Poison

Poison - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

(1.) Heb. hemah, "heat," the poison of certain venomous reptiles (Deut. 32:24, 33; Job 6:4; Ps. 58:4), causing inflammation.

(2.) Heb. rosh, "a head," a poisonous plant (Deut. 29:18), growing luxuriantly (Hos. 10:4), of a bitter taste (Ps. 69:21; Lam. 3:5), and coupled with wormwood; probably the poppy. This word is rendered "gall", q.v., (Deut. 29:18; 32:33; Ps. 69:21; Jer. 8:14, etc.), "hemlock" (Hos. 10:4; Amos 6:12), and "poison" (Job 20:16), "the poison of asps," showing that the rosh was not exclusively a vegetable poison.

(3.) In Rom. 3:13 (comp. Job 20:16; Ps. 140:3), James 3:8, as the rendering of the Greek ios.

Poison - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

POISON, n. poiz'n. [L. pus.]

1. A substance which, when taken into the stomach,mixed with the blood or applied to the skin or flesh, proves fatal or deleterious by an action not mechanical; venom. The more active and virulent poisons destroy life in a short time; others are slow in their operation, others produce inflammation without proving fatal. In the application of poison, much depends on the quantity.

2. Any thing infectious, malignant, or noxious to health; as the poison of pestilential diseases.

3. That which taints or destroys moral purity or health; as the poison of evil example; the poison of sin.

POIS'ON, v.t. To infect with any thing fatal to life; as, to poison an arrow.

1. To attack, injure or kill by poison.

He was so discouraged that he poisoned himself and died. 2 Macc.

2. To taint; to mar; to impair; as, discontent poisons the happiness of life.

Hast thou not

With thy false arts poison'd his people's loyalty?

3. To corrupt. Our youth are poisoned with false notions of honor, or with pernicious maxims of government.

To suffer the thoughts to be vitiated, is to poison the fountains of morality.