Psalms 69:21

Gall. — Heb., rôsh, i.e., head. (Comp. poppy heads. See Deuteronomy 32:32.) In Hosea 10:4 it is translated hemlock, but is most probably the poppy (papaver arenarium), which grows everywhere in Palestine, and answers all the conditions. The rendering, gall, comes from the LXX.

Vinegar. — Sour wine would not be rejected as unpalatable (see Note Ruth 2:14). It was forbidden to Nazarites as a luxury (Numbers 6:3). Was the author of the psalm possibly a Nazarite? or are the expressions in the psalm merely figurative. Comp.

“The banquet where the meats became
As wormwood.”

— TENNYSON: Elaine.