A Worm in the Wood

(Proverbs 5:4 KJV)  But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

What in the world is “wormwood” (3939)?  I am familiar with the term because C.S. Lewis named one of his demons “Wormwood.”  Since I am writing this and don’t like to be totally ignorant I looked it up in my software.  I found that it is a plant that “ has a bitter nauseous taste; but it is stomachic and corroborant.”  That helps a lot.  I kept looking.

Stomachic means “a medicine that excites the action and strengthens the tone of the stomach.”  Corroborant follows along:  “ A medicine that strengthens the human body when weak.”  It would seem that according to Webster, wormwood is bitter but helpful.  That is not the way it is used in the Bible. 

As I look at the different references in the Bible it seems that the bitter wormwood is usually served with poisonous water.  My imagination tells me that the wormwood either makes you want to die or covers up the taste of the poison.

So?  First, don’t accept the world’s definition of words.  Second, a life of sin makes everything bitter.  But you probably already know that.  Take the antidote and allow God to remove the bitterness.