Sponge
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Matt. 27:48; Mark 15:36; John 19:29)—the absorbent skeleton of a marine animal, used from antiquity to hold and transfer liquid. At the Crucifixion a sponge was filled with sour wine and lifted to Jesus, John specifying that it was raised on a branch of hyssop. The Gospel narratives make the sponge part of Christ’s final suffering and the fulfillment of Scripture (compare Ps. 69:21); outdated classifications of sponges as “zoophytes” and inaccurate descriptions of their anatomy are not retained.