Mark 2:22
in Mark 2And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And no man putteth new wine into old wine-skins; else the wine will burst the skins, and the wine perisheth, and the skins: but they put new wine into fresh wine-skins.
KJV
And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.
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This verse in Mark 2
Commentary
12 notes on this verseHe has prescribed for his new disciples of the New Testament a new form of prayer. For this it was fitting that new wine be stored in new wine skins and that a new patch be sewed upon a new garment. What had prevailed in days gone by was either abolished, like circumcision, or completed, like the rest of the law, or fulfilled, like the prophecies, or brought to its perfection, like faith itself.
This site's exposition
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment
on Mark 2:21-22
A patch of unshrunk cloth tears an old garment, and new wine bursts old wineskins, one point from two sides. What Jesus brings cannot be stitched onto the old order, and new wine is poured into new wineskins.
This site's exposition
new wine is poured into new wineskins
Matthew Henry applies the picture to the disciples themselves. New believers should not be loaded with strict duties before they can bear them. Tertullian sees the same principle in the new form of prayer Jesus gave His new disciples.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vict. Ant. e Cat in Marc.) As if He said, because these are preachers of the New Testament, it is not possible that they should serve old laws; but ye who follow old customs, fitly observe the fasts of Moses. But for these, who are about to hand down to men new and wonderful observances, it is not necessary to observe the old traditions, but to be virtuous in mind; some time or other however they will observe fasting with other virtues. But this fasting is different from the fasting of the law, for that was one of restraint, this of goodwill; on account of the fervour of the Spirit, Whom they cannot yet receive. Wherefore it goes on, And no one putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put in new bottles.
The Medieval Church4 voices
Or else the disciples are likened to old garments on account of the infirmity of their minds, on which it was not fitting to impose the heavy command of fasting.
And no one puts wine, etc. He also compares them to old wineskins, which he says are more easily burst by new wine, that is, by spiritual precepts, than being able to contain it. However, they were already new wineskins when, after the ascension of …
(ubi sup.) For He compares His disciples to old bottles, who would burst at spiritual precepts, rather than be held in restraint by them. But they will be new bottles, when after the ascension of the Lord, they are renewed by desiring His consolation, and then new wine will come to the new bottles, that is, the fervour of the Holy Ghost will fill the hearts of spiritual men. A teacher must also take heed not to commit the hidden things of new mysteries to a soul, hardened in old wickedness.
Just as an "unshrunk," that is, new patch, by its firmness will only tear the old garment if sewn onto it, and just as new wine by its strength will burst old wineskins, so too My disciples have not yet grown strong, and therefore, if …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And no man putteth new wine into old bottles,....
Weak Christians must take heed of over-tasking themselves, and of making the yoke of Christ otherwise than as it is, easy, and sweet, and pleasant. He justifies them in plucking the ears of corn on the sabbath day, which, I will warrant you, a disciples of the Pharisees would not dare to have done; for it was contrary to an express tradition of their elders.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
The person who is called Levi, at the beginning of this passage, is the same person who is called Matthew in the first of the four Gospels. Let us not forget this. It is no less than an apostle and an evangelist, whose early history is now before our eyes. We learn from these verses the power of Christ to call men out from the world, and make them His disciples . We read that he said to Levi, when "sitting at the receipt of custom, Follow me." And at once "he arose and followed him." From a tax-collector he became an apostle, and a writer of the first book in the New Testament, which is now known all over the world. This is a truth of deep importance. Without a divine call no one can be saved. We are all so sunk in sin, and so wedded to the world, that we would never turn to God and seek salvation, unless He first called us by His grace. God must speak to our hearts by His Spirit, before we shall ever speak to Him. Those who are sons of God, says the 17th Article, are "called according to God's purpose by His Spirit working in due season." Now how blessed is the thought that this calling of sinners is committed to so gracious a Savior as Christ! When the Lord Jesus calls a sinner to be His servant, He acts as a Sovereign ; but He acts with infinite mercy . He often chooses those who seem most unlikely to do His will, and furthest off from His kingdom. He draws them to Himself with almighty power, breaks the chains of old habits and customs, and makes them new creatures. As the magnet attracts the iron, and the south wind softens the frozen ground, so does Christ's calling draw sinners out from the world, and melt the hardest heart. "The voice of the Lord is mighty in operation." Blessed are they, who, when they hear it, harden not their hearts! We ought never to despair entirely of any one's salvation, when we read this passage of Scripture.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
The person who is called Levi, at the beginning of this passage, is the same person who is called Matthew in the first of the four Gospels. Let us not forget this. It is no less than an apostle and an evangelist, whose early history is now before our eyes. We learn from these verses the power of Christ to call men out from the world, and make them His disciples . We read that he said to Levi, when "sitting at the receipt of custom, Follow me." And at once "he arose and followed him."
How the passage was read
On Mark 2:18-28On Mark 2:18-28
The bridegroom's exemption and the Sabbath made for man
Two collisions sit side by side here, and both run on ground the tradition itself honors. The fasting question (verses 18-22) comes from devout practice: voluntary fasts, typically Monday and Thursday, kept by the pious beyond the Torah's one commanded fast. Jesus answers from wedding law: the tradition exempts a bridegroom from reciting the Shema on his wedding night because joy overrides duty (Mishnah Berakhot 2:5). “Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?” claims that exemption for His disciples, and names Himself the Bridegroom, a role the Prophets give to God (Hosea 2, Isaiah 62:5).
The grainfield scene (verses 23-28) is unpacked in detail in this site's Matthew 12 note (the thirty-nine categories of Sabbath labor; plucking as reaping). What Mark alone preserves is the saying “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath,” and it has a striking parallel in the tradition itself: “Shabbat is given into your hands, and you are not given to it” (Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 85b). Jesus argues on ground the sages would themselves articulate, then goes where no sage went: “therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”
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 Berakhot 2:5 (the bridegroom's exemption) · Yoma 85b (Babylonian Talmud: the Sabbath given into your hands)
The words behind it
29 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οὐδεὶς | oudeis | no [one] | G3762 → | 232 times |
| βάλλει | ballei | puts | G906 → | 121 times |
| οἶνον | oinon | wine | G3631 → | 34 times |
| νέον | neon | new | G3501 → | |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| ἀσκοὺς | askous | wineskins | G779 → | 12 times |
| παλαιούς· | palaious | old; | G3820 → | 19 times |
| εἰ | ei | lest | G1487 → | 508 times |
| δὲ | de | then | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| μή, | me | except, | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| ῥήξει | rhexei | will burst | G4486 → | |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| οἶνος | oinos | wine | G3631 → | 34 times |
| τοὺς | tous | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀσκούς, | askous | wineskins | G779 → | 12 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| οἶνος | oinos | wine | G3631 → | 34 times |
| ἀπόλλυται | apollutai | is destroyed | G622 → | 90 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀσκοί | askoi | wineskins | G779 → | 12 times |
| ἀλλ᾽ | all᾽ | Instead | G235 → | 635 times |
| οἶνον | oinon | wine | G3631 → | 34 times |
| νέον | neon | new | G3501 → | |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| ἀσκοὺς | askous | wineskins | G779 → | 12 times |
| καινούς | kainous | new | G2537 → | 41 times |
ΚαὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οὐδεὶςno [one]
oudeisG3762 →232 times
βάλλειputs
balleiG906 →121 times
οἶνονwine
oinonG3631 →34 times
νέονnew
neonG3501 →
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
ἀσκοὺςwineskins
askousG779 →12 times
παλαιούς·old;
palaiousG3820 →19 times
εἰlest
eiG1487 →508 times
δὲthen
deG1161 →2765 times
μή,except,
meG3361 →1066 times
ῥήξειwill burst
rhexeiG4486 →
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
οἶνοςwine
oinosG3631 →34 times
τοὺςthe
tousG3588 →19766 times
ἀσκούς,wineskins
askousG779 →12 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
οἶνοςwine
oinosG3631 →34 times
ἀπόλλυταιis destroyed
apollutaiG622 →90 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
ἀσκοίwineskins
askoiG779 →12 times
ἀλλ᾽Instead
all᾽G235 →635 times
οἶνονwine
oinonG3631 →34 times
νέονnew
neonG3501 →
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
ἀσκοὺςwineskins
askousG779 →12 times
καινούςnew
kainousG2537 →41 times
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
Psalms 119:83Though I am like a wineskin dried up by smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.
it leads to
- Job 30:30
My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
- Psalms 119:176
I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.
- Psalms 119:16
I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
- Psalms 102:3–4
For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
- Job 30:30
Through
Joshua 9:4acted deceptively and set out as envoys, carrying on their donkeys worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended.
it leads to
- Psalms 119:83
Though I am like a wineskin dried up by smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 5:37–38
And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined.
- Luke 16:8
The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.
- Matthew 10:16
Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
- Psalms 119:83
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Mark
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Tertullian, ON PRAYER 1; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark.