What does רֹאשׁ (rōʾš) mean in the Bible?
רֹאשׁ (rōʾš): Poison whose identity remains uncertain; metaphorically bitter fruit of injustice and divine judgment in Deuteronomic theology
Hebrew · H7219
רֹאשׁ
A poisonous plant , probably the poppy (from its conspicuous head); generally poison (even of serpents)
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רֹאשׁ H7219
Pronunciation rōʾš
What does רֹאשׁ (rōʾš) mean in the Bible?
רֹאשׁ (rōʾš): Poison whose identity remains uncertain; metaphorically bitter fruit of injustice and divine judgment in Deuteronomic theology
Full entry for רֹאשׁ (H7219) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H7219?
The BSB source-word alignment has 12 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and give them poisoned (2), and the gall (1), are poisonous (1), He has given us poisoned (1), into poison (1).
Where does רֹאשׁ (rōʾš) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Deuteronomy 29:18. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (3), Jeremiah (3), Lamentations (2), Amos (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It and give them poisoned 2× Jeremiah 9:15, Jeremiah 23:15
and the gall 1× Lamentations 3:19
are poisonous 1× Deuteronomy 32:32
He has given us poisoned 1× Jeremiah 8:14
into poison 1× Amos 6:12
like poisonous weeds 1× Hosea 10:4
poison 1× Deuteronomy 32:33
such poisonous 1× Deuteronomy 29:18
the poison 1× Job 20:16
with bitterness 1× Lamentations 3:5
with gall 1× Psalms 69:21
Show sample aligned rows
Deuteronomy 29:18 רֹ֖אשׁ to such poisonous Noun - masculine singular Deuteronomy 32:32 ר֔וֹשׁ to are poisonous Noun - masculine singular Deuteronomy 32:33 וְרֹ֥אשׁ to poison Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct Job 20:16 רֹאשׁ־ to the poison Noun - masculine singular construct Psalms 69:21 רֹ֑אשׁ to with gall Noun - masculine singular Jeremiah 8:14 רֹ֔אשׁ to He has given us poisoned Noun - masculine singular Jeremiah 9:15 רֹֽאשׁ׃ to and give them poisoned Noun - masculine singular Jeremiah 23:15 רֹ֑אשׁ to and give them poisoned Noun - masculine singular Lamentations 3:5 רֹ֥אשׁ to with bitterness Noun - masculine singular Lamentations 3:19 וָרֹֽאשׁ׃ to and the gall Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Deuteronomy 29:18
Aligned rows 12
Books represented 7
Deuteronomy 3 Job 1 Psalms 1 Jeremiah 3 Lamentations 2 Hosea 1 Amos 1
Source forms
רֹ֑אשׁ 2x rōš Psalms 69:21, Jeremiah 23:15
וְרֹ֥אשׁ 1x wə·rōš Deuteronomy 32:33
וָרֹֽאשׁ׃ 1x wā·rōš Lamentations 3:19
כָּרֹאשׁ֙ 1x kā·rōš Hosea 10:4
לְרֹאשׁ֙ 1x lə·rōš Amos 6:12
רֹ֖אשׁ 1x rōš Deuteronomy 29:18
רֹ֔אשׁ 1x rōš Jeremiah 8:14
רֹ֥אשׁ 1x rōš Lamentations 3:5
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular 7x Deuteronomy 29:18, Deuteronomy 32:32, Psalms 69:21, Jeremiah 8:14
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular 1x Lamentations 3:19
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct 1x Deuteronomy 32:33
Noun - masculine singular construct 1x Job 20:16
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular 1x Hosea 10:4
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular 1x Amos 6:12
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Poison whose identity remains uncertain; metaphorically bitter fruit of injustice and divine judgment in Deuteronomic theology
Source Gloss
a poisonous plant , probably the poppy (from its conspicuous head); generally poison (even of serpents)
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Poison whose identity remains uncertain; metaphorically bitter fruit of injustice and divine judgment in Deuteronomic theology
a poisonous plant, probably the poppy (from its conspicuous head); generally poison (even of serpents) BDB: venom Usage: gall, hemlock, poison, venom.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Metaphorical poison of serpents, representing spiritual danger and divine judgment
Bitter substance given as drink, symbolizing suffering and humiliation in distress
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 12 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain