Psalms 69 · Verse 21

Psalms 69:21

They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Psalms 69:21, King James Version

Psalms 69:21 in other translations

BSBThey poisoned my food with gall and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.
WEBThey also gave me poison for my food. In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.
ASVThey gave me also gall for my food; And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
YLTAnd they give for my food gall, And for my thirst cause me to drink vinegar.
DARBYYea, they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
BBEThey gave me poison for my food; and bitter wine for my drink.
WebsterThey gave me also gall for my food; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

What does Psalms 69:21 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
21. Instead of such, his enemies increase his pain by giving him most distasteful food and drink. The Psalmist may have thus described by figure what Christ found in reality (compare Joh 19:29, 30).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 21 They gave me also gall for my meat - Even the food, necessary to preserve us in their slavery, was frequently mingled with what rendered it unpleasant and disgusting, though not absolutely unwholesome. And vinegar, sour small wines, was given us for our beverage. This is applied to our Lord, Mat 27:34, where the reader is requested to consult the notes.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 69:13-21

Whatever deep waters of affliction or temptation we sink into, whatever floods of trouble or ungodly men seem ready to overwhelm us, let us persevere in prayer to our Lord to save us. The tokens of God's favour to us are enough to keep our spirits from sinking in the deepest outward troubles. If we think well of God, and continue to do so under the greatest hardships, we need not fear but he will do well for us. And…

Read the full comment on Psalms 69:13-21 →

Psalms 69:21 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיִּתְּנ֣וּvai.yi.te.Nuand they putH5414
בְּבָרוּתִ֣יbe.va.ru.Tiin food myH1267
רֹ֑אשׁRoshpoisonH7219
וְ֝לִצְמָאִ֗יve.litz.ma.'Iand for thirst myH6772
יַשְׁק֥וּנִיyash.Ku.nithey gave to drink meH8248
חֹֽמֶץ\׃Cho.metzvinegarH2558

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 69:21

  • Matthew 27:34

    They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

  • Luke 23:36

    And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,

  • Mark 15:23

    And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.

  • Matthew 27:48

    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.

  • Mark 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.

  • John 19:28-30

    After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

  • Jeremiah 9:15

    Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

  • Jeremiah 8:14

    Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.

  • Deuteronomy 29:18

    Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

  • Jeremiah 23:15

    Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
gall for my meat.Bochart, from a comparison of this passage with Joh 19:29, thinks that {rosh} is the same herb as the evangelist calls [ ,] hyssop; a species of which, growing in Judea, he proves from Isaac ben Orman, an Arabian writer, to be so bitter as not to be eatable. Theophylact expressly tells us, that the hyssop was added [ ,] as being deleterious, or poisonous: and Nonnus, in his paraphrase, says, [ ] "One gave the deadly acid mixed with hyssop."
Jer 8:14; 9:15; 23:15; Mt 27:34,48
vinegar.
Mr 15:23,36; Lu 23:36; Joh 19:29,30

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 69:20

    Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

  • Psalms 69:21

    They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

  • Psalms 69:22

    Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.

Read all of Psalms 69

Psalms 69:21 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Pusiéronme además hiel por comida, y en mi sed me dieron á beber vinagre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		L’opprobre m’a brisé le cœur, et je suis accablé; et j’ai attendu que quelqu’un ait compassion de moi, mais il n’y a eu personne,… et des consolateurs, mais je n’en ai pas trouvé.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und sie gaben in meine Speise Galle, und in meinem Durst tränkten sie mich mit Essig.