Vinegar (Hastings' Dictionary)
K sour liijuid, mentioned 5 times in OT and 5 times in NT. The vinegar of Scripture is wine which has I'.ndergone the acetous fermentation caused by the presence of a ferment plant (Myroderma aceti), whereby its alcohol is converted into acetic acid. Besides this ' vinegar of wine ' there is also mentioned ' vinegar of strong drink ' {shc/:dr, Nu 6'), wliich is produced by the fermentation of palm juice or any other saccharine fluid.
Both these forms of drink were forbidden to the Nazir- ite (Nu (>■>). This fluid was used as a relish, 'without \yliich we should miss many of the comforts of civili/cd life' (Pliny, xiv. 25). Into it food was dijiped before eating (Ru 2"). A diluted vinegar or sour wine was used as a drink by the poorer classes (Aristoph. AcharruB, 35), and especially by sol- diers. Pescennius Niger forbade his Ethiopian troops to drink anything else (Spartianus in Hist. Aufj. Script, minores, ii. ISO).
The vessel of vinegar which the Roman soldiers had by tliom at the Crucifixion (Jn 19^) was probably tilled with this drink, which was called posra. It was not re- garded as intoxicating (Plautus, Miles (jloriosus, lii. 836). The Greek medical writers, Oribasius and Aretaius, call it d^vKpaTon. Posca and oil are re- commended in veterinary medicine for wounds by Vegetius, iii. 48, vinegar being, as Plutarch says, the most cooling of fluids (QaaiH. roivviv. iii. 5). Cf.
the use of wine (oZ;'os) and oil by the good Samaritan (Lk 10*) to cleanse the wounds of the rolibers' victim. In the accounts of the Crucifixion given by the four Evangeli.sts vinegar is mentioned, but in each case in a slightly dilierent connotation. Accord- ing to Mt 27" (AV), the soliiiers ort'ered our Lord vinegar mingled with gall (RV has ' wine,' follow- ing NBD). This was a diilerent drink from the vinegar subsequently given Him on a sponge (v.**), which was probably yjosca.
Mark mentions both, but describes the first wine as mingled with myrrh (15 ea/j.vpi'KrtJi^i'oi' oivof); Lk 23 relates that the soldiers after He was crucified ofiered Him vinegar in mockery. Jn 19^ only mentions the vinegar given in response to His exclamation, ' I thirst.' The first 'wine' of Matt, and ^lark was probably in- tended as a narcotic, the xo^V being the equivalent of the Heb. word rosh, also tr^' 'gall,' which was opium (see vol. ii. p. 104).
This was given to those about to be executed, in accordance with the Talmudic interpretation of Pr 31", on which see Sanhedrin, 43. 1 ; Lightfoot, Hurm Hcbrair(e, ii. 3G ; and Buxtorf's Lex Talmudica, 2131. Rosen- miiller conjectures tliat it may have been given rather as a stimulant to keep Jesua alive during the torture {Bib. Bot. 163). Vinegar by itself was too pungent to drink, hence to give vinegar to drink was part of the punisliment of a victim, as in Ps 69-' ; cf. the iTi 6' ii TO.!
iihas ii^os in Aristoph. Batrach. 619. Its efl'ects on the mouth are mentioned in Pr lO'", reminding of the description of vinegar as iroTiK aTv<t>bv given by Nikander (Alexi2jharm. Zl!)), or the Acetum acerbum of Plautus (2>mc. i. 2. 83). For other figurative expressions of the irritation and acridity of vinegar see tlie same author in Rudcns, iv. 2. 32 ; Pseu<lolus, ii. 4. 49 ; and Bacchyl. iii. 3. 1 ; cf. the mordax acetum of Persius, v. 86. In the pas.
=age in Proverbs the LXX renders the word by 6/j.<pa^, unripe grapes, as though home? was here used in the sense of the Talmudic y^'n. The eU'ect of vinegar on nitre (an: = natron or crude sodic carbonate) causing efi'ervescence is mentioned in Pr 25-" (see vol. iii. p. 555). A. Macalister.
This topic also has an entry in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Both articles offer independent scholarly perspectives.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Vinegar
Vinegar 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 .... mi…
Smith's Bible Dictionary on Vinegar
The Hebrew word translated “vinegar” was applied to a beverage consisting generally of wine or strong drink turned sour, but sometimes artificially made by an admixture of barley and wine, and thus liable to fermentation. It was acid even to a proverb, (Proverbs 10:26) and by itself formed an unpleasant draught, (Psalms 49:21) but was used by laborers. (Ruth 2:14) Similar was the acetum of the Romans—a thin, sour wine, consumed by soldiers. This was the beverage of which the Saviour partook in his dying moments. (Matthew 27:48; Mark 15:36; John 19:29,30)
Fausset's Bible Dictionary on Vinegar
Hebrew chomets, Greek oxos. Wine soured. Acid and unpalatable (Pro 10:26), yet to thirsty labourors the acid relieved thirst (Rth 2:14). So it was used by Roman soldiers, pure, or mixed with water and called posca. Pourer on nitre or potash it causes effervescence (Pro 25:20). Instead of cordials, Christ's enemies gave Him on the cross first vinegar mixed with gall (Mat 27:34), and myrrh (Mar 15:23); which after tasting He declined, for He would not encounter sufferings in a state of stupefaction by the myrrh; to criminals it would have been a kindness, to the Sinbearer it was meant as an insult (Luk 33:36). Toward the close of His crucifixion, to fulfill Scripture He cried "I thirst," and vinegar was brought which He received (Joh 19:28; Mat 27:48).
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia