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Luke 5:35

But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

But the days will come; and when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, then will they fast in those days.

KJV

But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

Commentary

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Hebraic traditional view

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.

Sources: Mishnah Taharot 7:6 (tax collectors and the unclean house) · Mishnah Nedarim 3:4 (vows made to tax collectors)

Original language & word study

16 tagged words
OriginalTransliterationMeaningWord study
ἐλεύσονταιeleusontaiWill comeG2064
δὲdehoweverG1161
ἡμέραι,hēmeraidaysG2250
καὶkaialsoG2532
ὅτανhotanwhenG3752
ἀπαρθῇaparthēamay be taken awayG522
ἀπ᾽ap᾽fromG575
αὐτῶνautōnthemG846
hotheG3588
νυμφίος,numphiosbridegroom,G3566
τότεtotethenG5119
νηστεύσουσινnēsteusousinthey will fastG3522
ἐνeninG1722
ἐκείναιςekeinaisthoseG1565
ταῖςtais<the>G3588
ἡμέραις.hēmeraisdays.G2250

The walk

About Luke

The Return of the Prodigal Son — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
The Return of the Prodigal Son — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)