WHAT WAS JESUS GIVEN TO DRINK ON THE CROSS? (MATTHEW 27:34; MARK 15:23)

Here is another contradiction you will find on the internet. Matthew says that it was vinegar mixed with gall while Mark states that it was wine mixed with myrrh. This appears to be a rather significant double contradiction, involving not only the nature of the drink itself but also what was in it.

Let's talk about the drink first, either vinegar or wine. If you look at any practically any English translation rather than the King James of these verses you will find that they all read “wine” in Matthew 27:34, not “vinegar.” When KJV says “vinegar,” it is actually committing two errors. In the first place, that translation is based on the Greek word oxos, found in the majority of ancient manuscripts. But Vine's word study book calls that “an inferior reading.” However, in the oldest and most reliable manuscripts used as the basis for modern translations, the word is oinos (the same word that appears in Mark 15:23). But even if oxos were the original Greek word, it really describes the cheap, sour wine drunk by the poorer classes, not what we would call “vinegar” today. So in either case, there is absolutely no contradiction here since both refer to wine.

But that is only half the battle in responding to this criticism. What was in the drink? Here we cannot just fault KJV for its translation since most modern English versions also say “gall” in Matthew and “myrrh” in Mark. But some translations go a step further to try to explain what the Greek word translated “gall” meant at the time. Thus, NRSV adds a clarifying note saying “gall = any bitter substance.” Similarly, The J. B. Phillips paraphrase renders it as “a bitter drug;” The Living Bible just says, “a drugged wine;” and TEV calls it “a bitter substance.” The consensus indicates that “gall” describes the bitter taste of whatever was added, and doesn't attempt to further identify its actual composition. The Dictionary of NT Theology (vol. 2, p. 28) concurs with that opinion when it says that the thought behind the Greek original (chole) “is always that of bitterness.” Blomberg's commentary of Matthew similarly says, “Myrrh may be the literal element and gall...a more general term referring to 'a substance with an unpleasant taste.'”

In any case, Jesus refused to drink any more of it after he had just taken a taste. And the question is: Why? Here are three possibilities to consider:

1. When Matthew said “gall,” he was hinting that this event was the fulfillment of the prophecy concealed in Psalm 69:21, associated with the Suffering Servant passages in Isaiah regarding the coming Messiah: “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” This explanation makes sense since (a) bitter substances were connected with poison in the Jewish mind (see Revelation 8:11) and (b) Matthew's Gospel, written mainly for a Jewish audience, went out of its way to point out the fulfillment of OT prophecies in the life of Christ.

Thus, when the soldiers offered Jesus this drink, they were doing it to further torture and mock him. And that is why he refused the unpalatable drink.

2. I had personally associated this event on the cross with Jesus' words at the Last Supper recorded in Matthew 26:29: “I tell you, never again shall I drink of the fruit of the vine until I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father.” However, much as I still feel that this is an attractive possibility, R. T. France labels this as “overexegesis.”

3. A third explanation is the most popular and likely one, and it hinges on the fact that myrrh, and perhaps other drugs present in the drink, were known opiates or anaesthetics. Ancient sources even refer to the common practice of offering such painkillers to those facing death.

“ Jesus presumably preferred to drink the cup of suffering to the dregs.” (New Bible Commentary)

“But Jesus refused to meet death with His mental faculties clouded.” (New Century Bible Commentary)

“Jesus refuses the sedative and heroically endures his sufferings to the end.” (DNNT)