Psalms 69:21 Commentary: Gall and Vinegar

Psalm 69 is an individual lament, one of the most quoted psalms in the New Testament. Its superscription mentions “Shoshannim,” a term of uncertain meaning, possibly a tune or a musical instrument. The historical setting is not pinned down; Calvin notes that some connect it to David’s persecution by Saul, others to Absalom’s rebellion. But whoever the original speaker, the psalmist speaks from deep distress, sinking in mire, overwhelmed by floods (vv. 2, 15). Verse 21 sits within a section where the sufferer looks for pity and comforters but finds none (v. 20).

In ancient Near Eastern culture, sharing food and drink was a sign of fellowship and covenant loyalty. To offer a guest bitter, poisonous food or sour, undrinkable wine was an act of severe insult and cruelty. The Hebrew word rosh (translated “gall” or “poison”) likely refers to a bitter, perhaps poisonous plant such as the poppy (Papaver arenarium), which grows commonly in Palestinian cornfields and has a bitter, toxic juice. “Vinegar” (chomets) was probably wine that had gone bad, nauseous and unfit to drink, the opposite of the refreshing beverage normally offered to the thirsty.

The psalm as a whole moves from desperate complaint to imprecatory prayer (vv. 22-28) and then to praise and confidence in God’s salvation (vv. 29-36). This pattern reflects the lament tradition: the worshipper pours out suffering, calls for judgment on enemies, and ends by trusting in God’s deliverance. Verse 21 thus functions both as a vivid picture of the psalmist’s social abandonment and, in the light of later Christian reading, as a prophetic pointer to the passion of Christ.

The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for this verse. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts. The main interpretive challenge is lexical: the word rosh can mean “gall,” “poison,” or a specific bitter plant, and its precise referent remains uncertain. But this is a semantic issue, not a textual variant.

This verse has been central in Christian readings of the passion narrative. The early church saw in it a clear prophecy of Christ: Matthew’s Gospel (27:34) and John (19:28-30) both record Jesus receiving gall and vinegar, and the Gospel of Peter (2nd century) even interpreted the potion as poison to hasten death. Augustine read the verse as foretelling the bitterness of sin that Christ took upon himself. In medieval liturgy, Psalm 69 became a staple of Good Friday services, with verse 21 recited as a somber meditation on Christ’s abandonment. During the Reformation, commentators like Calvin and Luther emphasized the typological relationship, David as a prototype of the suffering Messiah. In Jewish tradition, the psalm remains a lament of the righteous individual, read as expressing the pain of isolation and unjust treatment. Modern scholarship tends to prioritize the historical meaning within the Psalter, while still acknowledging the New Testament’s use of the passage.

Three-point outline

1. The depth of human cruelty: The sufferer’s basic needs are met with poison and vinegar. This shows how sin deforms human relationships, instead of compassion, mockery and harm.
2. The silence of human comfort: Verse 20 says the psalmist looked for pity but found none. Verse 21 intensifies that: not only no help, but active harm. The loneliness of suffering is compounded by betrayal.
3. The shadow of the cross: New Testament accounts (Matthew 27:34, 48; Mark 15:23, 36; John 19:28-30) show Jesus offered gall and vinegar. The Psalmist’s cry becomes Christ’s experience, showing that God enters into the worst of human rejection.

Five-point outline

1. Context: The psalmist has been crying for deliverance from mire and flood (vv. 1-18). He is alone and despised.
2. The action: Enemies give gall for food and vinegar for drink, an active choice to harm rather than help.
3. The symbolism: Gall (bitter, poisonous) and vinegar (sour, undrinkable) represent the opposite of what sustains life. They symbolize total rejection and curse.
4. The fulfillment: In the Gospels, Jesus receives wine mixed with gall and then vinegar. Christians have seen this as the fulfillment of the psalm’s pattern, confirming Jesus as the righteous sufferer.
5. The hope: The psalm does not end here. Verses 30-36 turn to praise. The sufferer trusts God’s salvation, and so can we, even when our own “food” and “drink” seem bitter.

Illustration hooks

• You go to a friend’s house in desperate need of water, and they hand you a cup of vinegar. The basic contract of hospitality is broken, that is the level of betrayal here.
• A person confides their deepest need to a trusted colleague, only to have that confidence used against them. The betrayal adds insult to injury.
• When we have been let down by those who should have helped, we can feel the sting of gall and vinegar, the memory of kindness refused.

Questions your congregation is asking

• Is this verse about David or about Jesus? Or both?
• Why would God allow his servant to be treated this way, especially when he was innocent?
• How can I trust God when my own experience feels like being given poison instead of help?

Psalm 69:21 gives us a raw picture of suffering. The sufferer has been abandoned by comforters and now receives harm where he needed help. This verse has also been read by Christians as pointing ahead to Jesus on the cross. As you discuss, hold both realities together: the historical suffering of the psalmist and the ultimate suffering of Christ.

Discussion questions

1. What does the verse tell you about the psalmist’s physical and emotional state? What specific actions did his enemies take?
2. The words “gall” and “vinegar” evoke bitter taste and smell. Why would the psalmist choose these images to describe his treatment?
3. Read Matthew 27:34 and Matthew 27:48. How do these verses echo Psalm 69:21? What differences do you notice?
4. Barnes comments that the psalm describes what was done to David “without any intimation that the passage here had an original reference to him [Christ].” How does this affect how you read the psalm, as a description of David’s own life or as prophecy?
5. Calvin says David was “an eminent type” of Christ. In what ways does the experience of David (or any innocent sufferer) prepare us to understand Christ’s suffering?
6. Have you ever been in a situation where you needed help and received the opposite? How did you respond?
7. This psalm ends with praise (vv. 30-36). How does knowing that God sees and will vindicate the sufferer change how you deal with times of bitter treatment?