Vinegar, Gall and Myrrh

We are also told that he was given vinegar to drink, or wine mixed with myrrh, which is more bitter than gall. Hear what the prophet foretold about this: “They gave me gall to eat, and when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink.” In keeping with this, Moses, even in his own day, said to the people, “Their vine is from the vineyards of Sodom, and their branch from Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, and their clusters clusters of bitterness.” And again the prophet reproaches them: “O foolish and unwise people, is this how you repay the Lord?” The same things are foretold in the Song of Songs, where even the garden in which the Lord was crucified is pointed to: “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride, and have gathered my myrrh.” Here the prophet has plainly set out the wine mixed with myrrh which the Lord was given to drink. [a]