Bitter Herbs
“Bitternesses; bitter things”
Summary
Plants with bitter taste eaten with the Passover lamb, symbolizing the bitterness of Israel's bondage in Egypt and the sorrow accompanying deliverance.
☩The Passover Command
God commanded that the Passover lamb be eaten 'with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.' The Hebrew word 'merorim' literally means 'bitternesses' without specifying particular plants. Originally these were probably simple salads—the quickest-prepared vegetable accompaniment to the hastily roasted lamb on that night of urgent departure from Egypt.
☩Plants Identified
The Mishna lists five species as acceptable: lettuce, endive, tansy, horehound or camomile, and sow-thistle or dandelion. Wild lettuce, chicory, bitter cresses, and hawkweeds—all growing abundantly in Egypt, Sinai, and Palestine—were traditionally used. Modern Jews typically use horseradish or romaine lettuce for the 'maror' at their Passover Seder.
☩Symbolic Meaning
The Passover ritual emphasized the idea of bitterness as symbolizing Israel's lot in Egypt—the harsh bondage, the cruel taskmastersj, the murdered infants. Yet the symbolism extends deeper: partaking of the lamb that died for them, they experienced the bitterness of recognizing that their sins required such a sacrifice. Joy and sorrow mingled in redemption.
References
- 1.James Orr (ed.), "Bitter Herbs," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 2.John Kitto, "Bitter Herbs," in A Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature, vol. I (Mark H. Newman, 1845).
- 3.George Morrish, "Bitter Herbs," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 4.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Bitter Herbs," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).