---
title: מָרַר — be bitter · The Tanakh dictionary
description: מָרַר (4843), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 16 times: be bitter. BDB 1906: vb. be bitter Hiph. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# מָרַר

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«מָרַר» in the Tanakh dictionary: **be bitter** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 16 times · **Key:** 4843 · **BDB:** מָרַר

### Glosses

it.is.bitter (3); it.was.bitter (2); I.will.show.bitterness (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

be bitter [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4843/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. be bitter Hiph. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4843/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** vb. be bitter (NH id.; Assyrian marâru and deriv. DlHWB 427; Arabic مُرَّ become roused (of bile), ii. make bitter, iv. become bitter; مُرٌّ bitter; Ethiopic መረረ; Aramaic ܡܰܪ, מְרַר);— Pf. 3 ms. מַר Is 38:17 + 2 times; 3 fs. מָ֫רָה 1 S 30:6 2 K 4:27; Impf. 3 ms. יֵמַר Is 24:9;—be bitter: lit. יֵמַר שֵׁכָר לְשֹׁתָיו Is 24:9. fig. מָ֫רָה נֶפֶשׁ 1 S 30:6 the soul of all the people was bitter against (עַל־); נַפְשָׁהּ מָ֫רָה־לָהּ 2 K 4:27 her soul, it is bitter to her (i.e. she is in bitter distress); impers. מַר־לִי מְאֹד מִכֶּם Ru 1:13 it is very bitter to me on your account (I am much distressed), cf. La 1:4.—לְשָׁלוֹם מַר־לִי מָ֑ר Is 38:17 is dub.; Che Comm. for (my) welfare was it (so) bitter to me, (so) bitter, cf. Brd; so De Kau (treating מר appar. as adj.); for my welfare did the bitter become bitter to me (מָ֑ר adj.); Lo Gr, cf. Buhl (sub מַר adj.), read מָר for מַר (√ מור), the bitter is changed for me into welfare; CheHpt. del. מָ֑ר; Du (after 𝔊) del. cl. as gloss. Impf. i s. אֲמָרֵר Is 22:4; 3 mpl. וַיְמָֽרֲרוּ Ex 1:14, sf. וַיְמָֽרֲרֻהוּ Gn 49:23;—make bitter, shew bitterness:— וַיְמ׳ Gn 49:23 (poem) and the arches shewed bitterness (i.e. bitter hostility) toward him (sf. of indir. obj.); אֲמָרֵר בַּבֶּ֑כִי Is 22:4 I will shew bitterness in weeping (=weep bitterly). וַיְמ׳ אֶת־חַיֵּיהֶם Ex 1:14 (P) and they made their lives bitter by slavery. Pf. 3 ms. הֵמַר Ru 1:20 Jb 27:2; Impf. 2 ms. תַּמֵּר Ex 23:21 (but read תֶּ֫מֶר √ מרה Hiph. q.v.); Inf. abs. הָמֵר Zc 12:10(×2);—make bitter, shew bitterness: שַׁדַּי הֵמַר נַפְשִׁי Jb 27:2 Shadday, who hath embittered my soul; הֵמַר שַׁדַּי לִי מְאֹד Ru 1:20. וְהָמֵר עָלָיו כְּהָמֵר עַל־הַבְּכוֹר Zc 12:10(×2) and a bitter outcry (=lit. shewing bitterness; ‖ מִסְפֵּד, סָפַד) over him, like a bitter outcry over the first-born. Impf. וְיִתְמַרְמַר Dn 11:11 and the king of the south shall embitter himself (be enraged); וַיִּתְמ׳ אֶל־ 8:7 and he was enraged against.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 15 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (6 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (5 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «מָרַר» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4843/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Genesis 49:23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.49.23/)

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וַֽיְמָרֲרֻ֖הוּ וָרֹ֑בּוּ וַֽיִּשְׂטְמֻ֖הוּ בַּעֲלֵ֥י חִצִּֽים׃

*Word for word:* and they showed.bitterness.to.him and they.shot and they were.hostile.towards.him masters of.arrows

*JPS 1917:* The archers have dealt bitterly with him, and shot at him, and hated him;

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[Job 27:2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.27.2/)

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חַי־אֵ֭ל הֵסִ֣יר מִשְׁפָּטִ֑י וְ֝שַׁדַּ֗י הֵמַ֥ר נַפְשִֽׁי׃

*Word for word:* \[by\].the.life of.God \[who\].he.has.taken.away right my and.\[the\] Almighty \[who\].he.has.made.bitter self my

*JPS 1917:* As God liveth, who hath taken away my right; and the Almighty, who hath dealt bitterly with me;

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