One ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Let him be. Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down.”
Parallel Translations
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One ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Let him be. Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down.”
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And one ran and filled a sponge full of veneger and put it on a rede and gave him to drinke sayinge: let him alone let vs se whether Helyas will come and take him doune.
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And one ranne, and filled a spondge full of vineger, and put it on a reede, and gaue him to drinke, saying, Let him alone: let vs see if Elias will come, and take him downe.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Mark 15:36 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 69:21 They also gave me poison for my food. In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.
- Mark 15:23 They offered him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he didn’t take it.
- Luke 23:36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar,
- John 19:28-30 After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.” Now a vessel full of vinegar was set there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop, and held it at his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (6 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 36 And one ran and filled a spunge full…
36 And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.
Ver. 36. {See Trapp on "Mat 27:48"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain There were also women looking on afar off,.... At…
There were also women looking on afar off,.... At some distance from the cross, observing what was said and done;
among whom was Mary Magdalene; who had received great favours from Christ:
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and Mary the mother of James the less; or "little", so called to distinguish him from James the son of Zebedee, and because he might be little of stature: nor was it unusual with the Jews to distinguish persons after this manner: so we read (z) of R. Jesa, "the little", and of Samuel, "the little" (a), which some have thought to be the Apostle Paul, so called from the littleness of his stature:
and of Joses; or "Joseph", as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read;
and Salome; the mother of Zebedee's children, James and John; See Gill on Mat 27:56. This was a common name among the Jews; Herod had a sister and a daughter of this name; and the daughter of Herodias, who demanded the head of John, the Baptist, was of this name; and it is the same with Shalom: we read (b) of one Imme Shalom, or mother Shalom, wife of R. Eliezer, and sister to Rabban Gamaliel. Salome, with the Ethiopians (c), is said to be Mary's midwife, and to accompany Christ, with Mary, and Joseph, when they fled into Egypt.
(z) Zohar in Exod. fol. 63. 2. & passim. (a) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 28. 2. & 29. 1. (b) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 116. 1. (c) Ludolph. Lex. Ethiop. p. 525, & Castell. Lex. Polyglot, col. 3767.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 36. full of vinegar] Burning thirst is the most…
36. full of vinegar] Burning thirst is the most painful aggravation of death by crucifixion, and it was as He uttered the words, “I thirst,” that the soldier ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, or the sour wine-and-water called posca, the ordinary drink of the Roman soldiers.
and put it on a reed] i. e. on the short stem of a hyssop-plant (Joh_19:29).
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Let alone] According to St Mark, the man himself cries “Let be;” according to St Matthew, the others cry out thus to him as he offers the drink; according to St John, several filled the sponge with the sour wine. Combining the statements, together we have a natural and accurate picture of the excitement caused by the loud cry.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain There is a slight difference here in the narratives.…
There is a slight difference here in the narratives. St. Matthew (Mat_27:49) says, "And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save him." Here in St. Mark the words are recorded as having been spoken by him alone who offered our Lord the vinegar. According to St. John, (Joh_21:23) the offering of the vinegar followed immediately upon the words of our Lord, I thirst." This drink was not the stupefying potion given to criminals before their crucifixion, to lull the sense of pain, but the sour wine, the ordinary drink of the soldiers, called posen. The reed was most probably the long stalk of the hyssop plant. Dr. J. Forbes Royle, in an elaborate article on the subject, quoted in Smith"s "Dictionary of the Bible" (vol. 1 p. 846), arrives at the conclusion that the hyssop is none other than the caper plant, the Arabic name of which, asuf, bears a strong resemblance to the Hebrew. The plant is the Capparis spinosa of Linnaeus. The apparent difference between the narratives of St. Matthew and St. Mark may be reconciled by weaving in the narrative of St. John with those of the synoptists the "Let be" of the soldiers in the one case being intended to restrain the individual from offering the wine; and the "Let be" of the individual, corresponding to our "Wait a moment," while he answered our Savior"s cry, "I thirst."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain A sponge full of vinegar.
Mar_15:36
A sponge full of vinegar.
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The acids of life
They go to a cup of vinegar, and soak a sponge in it, and put it on a stick of hyssop, and then press it against the hot lips of Christ. You say the wine was all anesthetic, and intended to relieve or deaden the pain. But the vinegar was an insult. I am disposed to adopt the theory of the old English commentators, who believed that instead of its being an opiate to soothe, it was vinegar to insult. Malaga and Burgundy for grand dukes and duchesses, and costly wines from royal vats for bloated imperials-but stinging acids for a dying Christ. He took the vinegar! In some lives the saccharine seems to predominate. Life is sunshine on a bank of flowers. A thousand hands to clap approval. In December or in January, looking across their table, they see all their family present. Health rubicund. Skies flamboyant. Days resilient. But in a great many cases there are not so many sugars as acids. The annoyances, and the vexations, and the disappointments of life overpower the successes. There is a gravel in almost every shoe. An Arabian legend says that there was a worm in Solomons staff, gnawing its strength away; and there is a weak spot in every earthly support that a man leans on. King George of England forgot all the grandeurs of his throne because, one day in an interview, Beau Brummell called him by his first name, and addressed him as a servant, crying: George, ring the bell! Miss Langdon, honoured all the world over for her poetic genius, is so worried with the evil reports set afloat regarding her that she is found dead with an empty bottle of prussic acid in her hand. Goldsmith said that his life was a wretched being, and that all that want and discontent could bring to it had been brought and cries out: What, then, is there formidable in a gaol? Corregios fine painting is hung up for a tavern sign. Hogarth cannot sell his best paintings, except through a raffle. Andrew Delsart makes the great fresco in the Church of the Annunciata at Florence, and gets for pay a sack of corn; and there are annoyances and vexations in high places as well as in low places, showing that in a great many lives the sours are greater than the sweets. When Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar. It is absurd to suppose that a man who has always been well can sympathize with those who are sick, or that one who has always been honoured can appreciate the sorrow of those who are despised, or that one who has been born to a great fortune can understand the distress and the straits of those who are destitute. The fact that Christ Himself took the vinegar makes Him able to sympathize today and forever with all those whose cup is filled with sharp acids of this life. (Dr. Talmage.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 sour wine
sour wine
"vinegar"
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reed staff
"stick." This was a staff made from a reed.
gave it to him
"gave it to Jesus." The man held up the staff so that Jesus could drink wine from the sponge. AT: "held it up to Jesus" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
The curtain of the temple was split in two
Mark is showing that God himself split the temple curtain. This can be translated in active form. AT: "God split the curtain of the temple in two" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
wine
staff
Elijah
Jesus
cry
temple
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.