Vial

VIAL vi'-al:

In modern English means "a tiny flask." The word appears in English Versions of the Bible 1 Samuel 10:1 and the Revised Version (British and American) 2 Kings 9:1,3 (the King James Version "box") for pakh, a word found nowhere else and from a root meaning "to pour." The shape and size of the pakh are quite uncertain. In 1 Esdras 2:13; and the King James Version Revelation 5:8, etc., "vial" translates phiale. The phiale was a flat, shallow bowl (Latin, patera), shaped much like a saucer. Hence, the Revised Version's change to "bowl" in Revelation, a change that should have been made in 1 Esdras also.

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Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'VIAL'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.