they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.
Parallel translations
- WEB they gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall. When he had tasted it, he would not drink.
- KJV They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
- BSB they offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it.
- NASB they gave Him wine mixed with bile to drink; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink it.
- NLT The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus is offered wine mixed with gall but refuses it after tasting. He chooses to face the cross with full awareness.
Overview
The bitter drink, likely intended as a mild sedative, is tasted and rejected by Jesus, who will endure the cross fully conscious. The detail echoes the language of Psalm 69 and shows His deliberate embrace of suffering. He declines any dulling of pain so as to drink fully the cup the Father had given Him for our redemption.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Ps 69:21They also gave me gall for my food. In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.
- Mark 15:23They offered him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he didn’t take it.
- Matt 27:48Immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him a drink.
- John 19:28–30After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.”
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 27:34 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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