They poisoned my food with gall and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.
Parallel translations
- WEB They also gave me gall for my food. In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.
- KJV They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
- NKJV They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
- NASB They also gave me a bitter herb in my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
- NLT But instead, they give me poison for food; they offer me sour wine for my thirst.
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
David's enemies gave him gall for food and vinegar to drink, adding cruelty to his suffering. It is directly fulfilled in Christ's crucifixion.
Overview
David describes the bitter cruelty of foes who offered him poison-like gall and sour vinegar instead of comfort. This verse is explicitly fulfilled at Calvary, where Jesus was offered gall and vinegar to drink (Matthew 27:34, 48; John 19:28-30). It stands among the clearest prophetic links between this psalm of the suffering righteous one and the passion of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 27:34they offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it.
- Luke 23:36The soldiers also mocked Him and came up to offer Him sour wine.
- Mark 15:23There they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it.
- Matt 27:48One of them quickly ran and brought a sponge. He filled it with sour wine, put it on a reed, and held it up for Jesus to drink.
- Mark 15:36And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine. He put it on a reed and held it up for Jesus to drink, saying, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.”
- John 19:28–30After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
- Jer 9:15Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
- Jer 8:14Why are we just sitting here? Gather together, let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
- Deut 29:18Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,
- Jer 23:15Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets: “I will feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 69:21 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.