Topic
Vinegar
12 passages cited, from 4 classic reference works.
These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Proverbs 10:26Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave Used with food
As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.
- Ruth 2:14Smith · ISBE · Nave Used with food
And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.
- Psalms 69:21Easton · ISBE · Nave Used with food
They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
- Matthew 27:34Easton · ISBE · Nave Offered to Christ while on the cross
¶ They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
- Matthew 27:48Smith · ISBE · Nave Offered to Christ while on the cross
And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.
- John 19:29Smith · ISBE · Nave Offered to Christ while on the cross
Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
- Numbers 6:3ISBE · Nave Forbidden to Nazarites
He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.
- Proverbs 25:20ISBE · Nave Used with food
As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.
- Mark 15:36Smith · ISBE
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.
- John 19:30Smith · ISBE
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
- Mark 15:23Nave Offered to Christ while on the cross
And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
- Luke 23:36ISBE
And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 3 references
Heb. hometz, Gr. oxos, Fr. vin aigre; i.e., “sour wine.” The Hebrew word is rendered vinegar in Ps. 69:21, a prophecy fulfilled in the history of the crucifixion (Matt. 27:34). This was the common sour wine (posea) daily made use of by the Roman soldiers. They gave it to Christ, not in derision, but from compassion, to assuage his thirst. Prov. 10:26 shows that there was also a stronger vinegar, which was not fit for drinking. The comparison, “vinegar upon nitre,” probably means “vinegar upon soda” (as in the marg. of the R.V.), which then effervesces.
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 6 references
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 14 references
vin'-e-ger (chomets; oxos): Vinegar, whose use as a condiment (Ru 2:14) needs no comment, is formed when a saccharine fluid passes through a fermentation that produces acetic acid. In the ancient world vinegar was usually made of wine, although any fruit juice can be utilized in its manufacture, and "vinegar of strong drink" (palm juice?) is mentioned in Nu 6:3. Undiluted vinegar is of course undrinkable, and to offer it to a thirsty man is mockery (Ps 69:21), but a mixture of water and vinegar makes a beverage that was very popular among the poor (Greek oxos, oxukraton, Latin posca--names applied also to diluted sour wine). It is mentioned in Nu 6:3 (forbidden to the Nazirite) and again in the Gospels in the account of the Crucifixion. The executioners had brought it in a vessel (Joh 19:29) for their own use and at first "offered" it to Christ, while keeping it out of reach (Lu 23:36). But at the end the drink was given Him on a sponge (Mr 15:36; Mt 27:48; Joh 19:29,30). In addition, the King James Version, following Textus Receptus of the New Testament, has "vinegar .... mingled with gall" in Mt 27:34, but this rests on a false reading, probably due to Ps 69:21, and the Revised Version (British and American) rightly has "wine." Vinegar, like all acids, is injurious to the teeth (Pr 10:26); and when it is combined with niter an effervescence is produced (Pr 25:20). The appropriateness of the last figure, however, is obscure, and Septuagint reads "as vinegar on a wound," causing pain.
Burton Scott Easton
In the topical indexes
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.