Gospel Accounts
The account of Jesus receiving a sponge soaked in vinegar while on the cross appears in all four of the canonical gospels, with some variation. In both Mark 15:35-36 and Matthew 27:47-48, just after Jesus says "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me", a stander by soaks a sponge in vinegar and raises it on a reed for Jesus to drink. Luke 23:36-37 mentions that the attendant soldiers offer Jesus vinegar while mocking him – moving the mocking motif that occurs earlier in Mark and Matthew to the Crucifixion. In John 19:28-30, Jesus declares "I thirst" (one of his last words) and is given the vinegar-soaked sponge "on hyssop". The significance of the act is unclear, though it is usually interpreted as an act of mercy on the part of the soldiers. The episode may allude to Psalm 68:22: "In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."
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