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Translation	Verse	Text
King James	Mr 15:36	And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.

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Word

Easton Dictionary - Definition

DRINK

The drinks of the Hebrews were water, wine, "strong drink," and vinegar. Their drinking vessels were the cup, goblet or "basin," the "cruse" or pitcher, and the saucer.

To drink water by measure (Ezek. 4:11), and to buy water to drink (Lam. 5:4), denote great scarcity. To drink blood means to be satiated with slaughter.

The Jews carefully strained their drinks through a sieve, through fear of violating the law of Lev. 11:20, 23, 41, 42. (See Matt. 23:24. "Strain at" should be "strain out.")

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Word	American Tract Society - Definition
ELIAS	See ELIJAH.

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Word	Easton Dictionary - Definition
ELIAS	the Greek form of Elijah (Matt. 11:14; 16:14, etc.), which the Revised Version has uniformly adopted in the New Testament. (See ELIJAH.)

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Word	King James Dictionary - Definition
ELIAS	Elijah.

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Word

American Tract Society - Definition

REED

Sometimes a stalk or rod of any plant, as of the hyssop, Mt 27:48 Joh 19:29.

Usually, however, the word reed denotes a reed or cane growing in marshy grounds, Job 40:21 Isa 19:6; slender and fragile, and hence taken as an emblem of weakness, 1Ki 18:21 Isa 36:6 Eze 29:6; and of instability, Mt 11:7. "A bruised reed," Isa 42:3 Mt 12:20, is an emblem of a soul crushed and ready to sink in despair under a sense of its guilty and lost condition. Such a soul the Saviour will graciously sustain and strengthen. The reed of spice, or good reed, (English version, "sweet calamus," Ex 30:23, "sweet cane" Jer 6:20) also called simply reed, (English version, "calamus" or "sweet cane,") Isa 43:24; So 4:14; Eze 27:19, is the sweet flag of India, calamus odoratus. Reeds were anciently used as pens and as measuring-rods, Eze 40:5 42:16. The Hebrew "reed" is supposed to have been about ten feet long.

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Word

Easton Dictionary - Definition

REED

(1.) "Paper reeds" (Isa. 19:7; R.V., "reeds"). Heb. 'aroth, properly green herbage growing in marshy places.

(2.) Heb. kaneh (1 Kings 14:15; Job 40:21; Isa. 19:6), whence the Gr. kanna, a "cane," a generic name for a reed of any kind.

The reed of Egypt and Palestine is the Arundo donax, which grows to the height of 12 feet, its stalk jointed like the bamboo, "with a magnificent panicle of blossom at the top, and so slender and yielding that it will lie perfectly flat under a gust of wind, and immediately resume its upright position." It is used to illustrate weakness (2 Kings 18:21; Ezek. 29:6), also fickleness or instability (Matt. 11:7; comp. Eph. 4:14).

A "bruised reed" (Isa. 42:3; Matt. 12:20) is an emblem of a believer weak in grace. A reed was put into our Lord's hands in derision (Matt. 27:29); and "they took the reed and smote him on the head" (30). The "reed" on which they put the sponge filled with vinegar (Matt. 27:48) was, according to John (19:29), a hyssop stalk, which must have been of some length, or perhaps a bunch of hyssop twigs fastened to a rod with the sponge. (See CANE.)

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Word	American Tract Society - Definition
VINEGAR	Poor or sour wine, the produce of the second or acetous fermentation of vinous liquors. The term sometimes designates a thin, sour wine, much used by laborers and by the Roman soldiers, Nu 6:3 Ru 2:14 2Ch 2:10 Joh 19:29. See GALL. In other places it denotes the common sharp vinegar, which furnished the wise man with two significant illustrations, Pr 10:26 25:20.

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Word

Easton Dictionary - Definition

VINEGAR

Heb. hometz, Gr. oxos, Fr. vin aigre; i.e., "sour wine." The Hebrew word is rendered vinegar in Ps. 69:21, a prophecy fulfilled in the history of the crucifixion (Matt. 27:34). This was the common sour wine (posea) daily made use of by the Roman soldiers. They gave it to Christ, not in derision, but from compassion, to assuage his thirst. Prov. 10:26 shows that there was also a stronger vinegar, which was not fit for drinking. The comparison, "vinegar upon nitre," probably means "vinegar upon soda" (as in the marg. of the R.V.), which then effervesces.

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