“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.”
King James Version (KJV)
27:48 One taking a sponge, filled it with vinegar - Vinegar and water was the usual drink of the Roman soldiers. It does not appear, that this was given him in derision, but rather with a friendly design, that he might not die before Elijah came. #John 19:28|.
Mt 27:48 One . . . took a spunge, and filled [it]. This was occasioned by our Lord's cry, "I thirst", the fifth word from the cross (Joh 19:28). Vinegar. This was the sour wine used by the soldiers; not mixed with myrrh, as in the case of the stupefying draught Jesus had refused before crucifixion.