Luke 5:38
in Luke 5Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But new wine must be put into fresh wine-skins.
KJV
But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.
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This verse in Luke 5
Commentary
10 notes on this verseBut new wine must be put into new bottles,.... Such as the disciples of Christ were, and sinners called to repentance are, who are renewed by the Spirit and grace of God: and these are filled with spiritual joy and comfort, as with new wine, arising from discoveries of the love of God, a view of interest in the blessings of the covenant, and an application of Gospel truths and promises.
This site's exposition
piece of a new garment
on Luke 5:36-39
No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old, and no man putteth new wine into old bottles, twin parables making the same point from cloth and from wineskins, new material tears an old garment further and new wine, still fermenting, bursts a skin already stretched and brittle from earlier use. The old system of fasting and the new reality Jesus brings are not compatible patches on one another, new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved, the gospel requiring its own new forms rather than being squeezed into forms built for something else. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new, for he saith, the old is better, closes the chapter with a warning rather than a triumph, the very familiarity of the old ways making some hearers slow to receive what is genuinely better, a line the bench reads as gently aimed at the Pharisees who had just been arguing.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(ubi sup.) But the Apostles are compared to old skins, who are more easily burst with new wine, i. e. with spiritual precepts, than contain them. Hence it follows, Else the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine will be spilled. But they were new skins at that time, when after the ascension of the Lord they received the Holy Spirit, when from desire of His consolation they were renewed by prayer and hope. Hence it follows, But the new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved.
The weakness of man's condition is exposed when our bodies arc compared to the skins of dead animals.
Those who live according to the law cannot receive the institutions of Christ. These institutions cannot be admitted into the hearts of such as have not as yet received the renewing by the Holy Spirit. The Lord shows this by saying that a tattered patch cannot be put upon a new garment, nor can old skins hold new wine. The first covenant has grown old, nor was it free from fault. Those, therefore, who adhere to it and keep at heart the antiquated commandment have no share in the new order of things in Christ. In him all things are become new, but their mind being decayed, they have no harmony or point of mutual agreement with the ministers of the new covenant.
The Medieval Church1 voice
This same thing was fitting on account of the weakness of the flesh, on account of which he says: And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, because from this a twofold unfittingness follows, namely the spilling of the wine, on account of which …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
So Christ would train up his followers gradually to the discipline of his family; for no man, having drank old wine, will of a sudden, straightway, desire new, or relish it, but will say, The old is better, because he has been used to it,
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1858)
We should observe in these verses — that men may disagree on the lesser points of religion, while they agree on its weightier matters. We have this brought out in the alleged difference between the disciples of John the Baptist, and the disciples of Christ. The question was put to our Lord, "John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees — but why do your disciples go on eating and drinking?" We cannot suppose that there was any essential difference between the doctrines held by these two parties of disciples.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1858)
proposed
We should observe in these verses — that men may disagree on the lesser points of religion, while they agree on its weightier matters. We have this brought out in the alleged difference between the disciples of John the Baptist, and the disciples of Christ. The question was put to our Lord, "John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees — but why do your disciples go on eating and drinking?" We cannot suppose that there was any essential difference between the doctrines held by these two parties of disciples. The teaching of John the Baptist was doubtless clear and explicit upon all the main points necessary to salvation. The man who could say of Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" was not likely to teach his followers anything contrary to the Gospel. His teaching of course, lacked the fullness and perfection of his divine Master's teaching — but it is absurd to suppose that it contradicted it. Nevertheless there were points of practice on which his disciples differed from those of Christ. Agreeing, as they doubtless did, about the necessity of repentance, and faith, and holiness — they disagreed about such matters as fasting, eating, drinking, and manner of public devotion. One in heart, and hope, and aim, as they were about the weightier matters of inward religion — they were not entirely of one mind about secondary outward matters. We must make up our minds to see differences of this kind among Christians, as long as the world stands. We may much regret them — because of the handle they give to an ignorant and prejudiced world. But they will exist. They are one of the many evidences of our fallen condition.
How the passage was read
On Luke 5:27-39On Luke 5:27-39
Levi's feast and the old wine
Levi “made him a great feast in his own house,” and the objection came at the guest list: the Pharisaic table discipline meant an observant associate did not eat with the non-observant, whose food might be untithed and whose vessels unclean, and tax collectors stood furthest outside the circle of trust: the Mishnah rules a house unclean if tax collectors have entered it (Taharot 7:6), and even permits declaring untruths to them under duress, classing them with robbers (Nedarim 3:4). The table Jesus chose was a boundary deliberately crossed: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” The fuller table-and-fasting background is in this site's Matthew 9 note.
Luke alone keeps the last saying: “No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.” Spoken at a Jewish table about Jewish devotion, it is a gracious word, not a sneer: Jesus knows exactly why the old ways taste right to those formed by them, even as He announces something new that will not fit the old wineskins.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Taharot 7:6 (tax collectors and the unclean house) · Mishnah Nedarim 3:4 (vows made to tax collectors)
The words behind it
7 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἀλλ᾽ | all᾽ | But | G235 → | 635 times |
| οἶνον | oinon | wine | G3631 → | 34 times |
| νέον | neon | new | G3501 → | 24 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| ἀσκοὺς | askous | wineskins | G779 → | 12 times |
| καινοὺς | kainous | fresh | G2537 → | 41 times |
| βλητέον | bleteon | must be put | G992 → |
ἀλλ᾽But
all᾽G235 →635 times
οἶνονwine
oinonG3631 →34 times
νέονnew
neonG3501 →24 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
ἀσκοὺςwineskins
askousG779 →12 times
καινοὺςfresh
kainousG2537 →41 times
βλητέονmust be put
bleteonG992 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Corinthians 5:17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
it leads to
- Ezekiel 36:26
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
- Psalms 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ephesians 4:22–24
to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- Isaiah 43:18–19
“Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old.
- John 3:3
Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
- Ezekiel 36:26
Through
Ezekiel 36:26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 11:19–20
And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
- Deuteronomy 30:6
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
- Ezekiel 11:19–20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Luke
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bonaventure, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 5; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILIES 21-22; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.