VIAL occurs in OT only in 1Sa_10:1 AV [Note: Authorized Version.] , and 2Ki_9:1; 2Ki_9:3 RV [Note: Revised Version.] (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] box) for an oil-flask. In NT, RV [Note: Revised Version.] has substituted bowl for vial throughout (Rev_5:8; Rev_15:7; Rev_16:1 ff.). The phialç was a flat vessel, resembling a saucer, specially used for pouring libations of wine upon the altar of a deity.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
vı̄?al: In modern English means ?a tiny flask.? The word appears in English Versions of the Bible 1Sa_10:1 and the Revised Version (British and American) 2Ki_9:1, 2Ki_9:3 (the King James Version ?box?) for פּך, 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 Rev_5:8, etc., ?vial? translates φιάλη, phiale. The phialē 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.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Rev_5:8 (a) These golden receptacles are evidently pictures of the value our Lord places upon the worship and the prayers which ascend to GOD from the hearts of His children. None of the prayers are lost. They are kept as valuable treasures.
Rev_15:7 (a) These golden receptacles contain GOD's wrath. The lesson we learn is that the wrath of GOD is just as precious and valuable as His mercy and grace. We give just as much honor to the judge who properly punishes the guilty as we give when the innocent is set free. His wrath is preserved as a treasure in the golden casket. This wrath is poured out in the next chapter, verses Rev_16:1-2. (See also Rev_17:1).
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.
is the rendering, in the A.V., of פִּךְ, pak (from פָּכָה, to distil), a bottle or flask, e.g. of oil (1Sa_10:1; box, 2Ki_9:1; 2Ki_9:3); and φιάλη (1 Esdr. 2, 13; Rev_5:8, etc.), a bowl (q.v.).
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.