The Gall of Bitterness

When Peter rebuked Simon for trying to buy the priesthood, he made the following observation: “I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity” (Acts 8:20-23).

Gall is bile. It is a yellowish-green substance produced by the liver, stored in the gall bladder, and used for digestion. It has traditionally been associated with discomfort or irritation, which is why we say that something “galls” us or that someone who is out of line has a lot of “gall.”

The Greek word for gall is chole (χολή), and it has found its way into several English words, including choleric (bad-tempered or irritable) and melancholy (sad and pensive). Doctors from ancient Greece through the 16th century believed that a person’s disposition could be managed by controlling the quantities of four liquids in the body, two of which were forms of bile. (See Karen Lyon, “The Four Humors: Eating in the Renaissance,” on the Folger Shakespeare Library website.)

The metaphor is clear: Our sins can harm our spiritual and emotional health. They can make us irritable, or alternatively, they can cause us to withdraw within ourselves and stop engaging meaningfully with the world around us. Like Simon, we may not even realize it unless someone helps us to see it.

After Alma languished in a coma for three days, he awoke and testified that he had been born again. “My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity,” he said. “I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more” (Mosiah 27:29).

Years later, he used the same language as he related this experience to his son Helaman. He told Helaman that while he was in the coma, he pleaded in his mind, “O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death” (Alma 36:18). As soon as he thought those words, his pain vanished, replaced by joy.

Alma subsequently explained to another son, Corianton, that many people are in that state:

And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness.

Alma 41:11

Mormon and Moroni both used that same phrase to describe people whose hearts are not right with God. (See Mormon 8:31 and Moroni 8:14.)

As Jesus hung on the cross, Matthew tells us that the soldiers “gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall” (Matthew 27:34). This was probably not animal fluid, but some other bitter substance. Mark says it was myrrh. (See Mark 15:23.) Matthew likely preferred to call it gall because of David’s prophecy: “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Psalm 69:21). But even under those circumstances, Jesus was kind. He offered words of reassurance to one of the thieves beside Him. He made arrangements for His mother to be cared for. He asked His Father to forgive His executioners.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “Partaking of a bitter cup without becoming bitter is…part of the emulation of Jesus” (“Apply the Atoning Blood of Christ,” General Conference, October 1997).

Today, I will pay attention to my emotional state. I will avoid bitterness, and if I detect it, I will ask God to help me overcome it.