19:29a

A jar of sour wine was sitting there: Near the cross was a container full of wine for the soldiers to drink. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

A jar of cheap wine was there. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
A jar stood there full of sour wine; (Revised English Bible)

A jar: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as jar is a general word that can refer to any type of container for liquid. It was probably made of clay. For example:

bowl (Good News Translation)

sour wine: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sour wine refers to the cheap wine that poor people drank. This wine was weak, with water added, and tasted something like vinegar. See how you translated this same Greek word in Matthew 27:48, Mark 15:36, and Luke 23:36. For example:

cheap wine (Good News Translation)
-or-
wine vinegar (New International Version)
-or-
sour drink

there: This word is implied in the Greek and refers to the general area near the cross.

19:29b

So they soaked a sponge in the wine, put it on a stalk of hyssop: The pronoun they probably refers to some of the soldiers. The soldiers put a sponge into the wine. The sponge soaked up (absorbed) the wine, and then the soldiers put it on the end of a branch. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

So the soldiers put a sponge soaked in the vinegar on a hyssop stick (God’s Word)
-or-
so a sponge was soaked in the wine, put on a stalk of hyssop (Good News Translation)

a sponge in the wine: In some languages it may be natural to use a verb to indicate how the sponge became full of the wine. For example:

Someone then soaked a sponge with the wine (Contemporary English Version)

a sponge: A sponge is a plant-like creature living in the sea with a body full of holes. It absorbs liquid much like a cloth. So the soldiers dipped a sponge in this jar of wine until it absorbed some wine and became wet. In some cultures a sponge is not known. Some ways to handle that is to use a descriptive phrase or a simile. For example:

something that absorbed the wine
-or-
something like cotton (Kankanaey Back Translation)

put: The Greek verb the Berean Standard Bible translates as put is more literally “to wrap.” The soldiers attached the sponge to the branch. Use a verb that is natural in your language.

on a stalk of hyssop: The word hyssop refers to a small bush-like plant mentioned several places in the Bible, including Psalm 51:7, Exodus 12:22, and Hebrews 9:19. In some cultures hyssop is not known. One way to translate it is with a more general term. For example:

on the branch of a bush
-or-
on a branch/stick

19:29c

and lifted it to His mouth: The soldiers lifted the sponge to Jesus’ mouth so that he could get some wine out of the sponge. For example:

lifted it to Jesus’ lips (New International Version)
-or-
raised up to his mouth for him to drink (Otomi Back Translation)

General Comment on 19:29b–c

In some languages it may be natural to mention the hyssop plant in 19:29c instead of 19:29b. For example:

Someone then soaked a sponge with the wine and held it up to Jesus’ mouth on the stem of a hyssop plant. (Contemporary English Version)

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