs 5:4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Ecclesiastes 7:26 And I discovered as more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her.
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bitter
State in which condition or action is motivated or accompanied by deep distress
ExamplesGenesis 27:34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me as well, my father!”
1 Samuel 15:32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is gone!”
2 Samuel 2:26 Then Abner called to Joab and said, “Should the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that it will be bitter in the end? So how long will you refrain from telling the people to turn back from pursuing their kinsmen?”
How it’s used In 7 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
7 occurrences in 2 groups
- נֶפֶשׁsoul, life 6
- מָוֶתdeath 1
What it doesIt is the subject
3 occurrences in 3 groups
- הָיָהto be, to become 1
- מָרַרto be bitter, to make bitter 1
- סוּרto turn aside, to depart, to remove 1
What is done to itIt is the object
2 occurrences in 3 groups
- יָדַעto know 1
- רָאָהto see 1
- שׂוּםto put, to set, to place 1
What it is said to bePredicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- מָתוֹקtasty 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
6 occurrences in 5 groups
- הֵםthey, them 2
- הוּאhe, she, it 1
- אַחֲרִיתend, future, latter part 1
- עָזַבto forsake, to leave 1
- אִשָּׁהwoman, wife 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
9 occurrences in 3 groups
- לto/for 7
- בin/on/with 6
- עַלon, upon, over, against 2
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
4 occurrences in 1 groups
- מַיִםwater 4
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 2 words
- סַר çar · H5620 · stubborn, sullen
- Both terms show overlapping sense in emotional distress or displeasure — one "angry, bitter, chafed, discontented," the other "heavy, sad."
- רַע raʻ · H7451 · bad, evil, wicked
- One term ("bitter, angry, discontented") and the other ("evil, bad, adversity, calamity") overlap in the semantic space of negative or bad quality and distressing experience — both can describe bad situations, grievous circumstances, and emotional distress.
In the other Testament 1 word
- πικρός pikrós · G4089 · bitter, pungent, resentful
- Greek πικρός translates Hebrew מַר in contexts of bitterness, whether literal (bitter taste) or figurative (bitter emotion, anguish); both terms share the core semantic range of sharp/acrid sensory or emotional experience.
Semantic domains 5 entries
- Quantity002001001046
- This entry carries no independent "Quantity" sense of its own; every genuine tagged occurrence of מַר (e.g. Genesis 27:34, Exodus 15:23, Numbers 5:18-23) concerns bitterness, not a quantity as such. The domain is bundle-shared with a related sense.
- Bad002001001006
- This entry carries no independent "Bad" sense of its own distinct from ordinary bitterness; the genuine tagged occurrences (e.g. Exodus 15:23, Numbers 5:18-23) concern bitter taste or bitter consequence, and the domain is bundle-shared with that core sense.
- Angry002001002002
- This entry carries no independent "Angry" sense of its own distinct from ordinary bitterness; every genuine tagged occurrence concerns bitterness of taste or experience, not anger as such. The domain is bundle-shared with a related sense.
- Grieve002001002013
- מַר describes grief or bitter distress, illustrated at Genesis 27:34 (Esau "cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry").
- Intense002001003011
- מַר describes intense bitterness, illustrated at Numbers 5:18-23's repeated "water of bitterness that brings a curse" — a strong, unpleasant intensity of taste.
Word family 13 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H4751. mar or marah I. מַר adjective and substantive bitter, bitterness; — absolute ׳מ…
or marah I. מַר adjective and substantive bitter, bitterness; — absolute ׳מ Pro 27:7 +, הַמַּר Hab 1:6, מָ֑ר Psa 64:4 +; construct מַר 1Sa 22:2 +; feminine מָרָה Gen 27:34 +, מָרָא Rth 1:20; construct מָרַת 1Sa 1:10; masculine plural מָרִים Exo 15:23 +; construct מָרֵי Jdg 18:25; Pro 31:6; — bitter:
1 literally, of water Exo 15:23 (J); food Pro 27:7 (opposed to מָתוֺק); wormwood (לַעֲנָה Pro 5:4 (in simile of end of harlot, compare Ecc 7:26 below); as substantive plural, of physical pain, result of curse לְמָרִים Num 5:24, Num 5:27, whence הַמָּרִים מֵי Num 5:18 (compare Di) Num 5:19; Num 5:23; Num 5:24; of harmful result of ruthless fighting 2Sa 2:26; of wickedness Jer 2:19; Jer 4:18; = injurious, hurtful Isa 5:20 (twice in verse) (opposed to מָתוֺק).
2 figurative,
a. of cry (זְעָקָה צְעָקָה,) Gen 27:34 (J), Est 4:1; מָ֑ר מִסְמֵּד Eze 27:31 (strike out Co); מָ֑ר דָּבָר Psa 64:4; as adverb (cry, weep) bitterly Eze 27:30 (מָרָה), Zep 1:14; Isa 33:7 (both מַר).
b. of feeling, temper, especially with נֶפֶשׁ: נֶפֶשׁ מָרֵי אֲנָשִׁים Jdg 18:25 men fierce (GFM acrid) of temper, so 2Sa 17:8 (like a bear robbed of whelps); הַמַּר הַגּוֺי Hab 1:6 the fierce nation; מַרנֶֿפֶשׁ = discontented 1Sa 22:2; נֶפֶשׁ מַרֵי = the bitterly wretched Job 3:20; Pro 31:6, so נ ׳מָרַת 1Sa 1:10; compare מָ֑ר יוֺם Amo 8:10; as substantive abstract מַרנֶֿפֶשׁ bitterness of soul Isa 38:15; Eze 27:31 (strike out Co), Job 7:11; Job 10:1 = מָרָה נפשׁ Job 21:25; compare מָרָא Rth 1:20 (name given to Naomi by herself); מַרהַֿמָּוֶת 1Sa 15:32 the bitterness of death; מַרמִֿמָּוֶת Ecc 7:26 (metaphor of harlot); in Eze 3:14 I went bitterly, strike out מַר Co. — Isa 38:17 see מרר.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 5 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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