GALL

A fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder, a small pear-shaped sac that rests on the underside of the right portion of the liver. The gall bladder 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.

Describing his painful, bitter experience, Job figuratively speaks of his gall bladder 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 here translated “gall” is also rendered “bitter” in many English translations.—Deut. 32:32; Job 13:26; see POISONOUS PLANT.