to provoke
ma.rar describes making an experience bitter or grievous, and in hostile settings provoking anger or defiance.
The attested uses most often concern making life, a person, or an experience bitter, harsh, or painful; other clauses portray grief or bitterness being experienced and expressed. In hostile contexts, the term occurs with anger in conflict and with a warning not to act rebelliously.
Senses in use
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Making life or a person bitter and harsh · dominant
In Exodus 1:14, the Piel sequential imperfect occurs in the clause about making Israel's lives bitter through hard service. The Hiphil perfect forms in Job 27:2 and Ruth 1:20 occur where God or the Almighty is said to have made a person's soul or circumstances bitter; Genesis 49:23 likewise places the Piel form amid hostile attacks by archers.
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Bitterness expressed as distress or mourning · common
The Qal forms occur in clauses of personal distress: in Isaiah 24:9 the APB renders the result for drinkers as strong drink turning "bitter," and in Isaiah 38:17 it renders the speaker's condition as "bitterness." Isaiah 22:4 places a Piel imperfect in the speaker's resolve to weep, while Zechariah 12:10 uses a Hiphil infinitive absolute in the scene of mourning and grieving.
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Hostile anger or defiant action · occasional
In Daniel 8:7 and Daniel 11:11, Hithpalpel forms stand in conflict scenes where the APB renders the attacking figure as "enraged." In Exodus 23:21, the Hiphil jussive appears in the warning, rendered by the APB as "do not rebel against him," before the clause about forgiveness of transgression.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB varies its presentation across the clauses, using "bitter," "embittered," and "bitterly" in several settings, while using "enraged," "rebel," "troubled," and mourning language in others. These are renderings of whole clauses rather than fixed English equivalents for the lemma.