Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 8:23

"For I see that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." — Acts 8:23 (ASV)

In the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.—On “gall,” in its literal sense, see Note on Matthew 27:34. This is the only passage in the New Testament in which it is used figuratively. “Bitterness” meets us, as expressing extreme moral depravity, in Romans 3:14, Ephesians 4:31, Hebrews 12:15. The latter phrase implies that the iniquity of Simon bound him as with the iron chains of a habit from which he could not free himself.