VINEGAR OR WINE?
They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall:
and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
Matthew 27:34
The ASV, RSV, NIV, and numerous other modern versions have produced verses similar to the following ASV verse: ” they gave him wine to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted it, he would not drink.”
This despicable perversion of scripture derives from the texts favored by the devil-worshipping pair of Westcott and Hort, which replaced oxos (vinegar) with oinos (wine).
This is one of a number of perversions that are designed to attack the prophetic verses of the Old Testament. In this instance, it is Psalm 69:21 that is the prophetic verse, and by changing it the verse in Matthew has been weakened.
Psalm 69:21 “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
The Psalm quote is enough to show anyone with even a meager amount of spiritual discernment that the ASV, et al., have perverted this verse, but we also know from history that the texts used by the founders of the Ghostly Guild were once again in error. Vinegar diluted with water was a common drink among Roman soldiers.
Vinegar, which is high in Potassium and other minerals, will invigorate the body when energy levels are low. I take a teaspoon of vinegar in water myself when I have trouble staying awake.
Wine has quite the opposite effect. Weak vinegar would not only have been the logical beverage for a Roman soldier to have on hand in the intense heat of the Jerusalem sun, but it is the logical one to offer a victim that they are taunting.
It should be noted that Jesus is given vinegar by unnamed parties later in verse 48 of the same chapter: “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.”
These people were not trying to revive him to taunt him, but to test whether or not Elias would come and save him. Wine would have hastened his death, as those present would have known.
It is funny that the modern verses have vinegar in verse 48. I grant that some of the NIV “translators” were just too plain dumb to understand why their version’s rendering of this verse was in error, but we can be sure that the real decision makers behind this version did it with pure malice in their hearts.
John Hinton, Ph.D.
Bible Restoration Ministry
A ministry seeking the translating and reprinting of KJV equivalent
Bibles in all the languages of the world.