Luke 5:39
And no one after drinking old wine wants new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
BSB
Parallel translations (2) ▾
ASV
And no man having drunk old wine desireth new; for he saith, The old is good.
KJV
No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.
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Commentary
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loading…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
12 tagged words| Original | Transliteration | Meaning | Word study |
|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → |
| οὐδεὶς | oudeis | no [one] | G3762 → |
| πιὼν | piōn | having drunk | G4095 → |
| παλαιὸν | palaion | old [wine] | G3820 → |
| θέλει | thelei | desires | G2309 → |
| νέον, | neon | new, | G3501 → |
| λέγει | legei | he says | G3004 → |
| γάρ· | gar | for; | G1063 → |
| ὁ | ho | The | G3588 → |
| παλαιὸς | palaios | old | G3820 → |
| χρηστός | chrēstos | good | G5543 → |
| ἐστιν.¶ | estin | is. | G1510 → |
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