Mark 15:35-36

15:35 When some of the bystanders heard it they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah!” ¹  15:36 Then someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, ²  put it on a stick, ³  and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down!”

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¹ sn Perhaps the crowd thought Jesus was calling for Elijah because the exclamation “my God, my God” (i.e., in Aramaic, Eloi, Eloi) sounds like the name Elijah.

² sn Sour wine refers to cheap wine that was called in Latin posca, a cheap vinegar wine diluted heavily with water. It was the drink of slaves and soldiers, and was probably there for the soldiers who had performed the crucifixion.

³ tn Grk “a reed.”