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Hebrew a-m · H4751

מַר

marmar

bitter

37 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key

Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H4751is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.

  • 17 of 39
    Old Testament books
  • 28
    spellings

The definition in full

Strong's key (1890) · H4751

bitter (literally or figuratively); also (as noun) bitterness, or (adverbially) bitterly

The King James renders it: [phrase] angry, bitter(-ly, -ness), chafed, discontented, [idiom] great, heavy.

James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.

Summary

mar is rendered "bitter". It stands 37 times in the Hebrew text, across seventeen books.

  • Six of the uses stand in Numbers, more than in any other book.
  • Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Genesis 27:34When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”
  • The Greek text spells it twenty-eight different ways.

The first use

When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”

Genesis 27:34וּמָרָ֖ה

The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.

Where the word stands

The word stands in seventeen of the 39 Old Testament books.

The other 22 Old Testament books never use the word.

What the word means

Each meaning, and the words it is translated by

How the Greek text is glossed, word by word

  • bitter14
  • the bitter5
  • and bitter3
  • bitter of3
  • bitterness of2
  • in bitterness of2
  • to bitter2
  • to bitter of2
  • and bitter of1
  • bitterly1
  • into bitter1
  • with bitterness of1

The words built on the same word-part

Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.

מַרְאֶהmarehappearanceUses103
מַרְאָהmarahvisionUses12
מַרְבִּיתmarbithgreatnessUses5
מַרְגְלָהmargelahfeetUses5
מַרְבֵּקmarbeqstallUses4
מַרְבַדmarbadcoveringUses2
מַרְבֶהmarbehabundanceUses2
מַרְבֵּץmarbetsrestingUses2
מַרְחֶשֶׁתmarcheshethpanUses2
מַרmardropUses1
מַרְזֵחַmarzeachmourningUses1
מַרְדּוּתmarduthrebelliousUses1

and 4 more on the stem.

Other numbers on this spelling

Strong gave these words the same spelling and different numbers, so the site counts and defines them apart.

The words it stands beside

All 37, in canonical order

Every use, in order

Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.

28 spellings and their grammar

STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.

How it is spelled

  • מַ֥ר3
  • מָֽר׃3
  • בְּמַ֣ר2
  • הַמָּרִ֖ים2
  • לְמָ֣רֵי2
  • מַר־2
  • מָרָ֑ה2
  • בְּמַר־1
  • הַמַּ֣ר1
  • הַמָּרִ֥ים1
  • הַמָּרִֽים׃1
  • וָמָ֔ר1

and 16 more spellings in the ledger below.

The grammar of each form

  • adjective · masculine singular9HAamsa
  • adjective · feminine singular4HAafsa
  • the definite article (“the”) + adjective · masculine plural4HTd/Aampa
  • adjective · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)3HAamsc
  • preposition + adjective · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)3HR/Aamsc
  • conjunction (“and”) + adjective · feminine singular2HC/Aafsa
  • preposition + adjective · masculine plural2HR/Aampa
  • preposition + adjective · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)2HR/Aampc
  • adjective · masculine or feminine singular1HAabsa
  • adjective · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”)1HAafsc
  • adjective · masculine plural1HAampa
  • adjective · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)1HAampc

Genesis

one use
  • When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”

    Genesis 27:34

    • וּמָרָ֖הumarahconjunction (“and”) + adjective · feminine singulartagged: and bitter

Exodus

one use
  • And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.)

    Exodus 15:23

    • מָרִ֖יםmarimadjective · masculine pluraltagged: bitter

Numbers

six uses
  • After the priest has the woman stand before the LORD, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering of memorial, which is the grain offering for jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse.

    Numbers 5:18

    • הַמָּרִ֖יםhamarimthe definite article (“the”) + adjective · masculine pluraltagged: the bitter
  • And he is to put the woman under oath and say to her, ‘If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be immune to this bitter water that brings a curse.

    Numbers 5:19

    • הַמָּרִ֥יםhamarimthe definite article (“the”) + adjective · masculine pluraltagged: the bitter
  • And the priest shall write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water.

    Numbers 5:23

    • הַמָּרִֽים׃hamarimthe definite article (“the”) + adjective · masculine pluraltagged: the bitter
  • He is to have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and cause her bitter suffering.

    Numbers 5:24

    • הַמָּרִ֖יםhamarimthe definite article (“the”) + adjective · masculine pluraltagged: the bitter
    • לְמָרִֽים׃lemarimpreposition + adjective · masculine pluraltagged: to bitter
  • When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel, and she will become accursed among her people.

    Numbers 5:27

    • לְמָרִ֔יםlemarimpreposition + adjective · masculine pluraltagged: to bitter

Judges

one use
  • The Danites said to him, “Do not raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”

    Judges 18:25

    • מָ֣רֵיmareiadjective · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: bitter of

1 Samuel

three uses
  • In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.

    1 Samuel 1:10

    • מָ֣רַתmaratadjective · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: bitter of
  • Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.” Agag came to him cheerfully, for he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

    1 Samuel 15:32

    • מַר־mar-adjective · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: bitterness of
  • And all who were distressed or indebted or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.

    1 Samuel 22:2

    • מַר־mar-adjective · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: bitter of

2 Samuel

two uses
  • Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”

    2 Samuel 2:26

    • מָרָ֥הmarahadjective · feminine singulartagged: bitter
  • He continued, “You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Moreover, your father is a man of war who will not spend the night with the troops.

    2 Samuel 17:8

    • וּמָרֵ֥יumareiconjunction (“and”) + adjective · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: and bitter of

Esther

one use
  • When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.

    Esther 4:1

    • וּמָרָֽה׃umarahconjunction (“and”) + adjective · feminine singulartagged: and bitter

Job

four uses
  • Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,

    Job 3:20

    • לְמָ֣רֵיlemareipreposition + adjective · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: to bitter of
  • Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

    Job 7:11

    • בְּמַ֣רbemarpreposition + adjective · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: in bitterness of
  • “I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.

    Job 10:1

    • בְּמַ֣רbemarpreposition + adjective · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: in bitterness of
  • Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity.

    Job 21:25

    • מָרָ֑הmarahadjective · feminine singulartagged: bitter

Psalms

one use
  • who sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows,

    Psalms 64:3

    • מָֽר׃maradjective · masculine singulartagged: bitter

Proverbs

three uses
  • in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.

    Proverbs 5:4

    • מָרָ֣הmarahadjective · feminine singulartagged: bitter
  • The soul that is full loathes honey, but to a hungry soul, any bitter thing is sweet.

    Proverbs 27:7

    • מַ֥רmaradjective · masculine singulartagged: bitter
  • Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to the bitter in soul.

    Proverbs 31:6

    • לְמָ֣רֵיlemareipreposition + adjective · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: to bitter of

Ecclesiastes

one use
  • And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

    Ecclesiastes 7:26

    • מַ֣רmaradjective · masculine singulartagged: bitter

Isaiah

five uses
  • Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.

    Isaiah 5:20

    • מַ֛רmaradjective · masculine singulartagged: bitter
    • לְמָֽר׃ סlemarpreposition + adjective · masculine singulartagged: into bitter
  • Behold, their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.

    Isaiah 33:7

    • מַ֖רmaradjective · masculine singulartagged: bitter
  • What can I say? He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done this. I will walk slowly all my years because of the anguish of my soul.

    Isaiah 38:15

    • מַ֥רmaradjective · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: bitterness of
  • Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

    Isaiah 38:17

    • מָ֑רmaradjective · masculine or feminine singulartagged: bitterly

Jeremiah

one use
  • Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.

    Jeremiah 2:19

    • וָמָ֔רvamarconjunction (“and”) + adjective · masculine singulartagged: and bitter

Ezekiel

four uses
  • So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.

    Ezekiel 3:14

    • מַר֙maradjective · masculine singulartagged: bitter
  • They will raise their voices for you and cry out bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in ashes.

    Ezekiel 27:30

    • מָרָ֑הmarahadjective · feminine singulartagged: bitter
  • They will shave their heads for you and wrap themselves in sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and bitter mourning.

    Ezekiel 27:31

    • בְּמַר־bemar-preposition + adjective · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: with bitterness of
    • מָֽר׃maradjective · masculine singulartagged: bitter

Amos

one use
  • I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.

    Amos 8:10

    • מָֽר׃maradjective · masculine singulartagged: bitter

Habakkuk

one use
  • For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.

    Habakkuk 1:6

    • הַמַּ֣רhamarthe definite article (“the”) + adjective · masculine singulartagged: the bitter

Zephaniah

one use
  • The great Day of the LORD is near—near and coming quickly. Listen, the Day of the LORD! Then the cry of the mighty will be bitter.

    Zephaniah 1:14

    • מַ֥רmaradjective · masculine singulartagged: bitter

The letters

Gematria 240

Where it leads

How the numbers are counted

Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.

Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.

The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.

The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.

Hebrew and Greek text, word tagging and grammar: STEP Bible (www.STEPBible.org), Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0. Their grammar codes are written out in English here and shown as tagged beside each one.

Meaning and senses: STEP Bible TBESH gloss (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary key: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890, public domain). English verse text: Berean Standard Bible (public domain, 2023).

Revised 2026-09-05. Every cited work, the sources registry →