Literature. — The various commentaries and works on NT theologj' ; Wendt, Lehre Jesu, ii. 497 f.; Weiss, Die johan. Gtundbegriffe, § 8 ; van Koetsveld, De GeUjkenissen van den Zaliijmaker, ii. 194-204. For homiletical treatment see Mac- laren, Holy of Holies, 168 ff. ; Macmillan, Bible Teachings in Nature, 174 ; A. Whyte, Walk, Conversation, and Character of Jesus Christ, ch. xx.\iv. ; A. Murray, Abide in Christ, passim ; Westcott, Revelation of the Father^ 119 ; P. J. Maclagan, Gospel Vieio of Things, 146 ; ExpT ix. [1898] 211.
G. Wauchope Stewart.
VINEGAR [6^0$, acetum) was credited Avith mani- fold efficacy by the ancient physicians.* Nor was the medicinal its sole use. It served as the drink of the lower orders, especially slaves ; f and it was the only refreshment allowed to soldiers while en- gaged in active service. ' The vigilant humanity of Julian,' says Gibbon, t 'had embarked a very large magazine of vinegar and biscuit for the use of the soldiers, but he prohibited the indulgence of wine.'
It is twice mentioned in the story of the Cruci- fixion. The quaternion of soldiers (cf. Jn 19^^) charged with the execution had with them a jar of t\\G\x posca, as it was termed ; and, when they had accomplished their laborious task, they refreshed themselves from it. The bystanders, led by the exultant priests, were meanwhile mocking the meek Sufferer and deriding His Messianic claim. ' He is King of Israel,' they cried : 'let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe on him.' The soldiers heard the taunt and joined in (Lk 2335-»3 = Mt 2739-« = Mk \5'^-'''\
Again, after He had uttered His cry of desola- tion : Eli, Eli, lama 'dzabhtdni (see DERELICTION), Jesus moaned, ' I thirst' ; and one of the bystanders, probably a Roman soldier, § moved by pity, took a sponge and, dipping it in the posca, put it on the end of a hyssop reed. His comrades interfered. Ignorant of Hebrew, they took Eli for the name Elias, and supposed that Jesus was invoking the help of one of that name. ' Hold ! ' || they cried. ' Let us see if Elias is coming to save him.' But the man persisted in his humane purpose, and held up the -sponge to the parched lips (Mt 27*^-50 _^]j
1533-37 ^Jn l<r.!8-30)_
St. Mark's account is much confused. It represents the offering of the vinegar as an act of mockery, in opposition to both St. Matthew and St. John, and the cry, 'Hold,' etc., as uttered, without any apparent provocation, by the man with the reed. There is here an example of the style of modification which the Evangelic tradition — in this instance correctly re- produced by St. Matthew — suffered in the process of oral trans- mission : (1) The interference of the bystanders was omitted ;
* Plin. BN xxiii. 27 ff.
t Plaut. Mil. Glor. iii. 2. 23.
J Deel. and Fall, ch. xxiv. See Wetstein on Mt 2734.
§ So Jerome, Euth. Zig., on the ground that Jews would have understood the Hebrew Eli.
H Mt.'s i?if may be the Hellenistic sign of Imperat. (modern Gr. i?): cf. Mt 7'* = Lk G*'^ ; but its construction as an indepen- dent Imperat. is equally permissible (cf. Epict. iv. i. 79) and yields a better sense, besides being favoured by Mk.'s H^iti.
and (2) x<pi;, suitable when addressed to one man, was altered to fit the new conception of the situation into if ete.
It is nothing strange that Jesus accepted the posca after refusing the 'myrrhed wine' (Mk 15-3 ^ jvit 27^). He refused the narcotic (see Crucifixion), He accepted the refreshment.
David Smith.
VIOLENCE.— In Lk 3^4 part of the advice given by John the Baptist to the .soldiers was, ' Do vio- lence to no man ' {fM-qBiva diaaeiaTiTe), the verb mean- ing, 'like concutio in juridical Latin, to extort from one by intimidation money or other pro- perty' (Grimm-Thayer). The word occurs again in Mt W'^, where the adjective 'violent' is also found in AV. The adverb ' violently ' appears in Lk 8^^ AV, ' the herd ran violently (ibpi^riaev) down a steep place,' and in Lk 16'^ RV, ' every man entereth violently into it' (/Sidferai). Interest centres chiefly on the two pa.ssages Mt IP^ and Lk 16^®, which are so much alike, though in different contexts, that they are obviously two versions of the same saying. We place them side by side in order that they may be more easily compared. Mt 1112- 13. Lk 1616.
(a) T«VT£? ykp el T/JO?-?Ta/ xmi (a) i viuos xai ol trpofiirxi
0 vofj.0? icus 'IcuKvvou ^poit^'/iTsvirocv fjci^pt 'laiaivvov,
(6) flfcTo Se Tojv 'hfA-tpSv *luoivvou (/3) a^o Ton,
Tou (SocTT/o-TOy iu? ccprt.
(c) -.: lixffO.eia tuv ovpxvSy (>•) vi ^ounT^lia, tou 8cov tuxy-
^tOtZ^iTOCt. •yiXiC^lTO.t.
(d) xai fiia.o'Tai a,p^aZ,ovinv (5) xa) troc? iU xurrit ^ttt.Z,iTa,i.
a.vT'/tv,
It is evident that a, h, d closely correspond to a, ^, 5 ; why, then, should not c be taken to convey the same idea as 7 ? This is the view of Melan- chthon, Stier, Banks, and others, who hold that ^id^erai in Mt. is the Middle voice, as it un- doubtedly is in the last clause of Luke. The trans- lation will then be, ' the kingdom of heaven advanceth violently,' it forcibly introduces itself, coming with urgency and beating down all ob- stacles, 'sese vi qua.si obtrudit' (Bengel, who adds ' saepe LXX jSid^o/jiai ponunt, vim adhibeo '). This is quite in keeping with the context, where Christ is extolling the work which John the Baptist had done as a pioneer and forerunner (cf. Mt3"-, Mk P, Lk 7^"). It may be illustrated by the parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven (Mt IS^^-^^), and it has the great advantage of conveying the same sense as the parallel clause in Lk. ' the kingdom of God is preached.' The only serious objection urged against such a rendering by Meyer, Alford, and Bruce (in Expos. Gr. Test. ) is that it would be in- consistent with the words following — ' the violent take it by force.' Is there necessarily any incon- sistency, however ? May we not have here one of those passages where by a slight change in the ex- pression, by a turning of the coin, as it were, a new and complementary truth is conveyed 1 Would there be any inconsistency if one were to say ' the train is advancing quickly, and those who are quick succeed in entering it ' ? On the other hand, the translation of the EV is open to the charge of being tautological.