Deuteronomy 29:18

Lest there should be among you ; rather, See that there be not among you , etc. The part. פֵן , lest , at the beginning of a sentence, sometimes implies a prohibition or dissuasion, as Job 32:13 , "say not;" Isaiah 36:18 ," beware of saying" (Gesenius, Noldius in voc .). Gall . The Hebrew word so rendered ( ראֹשׁ ) is supposed by Gesenius to be the poppy plant, by Celsius to be the hemlock (it is so rendered, Hosea 10:4 ; Amos 6:12 , and by AE dman to be colocynth. It is probably a general name for what is poisonous and bitter; for it is used of poison generally ( Deuteronomy 32:32 ) and of the venom of asps ( Deuteronomy 32:33 ; Job 20:16 ), as well as of poisonous roots and bitter fruits (see Kitto, 'Bibl. Cycl.,' 3.701). Coupled here with wormwood , it must be a plant that is referred to; and the union of the two affords "a striking image of the destructive fruit borne by idolatry" (Keil).