Hemlock
“Poison or poisonous plant”
Summary
Hemlock is one translation of the Hebrew word rosh, a poisonous or bitter plant mentioned in connection with wormwood as a symbol of bitterness, judgment, and the bitter consequences of sin.
☩The Hebrew Rosh
The Hebrew word rosh (also translated "gall") appears to designate a poisonous or very bitter plant, frequently mentioned with wormwood (laanah) to express extreme bitterness. In Deuteronomy 29:18, it describes apostasy as "a root bearing gall and wormwood." The plant could apparently be infused to make "water of gall," a bitter drink symbolizing judgment and sorrow.
☩Identification Debate
Various plants have been proposed for rosh: cicuta (true hemlock), poppy, colocynth (wild gourd), or a general term for any bitter poisonous plant. The context in Hosea ("judgment springs up as hemlock in the furrows of the field") and Amos ("the fruit of righteousness into hemlock") suggests a common field plant that could overrun neglected land—possibly not the hemlock known to Europeans but some noxious weed of Palestine.
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Hemlock," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IV (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.George Morrish, "Hemlock," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 3.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Hemlock," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Hemlock," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).