BITTER GREENS

[Heb., mero·rimʹ].

Along with roasted lamb and unleavened bread, the Israelites were to eat bitter greens or herbs on the Passover night (Ex 12:8), and this continued to be the arrangement in all future Passover celebrations. (Nu 9:11) Nothing specific is stated as to the kind or kinds of bitter greens. The bitter greens were apparently intended to remind the Israelites of the bitterness of the experience during the Egyptian bondage.

The same Hebrew term (mero·rimʹ) occurs at Lamentations 3:15 and is usually rendered “bitterness,” or “bitter things,” though some suggest “bitter herbs (or greens)” as a suitable translation to correspond to the mention of wormwood in the same verse.