Meaning of WORMWOOD

(Heb. "Iaanah"; Gr. "apsinthos"). It appears in the Scriptures only in a metaphorical sense. Turning to idolatry is compared to a root that produces gall and wormwood (Deut. 29:18).

There were those who turned judgment into wormwood; this probably alludes to unjust judges (Am. 5:7). Because of the wickedness of his people, God was going to give them wormwood for food, and gall for drink (Jer. 9:15; 23:15).

Jeremiah, lamenting the condition of Israel, compared it to being drunk with wormwood. When the third trumpet of the Apocalypse sounded, a star called Wormwood fell from heaven, turning a third of the waters of the earth into wormwood, causing the death of many (Rev. 8:10, 11).

There are several species in Palestine: the «Artemisia absinthium» and the «A. chinensis" are the commercial wormwood.