Deconstructing Bitterness
- Tiffany Millen
- Mar 2, 2024
- 2 min read
I was yesterday years old when I learned that bitterness in the Bible does not mean harboring resentment.
I've written on bitterness before but always through the filter of my own experience juxtaposed with the filter of my understanding of Biblical texts. Those two things were often in opposition and the result was frustration.
What I knew innately about healing from abuse, defending victims, and protecting the innocent, and what was being exposited about forgiving abusers to avoid resentment (roots of bitterness) were at complete odds.
It is because bitterness in the Bible doesn't mean what we were told it means. I did a deep dive yesterday into all the Biblical references on this topic.
In English, 'bitter' has many meanings and so it was an easy sell when abusive leaders decided to push 'resentful' as the Biblical definition.
In fact, bitterness in the Bible has two contexts and neither of them refers to resentment.
When we say it was a 'bitter pill to swallow,' we mean something very difficult or tragic happened and it is a struggle to come to terms with it.
This was Naomi's experience when she referred to herself as Mara (bitter). She is not speaking of herself as resentful, but as the victim of horrible circumstances, and she attributed her misfortune to being forsaken by God. Her life crumbled. She lost everything important to her. She isn't resentful, she is in mourning, overcome with despair. Hopeless. Feeling abandoned. Her life was a very bitter pill. Resentment had nothing to do with it.
Another nuanced flavor of bitterness in the Bible refers to someone who intentionally 'poisons' others. Again, this isn't referring to resentment, but to someone who seeks to exalt themselves, obscure the truth, and corrupt those around them.
The 'root of bitterness' in Hebrews that 'defiles many,' isn't resentful victims of tragedy or abuse who can't forgive.
It refers to a passage in Deuteronomy where the meaning is made clear:
"You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold. Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison. When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing on themselves, thinking, 'I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,' they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry."
This "root of bitterness" or corrupting force is intentionally spreading poison. It isn't resentment, it is the ones pedaling their selfish lies and corrupting those around them.
The 'root of bitterness' that 'defiled many' is the one who flipped the script. The cult leader who claimed the 'bitter' victims were the problem for wanting to see abusers held accountable and abuses ended. The 'bitter' victims, who, like Naomi, were not experiencing resentment so much as hurt, grief, despair, hopelessness, and frustration.
Don't believe me? Do your own study. This lady is right about this one.
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