Mark 15:23
in Mark 15There they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they offered him wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
KJV
And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
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This verse in Mark 15
Commentary
15 notes on this verseHe is lifted up and nailed to the Tree, but by the Tree of Life He restoreth us; yea, He saveth even the Robber crucified with Him; yea, He wrapped the visible world in darkness. He is given vinegar to drink mingled with gall. Who? He who turned the water into wine, who is the destroyer of the bitter taste, who is Sweetness and altogether desire. He lays down His life, but He has power to take it again; and the veil is rent, for the mysterious doors of Heaven are opened; the rocks are cleft, the dead arise.
This site's exposition
unto the place Golgotha
on Mark 15:22-23
They bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull, one of Mark's kept transliterations, the Aramaic Gulgalta preserved rather than only translated, likely named for the shape of the hill or for the skulls of the executed left there. They gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, a mild narcotic offered by custom to dull the pain of crucifixion, but he received it not, choosing to face the cross with an unclouded mind. The bench reads his refusal as deliberate, the same resolve that had already carried him through Gethsemane's prayer to keep the cup he had accepted from being softened now.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Attend a little, beloved, and fear their devices; nay, beware of them, and listen to the words of gainsayers only to reject them, not to swallow them and take them into your bowels. Do therein what the Lord did when they offered Him the bitter draught, "He tasted, and spat it out;" so also you hear and cast away.
(de Con. Evan. iii. 11) This we must understand to be what Matthew expresses by, mixed with gall; for he put gall for any thing bitter, and wine mingled with myrrh is most bitter; although there may have been both gall and myrrh to make the wine most bitter. (ubi sup.) That which follows, But he received it not, must' mean, He received it not to drink, but only tasted it, as Matthew witnesses. And what the same Matthew relates, he would not drink, Mark expresses by, he received it not, but was silent as to His tasting it.
But though He endured these things, having come for the salvation of all, yet the people returned Him an evil recompense. Jesus saith, I thirst,—He who had brought forth the waters for them out of the craggy rock; and He asked fruit of the Vine which He had planted. But what does the Vine? This Vine, which was by nature of the holy fathers, but of Sodom by purpose of heart;—for their Vine is of Sodom, and their tendrils of Gomorrah;—this Vine, when the Lord was athirst, having filled a sponge and put it on a reed, offers Him vinegar. They gave Me also gall for My meat, and in My thirst, they gave Me vinegar to drink. Thou seest the clearness of the Prophets' description. But what sort of gall put they into My mouth? They gave Him, it says, wine mingled with myrrh. Now myrrh is in taste like gall, and very bitter. Are these things what ye recompense unto the Lord? Are these thy offerings, O Vine, unto thy Master? Rightly did the Prophet Esaias aforetime bewail you, saying, My well-beloved had a vineyard in a hill in a fruitful place; and (not to recite the whole) I waited, he says, that it should bring forth grapes; I thirsted that it should give wine; but it brought forth thorns; for thou seest the crown, wherewith I am adorned. What then shall I now decree? I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it; for the clouds which are the Prophets were removed from them, and are for the future in the Church...
The Medieval Church2 voices
And they gave Him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, and He did not accept it. God speaks to Jerusalem: I planted you, my true vineyard; how have you turned into a bitter wild vine (Jeremiah II)? The bitter vine produced bitter wine: which is …
For what Mark says: he did not take, it is understood: he did not take to drink. However, he tasted, as Matthew is a witness, so that what the same Matthew says, He did not want to drink, Mark says He did not take, but …
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church4 voices
(ubi sup.) Bitter the vine which bore the bitter wine, set before the Lord Jesus, that the Scripture might be fulfilled which saith, They gave me gall to eat, and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink. (Ps. 69:22)
And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh. Or else, wine mingled with myrrh, that is, vinegar; by it the juice of the deadly apple is wiped away. He also refused to take sin for which He suffered, wherefore it is said of Him, I then paid the things that I never took.
"They gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink"; but myrrh is the most bitter liquid; this means they gave it to the Lord in mockery of Him. Another evangelist says that the Lord was offered vinegar with gall (Matt. 27:34), and a third, that …
Or, they may have brought different things, in order, some vinegar and gall, and others wine mixed with myrrh.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Wine mingled ... - Matthew says “vinegar.” It was probably “wine soured,” so that it might be called either. This was the common drink of the Roman soldiers. Myrrh - See the notes at Mat 27:34.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
The passage we have now read, is one of those which show us the infinite love of Christ toward sinners. The sufferings described in it would fill our minds with mingled horror and compassion, if they had been inflicted on one who was only a man like ourselves. But when we reflect that the sufferer was the eternal Son of God, we are lost in wonder and amazement.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
The passage we have now read, is one of those which show us the infinite love of Christ toward sinners. The sufferings described in it would fill our minds with mingled horror and compassion, if they had been inflicted on one who was only a man like ourselves. But when we reflect that the sufferer was the eternal Son of God, we are lost in wonder and amazement. And when we reflect further that these sufferings were voluntarily endured to deliver sinful men and women like ourselves from hell, we may see something of Paul's meaning when he says, "The love of Christ passes knowledge." "God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Ephes. 3:19; Rom. 5:8.) We shall find it useful to examine separately the several parts of our Lord's passion. Let us follow Him step by step from the moment of His condemnation by Pilate to His last hour upon the cross. There is a deep meaning in every jot and tittle of His sorrows. All were striking emblems of spiritual truths. And let us not forget as we dwell on the wondrous story, that we and our sins were the cause of all these sufferings. "Christ suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." (1 Peter 3:18.) It is the death of our own Surety and Substitute that we are reading. First of all we see Jesus delivered into the hands of the Roman soldiers, as a criminal condemned to death. He before whom the whole world will one day stand and be judged, allowed Himself to be sentenced unjustly, and given over into the hands of wicked men. And why was this? It was that we, the poor sinful children of men, believing on Him, might be delivered from the pit of destruction, and the torment of the prison of hell. It was that we might be set free from every charge in the day of judgment, and be presented faultless before God the Father with exceeding joy.
The words behind it
9 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐδίδουν | edidoun | they were offering | G1325 → | 412 times |
| αὐτῷ | auto | Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἐσμυρνισμένον | esmurnismenon | mixed with myrrh | G4669 → | |
| οἶνον· | oinon | wine; | G3631 → | 34 times |
| ὃς | hos | He | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| δὲ | de | however | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἔλαβεν.¶ | elaben | did take [it]. | G2983 → | 257 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐδίδουνthey were offering
edidounG1325 →412 times
αὐτῷHim
autoG846 →5565 times
ἐσμυρνισμένονmixed with myrrh
esmurnismenonG4669 →
οἶνον·wine;
oinonG3631 →34 times
ὃςHe
hosG3739 →1405 times
δὲhowever
deG1161 →2765 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἔλαβεν.¶did take [it].
elabenG2983 →257 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 27:34they offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it.
it leads to
- Psalms 69:21
They poisoned my food with gall and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 27:48
One 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 19:28–30
After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
- Psalms 69:21
Through
Luke 22:18For I tell you that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”
it leads to
- Matthew 26:29
I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 22:16
For I tell you that I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
- Isaiah 55:1
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
- Mark 14:25
Truly I tell you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.”
- Luke 21:31
So also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.
- Matthew 26:29
Where this verse is studied
About Mark
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 6; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, Lecture 13; Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 29, On the Son; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae on Matthew; Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.