Hebrews 12:15

Looking carefully lest there be any man that falleth short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.

This verse emphasizes that God's grace which has appeared to all people (Titus 2:12) and brought salvation to the world, may yet be ineffective in some because of their failure to abide by the conditions upon which salvation is offered. It should be noted that it was not merely the faith of those which the author questioned, but their conduct.

Root of bitterness is reference to an evil man, as Macknight said, "A root of bitterness is a person, utterly corrupted, and who by his errors and vices corrupts others."[12] Likewise, Westcott said of a bitter root that it is "a pernicious man, not a pernicious opinion."[13] The analogy between a man and a root, as required by this metaphor, is interesting. Christ himself was called a root (Revelation 22:16), though, of course, not a bitter root. He is called the "root and offspring of David," the unique Saviour of mankind, and in the same verse, "the bright and morning star." Thus, the bitter root of this passage is the opposite of Christ. The fitness of the application of this metaphor is seen in the comparisons below.

THE ROOT AND THE STAR

The contrast between a root and a star is little short of infinite; and only an inspired author could ever have dared to combine the two metaphors and refer both of them to Christ in a single verse of scripture (Revelation 22:16): (1) There is the contrast between what is NEAR and what is FAR. (2) There is the contrast between what is INVISIBLE and what is VISIBLE. (3) There is the contrast between the EARTHLY and the HEAVENLY. (4) There is the contrast between the LOCAL and the UNIVERSAL. A root is a local thing, while a star transverses the galaxy. (5) There is the contrast between the SLOW and the SWIFT. A root does not even appear to move; a star travels many thousands of miles per second! (6) There is a contrast between the SMALL and the GREAT. (7) There is the contrast between the LOW and the HIGH. Any student will quickly see how Christ, in one sense or another, is all of these things.

Now the root of bitterness, taking the first of each pair of contrasts above, is a small, local, earthly, invisible, low character, working slowly and very near believers; and the aptness of such a person's being called a root of bitterness is seen in the astounding results of evil that can be produced by such a person, through whom the many may be defiled. One little root is capable of producing a mighty tree.

[12] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 570.

[13] Brooke Foss Westcott, op. cit., p. 407.