A container, specifically a handled pitcher or jug for water, wine, or other liquids. The Latin loanword (from 'sextarius,' a Roman liquid measure) entered Greek to denote both the measure and the vessel. Mark mentions pitchers in his description of Pharisaic washing rituals (7:4, 8)—the ceremonial cleansing of cups, pitchers, and kettles before use. The domestic detail anchors Jesus' subsequent critique of external purity versus internal defilement in the material world of first-century Jewish practice.