Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
WORM'WOOD. At least five species of this plant (Artemisia) are found in the Holy Land, and are distinguished for intense bitterness. Hence this word is often joined with or used in the same sense as "gall" and "hemlock " to denote what is offensive and nauseous. Deut 29:18; Prov 5:4; Am 5:7; Zech 6:12. To be obliged to use it as food expresses the extreme of suffering. Jer 9:15; Matt 23:15; Lam 3:15, Acts 1:19.