Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

DEUTERONOMY 29:18KJV
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Deuteronomy 29:18 (KJV)

What does Deuteronomy 29:18 mean?

Deuteronomy 29:18 warns Israel against anyone turning from the LORD to worship the gods of other nations. Moses describes that turning as a hidden source of danger within the people, using the picture of a root that produces bitter, harmful plants.

The warning covers a single man or woman as well as a family or tribe. The root image suggests that what begins beneath the surface can produce a bitter result. Following the mention of the nations’ idols in verse 17, Moses points to the danger of serving those gods.

The Hebrew behind Deuteronomy 29:18

  • “heart” — לֵבָב (levav): This word can refer to a person’s inner life, including thoughts and decisions. Here, the turning begins with a person’s choice of whom to serve.
  • “gall” — רֹאשׁ (rosh): This word can refer to a poisonous or bitter plant. Paired with wormwood, it gives the root’s growth an unpleasant and dangerous character.
  • “wormwood” — לַעֲנָה (laʿanah): This is a bitter plant. Its sharp taste makes the image of the root’s fruit especially vivid.

Why Deuteronomy 29:18 matters

  • The warning includes both individuals and larger groups. The list moves from “man” and “woman” to “family” and “tribe,” so no size of group falls outside its scope.
  • The next verse shows how the danger could be concealed by confidence. Deuteronomy 29:19 describes someone who hears the warning yet says, “I shall have peace,” while continuing in the way that person has chosen.

Where else these words appear

“wormwood” Hebrew H3939 · used in 8 verses

  • Proverbs 5:4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
  • Jeremiah 23:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
  • Lamentations 3:19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.

“gall” Hebrew H7219 · used in 12 verses

  • Deuteronomy 32:32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:
  • Psalms 69:21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
  • Lamentations 3:5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

“beareth” Hebrew H6509 · used in 28 verses

  • Genesis 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
  • Genesis 35:11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
  • Psalms 128:3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

“root” Hebrew H8328 · used in 32 verses

  • Judges 5:14 Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.
  • Job 36:30 Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea.
  • Isaiah 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.