📖 Biblical Definition
Wormwood is a bitter aromatic shrub of the wilderness (Artemisia absinthium) — and in Scripture it becomes the figure of bitter consequences for sin, of poisoned justice, and of apostasy. "For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb... but her end is bitter as wormwood" (Proverbs 5:3-4); "Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth" (Amos 5:7; cf. 6:12); "Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood" (Jeremiah 9:15; 23:15). In Revelation 8:10-11, the third trumpet drops a star called Wormwood that turns one-third of the rivers and springs bitter, and many die of the waters. Sin always tastes sweet first and bitter last.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
WORM'-WOOD, n.
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A plant of the genus Artemisia. It has a bitter and somewhat aromatic taste, and is used as a tonic, and as an ingredient in medicines. It is sometimes used in scripture as a symbol of bitter calamities and sorrows.
📖 Key Scripture
Deuteronomy 29:18 — "Lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood."
Proverbs 5:4 — "Her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword."
Jeremiah 9:15 — "I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink."
Revelation 8:11 — "The name of the star is called Wormwood... many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern culture mass-produces wormwood and labels it self-care.
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Proverbs 5:4 is a chilling summary of the seductress: her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. The first sip is sweet; the last is poison. Every illicit pleasure follows the same arc — pornography, addiction, adultery, pride, ambition unmoored from God. Sin's lying tongue is honey; sin's actual taste is wormwood.
Revelation 8 carries wormwood into eschatology: a literal star bitters one third of the rivers. The God who turned Marah's bitter waters sweet for Israel can also turn sweet waters bitter for an unrepentant world. The trumpet judgments are not metaphor — they are the cup the nations are filling for themselves. Repent now; the cup is filling.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew laʿanah (H3939); Greek apsinthos (G894).
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H3939 — laanah — wormwood; bitter herb
G894 — apsinthos — wormwood; the trumpet star of Rev 8:11
Usage
"Sin's mouth tastes like honey; sin's aftertaste is always wormwood."
"A culture that makes laws bitter as wormwood will not survive its own statutes."
"When God starts naming bodies of water Wormwood, the season of warning is closing."