Mark 15:36

15:36 Then someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, ¹  put it on a stick, ²  and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down!”

Mark 16:18

16:18 they will pick up snakes with their hands, and whatever poison they drink will not harm them; ³  they will place their hands on the sick and they will be well.”

---

¹ 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.

² tn Grk “a reed.”

³ tn For further comment on the nature of this statement, whether it is a promise or prediction, see ExSyn 403-6.