GALL

A fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder, a small pear-shaped sac that rests on the underside of the right portion of the liver. The gallbladder can hold at one time about one and a half ounces of gall, or bile. It is an extremely bitter yellow or greenish fluid used by the body in digestion. Gall came to be associated with that which is bitter or poisonous, and the word is so used in the Bible.​—Ac 8:23.

Describing his painful, bitter experience, Job figuratively speaks of his gallbladder as being poured out to the earth. (Job 16:1, 13) Later, Zophar, in figurative language, accusingly insinuates that Job has acted wickedly and that his “food” will be within him like “the gall [or poison] of cobras.” He warns that a weapon will pass “through his gall[bladder].” (Job 20:1, 14, 25) The Hebrew word translated “gall” is related to the word for “bitter.”​—De 32:32; Job 13:26.

The Greek word for gall is kho·leʹ.​—See POISONOUS PLANT.