The Fallible Study Bible

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Luke5:36–39

The Patches and the Wineskins

✦ Public-domain source — quoted & attributed⚙ AI synthesis — generated, verify

Luke 5:36–39 — The Patches and the Wineskins. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

36

He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will tear the new garment as well, and the patch from the new will not match the old.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Elegen kai pros autous parabolēn hoti Oudeis schisas epiblēma apo kainou himatiou epiballei epi palaion himation ei de mē¦ge schisei to kainon kai kai epiblēma to to apo tou kainou ou symphōnēsei tō palaiō

Word by word35 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ἜλεγενElegenHe also toldG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
legō: to lay forth, to say (imperfect indicative active) The imperfect is durative or inceptive: he went on saying, he began saying. Luke sets the two parables inside continuous teaching rather than as a closing line, which matters because v. 39 then arrives as a further word of the same discourse and not as an afterthought.
καὶkai. . .G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πρὸςpros. . .G4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
αὐτοὺςautousthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
παραβολὴνparabolēna parableG3850
√ παραβολή — a similitude ("parable"), iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
parabolē: a similitude, a placing beside Luke alone applies the term here. Ellicott: the others apparently confine that term to something that took the form of an actual narrative. The word means a thing thrown alongside for comparison, which is exactly the structure of what follows: cloth beside cloth, skin beside skin, wine beside wine.
ὅτιhotiG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ΟὐδεὶςOudeisNo oneG3762
√ οὐδείς — not even one (man, woman or thing), iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
σχίσαςschisastearsG4977
√ σχίζω — to split or sever (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
schizō: to split, to sever An aorist participle governing the whole picture: the folly begins before the sewing. Cambridge weighs the manuscripts and keeps it. The same root returns in the future σχίσει at word 20, so the sentence closes the circle: the man who rends in order to repair will only rend again.
ἐπίβλημαepiblēmaa piece of clothG1915
√ ἐπίβλημα — a patchNounAccusative Neuter Singular
epiblēma: a patch A rare noun, standing in only three verses of the Greek New Testament, and all three are this one saying in its Matthew, Mark and Luke forms. That rarity is the strongest verbal tie in the unit and is what licenses the synoptic thread below.
ἀπὸapofromG575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
καινοῦkainoua newG2537
√ καινός — newAdjectiveGenitive Neuter Singular
kainos: new in kind, fresh Held against palaios at word 15. Cambridge draws the conclusion the words force: notice how distinctly these comparisons imply the ultimate abrogation of the Law. The point is incompatibility of kind, not of age.
ἱματίουhimatiougarmentG2440
√ ἱμάτιον — a dress (inner or outer)NounGenitive Neuter Singular
ἐπιβάλλειepiballei[and] sews [it]G1911
√ ἐπιβάλλω — to throw upon (literal or figurative, transitive or reflexiveVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
epiballō: to throw upon Present indicative, the habitual or gnomic present of a proverb: nobody does this.
ἐπὶepionG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
παλαιόνpalaionan oldG3820
√ παλαιός — antique, iAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Singular
palaios: antique, worn by use Not simply old in years but worn out by long service. Applied by JFB and Cambridge alike to the Mosaic economy as the Pharisees had overgrown it, which is why Cambridge calls their regulations a parasitic growth on the old dispensation.
ἱμάτιονhimation[one]G2440
√ ἱμάτιον — a dress (inner or outer)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
εἰeiIf he doesG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
δὲde. . .G1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
μή¦γεmē¦ge. . .G1490
√ εἰ δὲ μή(γε) — but if notParticle
Emphatic particle of the contrary case: if not, that is, if he does it anyway.
σχίσειschiseihe will tearG4977
√ σχίζω — to split or sever (literally or figuratively)VerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
schizō: to split (future indicative active) The future makes it certain, not merely possible: he will tear. Cambridge lists the treble mischief: the rending of the new to patch the old, the incongruity of the mixture, and the increase of the rent in the old.
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
καινὸνkainonnew [garment]G2537
√ καινός — newAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Singular
καὶkaias wellG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐπίβλημαepiblēma[the] patchG1915
√ ἐπίβλημα — a patchNounNominative Neuter Singular
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
ἀπὸapofromG575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
τοῦtoutheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
καινοῦkainounewG2537
√ καινός — newAdjectiveGenitive Neuter Singular
οὐouvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
συμφωνήσειsymphōnēseiwill not matchG4856
√ συμφωνέω — to be harmonious, iVerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
symphōneō: to sound together, to agree From syn and phōnē, voice. The failure is a failure of harmony, not of stitching. Gill draws it out morally: the statutes of men and the ordinances of God are no more alike than the two cloths, and obedience to the one is as unlike obedience to the other.
τῷtōtheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
παλαιῷpalaiōoldG3820
√ παλαιός — antique, iAdjectiveDative Neuter Singular
37

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.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai oudeis ballei neon oinon eis palaious askous ei de mē¦ge ho ho neos oinos rhēxei tous askous kai autos ekchythēsetai kai hoi askoi apolountai

Word by word25 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
οὐδεὶςoudeisno oneG3762
√ οὐδείς — not even one (man, woman or thing), iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
βάλλειballeipoursG906
√ βάλλω — to throw (in various applications, more or less violent or intense)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ballō: to throw, to cast The gnomic present of a proverb: this is simply not done. The lexical force of casting rather than pouring keeps the picture physical and a little rough.
νέονneonnewG3501
√ νέος — "new", iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
neos: new, young, recent Wine still working. Ellicott notes that among the Jews new or sweet wine drunk within a year of fermentation seems to have been the favourite delicacy, citing Nehemiah 10:39, Proverbs 3:10, Hosea 4:11 and Haggai 1:11. That background matters for v. 39, where a preference for the old is voiced against the common taste.
οἶνονoinonwineG3631
√ οἶνος — "wine" (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
εἰςeisintoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
παλαιούςpalaiousoldG3820
√ παλαιός — antique, iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
ἀσκοὺςaskouswineskinsG779
√ ἀσκός — a leathern (or skin) bag used as a bottleNounAccusative Masculine Plural
askos: a skin bag used as a bottle Cambridge: the skins used for holding wine were apt to get seamed and cracked. A skin that has already stretched once to its limit has no give left. The failure is not moral in itself, it is structural, which is the mercy hidden in the parable and the thing v. 39 will treat gently.
εἰeivvvG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
δὲdevvvG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
μή¦γεmē¦geIf he doesG1490
√ εἰ δὲ μή(γε) — but if notParticle
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
νέοςneosnewG3501
√ νέος — "new", iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
οἶνοςoinoswineG3631
√ οἶνος — "wine" (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Masculine Singular
ῥήξειrhēxeiwill burstG4486
√ ῥήγνυμι — G2608 (κατάγνυμι) being its intensive (with the preposition in composition), and G2352 (θραύω) a shattering to minute fragmentsVerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
rhēgnymi: to break, to rend, to burst A violent rupture. Placed against schizō in v. 36, the two parables share one grammar of tearing: in the first the patch tears the cloth, in the second the wine tears the skin. In both the damage runs in the direction the hearer does not expect, from the new to the old.
τοὺςtoustheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
ἀσκούςaskousskinsG779
√ ἀσκός — a leathern (or skin) bag used as a bottleNounAccusative Masculine Plural
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αὐτὸςautos[the wine]G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἐκχυθήσεταιekchythēsetaiwill spillG1632
√ ἐκχέω — to pour forthVerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
ekcheō: to pour forth (future passive) The passive is exact: the wine does not spill itself, it is poured out and lost. Luke will use the cognate ekchynnomenon of the cup at the Supper, poured out for you. Here the pouring out is pure waste, there it is the covenant itself, which is one reason the wineskin image reaches toward the new covenant rather than merely away from the old.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
οἱhoitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ἀσκοὶaskoiwineskinsG779
√ ἀσκός — a leathern (or skin) bag used as a bottleNounNominative Masculine Plural
ἀπολοῦνταιapolountaiwill be ruinedG622
√ ἀπόλλυμι — to destroy fully (reflexively, to perish, or lose), literally or figurativelyVerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Plural
apollymi: to destroy fully, to perish, to lose Future middle: the skins will perish of themselves. Gill takes the loss as judgement on the hearers, their condemnation shall be the greater. JFB keeps it descriptive, a mongrel mixture in which both are disfigured and destroyed. The grammar supports JFB more easily than Gill: the verb states an outcome, not a sentence.
38

Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

alla neon oinon blēteon eis kainous askous

Word by word7 · parsed
ἀλλὰallaInsteadG235
√ ἀλλά — properly, other things, iConjunction
νέονneonnewG3501
√ νέος — "new", iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
neos: new, young The wine has not changed between v. 37 and v. 38. Only the vessel has. The parable does not ask the wine to be milder.
οἶνονoinonwineG3631
√ οἶνος — "wine" (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
βλητέονblēteonis pouredG992
√ βλητέος — fit to be cast (iAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
blēteon: fit to be cast, must be put A verbal adjective in -teos, the Greek form of necessity, and a hapax in the New Testament. It turns the proverb from observation into requirement: the new does not merely happen to need new vessels, it must have them. This single word is the hinge on which any reading of the unit as abrogation rather than repair turns.
εἰςeisintoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
καινοὺςkainousnewG2537
√ καινός — newAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
kainos: new in kind, fresh Not neos. The vessels are new in quality, freshly made and still supple, able to stretch with a wine that is still working. Cambridge presses the consequence: it is impossible to be both under the Law and under grace. The Pauline echo is not accidental to Cambridge, who names the Judaisers of Galatia, Corinth and Rome.
ἀσκοὺςaskouswineskinsG779
√ ἀσκός — a leathern (or skin) bag used as a bottleNounAccusative Masculine Plural
askos: a skin bag Plural, as in v. 37. Gill reads the fresh skins as the disciples themselves, those renewed by the Spirit and grace of God, which turns the vessel from a system into a person.
39

And no one after drinking old wine wants new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai oudeis piōn palaion thelei neon gar legei Ho palaios estin chrēstos

Word by word12 · parsed
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
οὐδεὶςoudeisno oneG3762
√ οὐδείς — not even one (man, woman or thing), iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
πιὼνpiōnafter drinkingG4095
√ πίνω — to imbibe (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
pinō: to drink, to imbibe Aorist participle: the drinking is done, the taste is set. The verse does not describe a man weighing two wines; it describes a man who has drunk one and will not try the other.
παλαιὸνpalaionold [wine ]G3820
√ παλαιός — antique, iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
θέλειtheleiwantsG2309
√ θέλω — to determine (as an active option from subjective impulseVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
thelō: to will, to determine by inclination A verb of settled wish, not of appetite alone. This is where the commentators divide. Barnes takes the proverb as Christ's defence of his disciples against a demand for stern and harsh requirements. Ellicott and Cambridge take it as a tolerant word about the Pharisees themselves. JFB reads it as a prediction that time will cure the revulsion. The verb itself decides none of these.
νέονneonnewG3501
√ νέος — "new", iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
γάρgarforG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
Assigning the reason for the refusal: the man gives his own account of it.
λέγειlegeihe saysG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ὉHoTheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
παλαιὸςpalaiosoldG3820
√ παλαιός — antique, iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
palaios: antique, worn by use The same adjective used of the garment in v. 36 and the skins in v. 37. Its fourth appearance is the one that is praised, and by a speaker inside the parable rather than by Christ. Whether Christ endorses that speaker is the whole question of the verse.
ἐστινestinisG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
χρηστόςchrēstosbetterG5543
√ χρηστός — employed, iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
chrēstos: useful, serviceable, kindly, mellow The word is not the common agathos. It means good for use, and of wine, mellow. Ellicott notes that it is not the same as the "good wine" of Cana in John 2:10, and doubts that the Jews valued age in wine as we do, since Nehemiah 10:39, Proverbs 3:10, Hosea 4:11 and Haggai 1:11 show new sweet wine as the favoured drink. If that is right, the speaker's maxim is not even good connoisseurship, which tilts the verse toward irony without settling it.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The rent that repair makes — Luke 5:36

Luke alone calls it a παραβολή, and Ellicott marks the difference: the others apparently confine that term to something that took the form of an actual narrative. The imperfect Ἔλεγεν keeps the teaching running rather than closing it. The picture itself is deliberately absurd, and Cambridge notes that the participle σχίσας, dropped by the older English version but present in א, A, B, D and L, is what makes it so: the man does not find a scrap, he first rends a new garment to mend an old one. Cambridge counts three mischiefs in the act, the rending of the new to patch the old, the incongruity of the mixture, and the increase of the rent of the old, and draws the conclusion that the words force, that these comparisons imply the ultimate abrogation of the Law. Gill dissents at the level of the allegory: for him the new cloth is the upstart notions and traditions of the elders and the old garment is the robe of their own righteousness, so that the folly is the Pharisees' own patchwork rather than any attempt to sew the gospel onto Moses. Both readings agree on the grammar. συμφωνήσει is a music word, to sound together, so what fails is concord and not stitching.

ii. The vessel that cannot stretch — Luke 5:37 to Luke 5:38

The second parable changes the material and keeps the logic. Cambridge supplies the physics: the skins used for holding wine were apt to get seamed and cracked, and old wineskins would tend to set up the process of fermentation; they could contain the motionless, not expand with the fermenting. Pulpit adds the ethnography, that these leathern bottles throughout Syria and Palestine are generally made of goat skins and are still of universal use. That detail is the whole argument. An old skin has already spent its elasticity, so the fault is structural rather than moral, and no amount of goodwill in the skin will help. Luke's vocabulary carries the shift: the wine is νέος, young and still working, but the skins of v. 38 are καινός, new in kind, a distinction Cambridge alone of these voices marks explicitly. The pivot is the hapax βλητέον in v. 38, a verbal adjective of necessity, fit to be cast, which turns observation into requirement. JFB states the theological upshot: the incongruities were intended to illustrate the difference between the genius of the old and new economies, and the danger of mixing up the one with the other. Pulpit personalises the vessels, saying Jesus would never entrust his doctrine to the recognised teachers in Israel but to simple unprejudiced men; Gill personalises them too, but toward grace, such as the disciples of Christ were, who are renewed by the Spirit and grace of God.

iii. The old is good, and the commentators divide — Luke 5:39

Luke alone records the closing proverb, and the voices in this brief do not agree about it. Cambridge calls the verse a characteristic of his fondness for all that is most tender and gracious, an expression of considerateness towards the inveterate prejudices engendered by custom and system, while also naming the thing indulged as the unprogressive spirit which relies simply on authority, precedent, and tradition. Ellicott hears a tone of something like a tolerant pity for the prejudices of age and custom. Pulpit goes further, to an almost playful apology for the slowness and reluctance of the men trained in the rabbinic schools. JFB makes it temporal rather than tolerant, a natural revulsion against sudden change, which time will cure. Barnes reverses the assignment entirely: for him the old mellow wine is the gospel already tasted by the disciples, and the Pharisees are the ones offering something sour. Two textual facts bear on the dispute without settling it. The better manuscripts read χρηστός, positive and not comparative, so the line is the old is good rather than the old is better, and Cambridge gives the reason it must be so, that the man, having declined to taste the new, can institute no comparison between it and the old. And Ellicott doubts whether the Jews attached the same value that we do to the mellowed flavour given to wine by age, citing Nehemiah 10:39, Proverbs 3:10, Hosea 4:11 and Haggai 1:11 for new sweet wine as the favourite. Ellicott also records, without pressing it, that Luke is the evangelist who reports in Acts 2:13 that the first workings of Pentecost led men to call the disciples full of new wine.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Read under Sola Scriptura, the three sayings are one argument about vessels, not about value. Nothing in the unit calls the old garment ugly or the old skin dishonest. The patch fails because συμφωνήσει is denied, the two cannot sound together; the skin fails because it has no stretch left for a wine that is still working. What is condemned is the attempt to carry the new thing inside a frame already set. That is why v. 38 is the only sentence in the three with a note of necessity in it: βλητέον, a form found nowhere else in the New Testament, says the young wine must go into fresh skins. If that is right, the unit is not primarily a rebuke of fasting but a statement about what has arrived, and the fasting question of v. 33 was only the occasion.

⚙ On v. 39 we decline to settle what the commentators leave open, and we name our own inclination as inclination. Barnes assigns the old wine to the gospel, Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit assign it to the Law as lived under the Pharisees, and JFB reads the saying as a forecast that time will cure the reluctance. The positive χρηστός and Ellicott's observation that new sweet wine was the favoured drink both tilt us toward hearing irony, since the speaker's maxim is not even reliable about wine, but Cambridge's tenderness is a real reading of Luke and we will not call it wrong. Jeremiah 6:16, ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, is the text usually brought against an ironic reading, and it deserves to be heard: Scripture does not treat oldness as such as a fault. The honest result is a tension we hold rather than resolve. The line offered below is our own sentence and not a verse of Scripture.

The old skins are not accused of anything; they are simply asked to hold what they were never made to hold.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The patch that only three verses in the Greek New Testament contain verbal / quotation: confirmed

The noun ἐπίβλημα (epiblēma, G1915) stands in only three verses of the Greek New Testament, and all three are this saying: Matthew 9:16, Mark 2:21 and Luke 5:36. The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme and its rarity. The wineskin half of the parable is tied just as tightly by G2537 kainos and G3820 palaios at Matthew 9:17 and Mark 2:22. This is the strongest verbal link in the unit, and it is internal to the Gospels: the three accounts are the same saying, not a citation of one by another. Cambridge and Ellicott both work from the differences between the three reports, noting that the increase of the rent in the old garment is mentioned only by Matthew, and that Luke alone adds v. 39.

Matthew 9:16 · Matthew 9:17 · Mark 2:21 · Mark 2:22

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G1915 ἐπίβλημα (in 3 vv), a genuinely rare word whose three occurrences are these parallels, plus G2537 καινός (in 36 vv), G3820 παλαιός (in 15 vv) and G1490 εἰ δὲ μή(γε) (in 8 vv) at Matthew 9:17 and Mark 2:22. All refs are New Testament, so no cross-Testament restriction applies.

Not like the covenant I made with their fathers structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The theological substance of both parables is the promise of a covenant that is explicitly unlike its predecessor. Jeremiah 31:31 to 34 announces a new covenant, not like the covenant I made with their fathers, written on the heart rather than on tablets, and Isaiah 43:18 to 19 tells Israel to forget the former things and see a new thing. Luke makes no quotation of either, and we claim none. What the Gospel text supplies is the mechanism those prophecies do not spell out: a new covenant cannot simply be added to the frame of the old, because the frame will tear. JFB reaches the same point from the Greek alone, calling the incongruities an illustration of the difference between the genius of the old and new economies, and Cambridge of v. 38 says flatly that it is impossible to be both under the Law and under grace. The link is one of substance, not of wording.

Jeremiah 31:31 · Jeremiah 31:32 · Isaiah 43:18 · Isaiah 43:19

basis: Cross-Testament Greek to Hebrew, so shared Strong's numbers are impossible in principle and no verbal tier is available. Luke 5:36-39 contains no formal citation of either prophet. The recorded basis is the shared structure of a new thing that cannot be contained by the former frame, which JFB and Cambridge both read out of the Greek independently of the prophets.

Old wineskins as Old Testament objects: the Gibeonites and Elihu structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The physical sense of the parable is furnished by two Old Testament scenes and should be reported as background rather than as prophecy. At Joshua 9:4 and 9:13 the Gibeonites carry worn, cracked and mended wineskins precisely as proof of a long journey, which tells us what an old ἀσκός looked like and that everyone knew skins failed with age. At Job 32:19 Elihu says he is like bottled up wine, like new wineskins ready to burst, which is the pressure half of the image. Cambridge and Pulpit reconstruct the same physics from later observation, that the skins were apt to get seamed and cracked and could contain the motionless, not expand with the fermenting. Neither Old Testament passage is cited by Christ and neither is predictive; they are the furniture of the illustration.

Joshua 9:4 · Joshua 9:13 · Job 32:19

basis: Cross-Testament Greek to Hebrew, so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible and a verbal tier is excluded. No citation formula is present. Basis is a shared physical realia motif, the leather wineskin that cracks with age and bursts under fermentation, which supplies the parable's literal sense.

The old man and the old leaven: Paul takes up palaios structural / thematic: confirmed

The adjective παλαιός (G3820, in 15 verses) that Luke uses of the garment, the skins and the wine becomes a fixed Pauline term for the order that has been set aside. The Verifier lists Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:22 and Colossians 3:9, where the old man is crucified and put off, and 1 Corinthians 5:7 to 8, where the old leaven is purged so that the lump may be νέος (G3501, in 21 verses), the same adjective Luke uses of the wine. Cambridge makes the connection explicitly from the other side, naming the Hebraising Christians and the Judaisers of Galatia, Corinth and Rome as those who had failed to grasp the meaning of these truths. We do not claim Paul is quoting Luke or Christ here; the shared vocabulary is common Koine and the tie is one of settled usage.

Romans 6:6 · Ephesians 4:22 · Colossians 3:9 · 1 Corinthians 5:7 · 1 Corinthians 5:8

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3820 παλαιός (in 15 vv) at all five refs and G3501 νέος (in 21 vv) at 1 Corinthians 5:7. Deliberately tiered structural rather than verbal: neither word is rare enough to force a quotation claim on its own and no citation formula links the passages, so the basis is a shared theological idiom rather than a quotation.

New wine as the sign of the age to come typological

⚙ The prophets make new wine a standing figure for the restored age: at Joel 3:18 and Amos 9:13 to 14 the mountains drip with new wine and the plowman overtakes the reaper. If that figure is in view, Christ's choice of a fermenting young wine for his own ministry is not merely a convenient household picture but a claim about which age has arrived, which coheres with the bridegroom saying that immediately precedes this unit at Luke 5:34 to 35. Ellicott notices the same figure working forward rather than back, recording that Luke is the evangelist who reports at Acts 2:13 that the first workings of the Pentecostal gift led men to call the disciples full of new wine. The reading is figural and we mark it as such; no commentator in this brief draws the Joel or Amos line, so the pairing is ours.

Joel 3:18 · Amos 9:13 · Acts 2:13

basis: Cross-Testament for the Joel and Amos refs, Greek to Hebrew, so a verbal tier is excluded on principle and no shared Strong's number exists. Figural reading of new wine as the sign of the age of restoration. Attested in the brief only at the Acts 2:13 end, which Ellicott records; the prophetic pairing is our own and is offered as a figural reading, not as a quotation.

Ask for the ancient paths: the text usually brought against Luke 5:39 flagged: verify source

⚙ Jeremiah 6:16, ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, is regularly set against any reading of Luke 5:39 that makes a preference for the old simply foolish, and it is a fair objection: Scripture does not treat age as a fault in itself. We record the pairing because it is the standing counterweight in the discussion, and we record honestly that no commentator in this brief makes the connection, that the two passages share no vocabulary and no citation, and that the voices here are genuinely divided about v. 39 in the first place. Cambridge and Ellicott hear tolerance, Pulpit hears an apology, JFB hears a forecast that time will cure the revulsion, and Barnes hears the opposite assignment of the old wine altogether. We report the disagreement rather than settling it, and this badge is flagged accordingly rather than asserted.

Jeremiah 6:16

basis: Cross-Testament Greek to Hebrew, so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible and verbal tier is excluded. Flagged because the pairing is an interpretive juxtaposition drawn from the wider discussion of Luke 5:39 and is not attested by any voice in this brief, and because the sense of Luke 5:39 is itself contested among the commentators quoted. Verify before relying on it.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The new thing that cannot be patched on ancient/widely-held

⚙ Christ does not present himself as a reform of the old garment but as a different garment. The whole force of βλητέον in v. 38, fit to be cast, must be put, is that the new wine has a claim on its vessel. Read with the bridegroom saying just before it at Luke 5:34 to 35, the parables say that the presence of the bridegroom is the new thing, and that the old frame cannot hold him. Cambridge draws the conclusion for the Law directly: notice how distinctly these comparisons imply the ultimate abrogation of the Law, and it is impossible to be both under the Law and under grace. JFB states it as the difference between the genius of the old and new economies. Hebrews 8:13 says the same of the covenant, that in calling this one new he has made the first obsolete, and Luke 22:20 puts the cup of the new covenant in Christ's own hand, in his blood poured out, using the cognate of the verb Luke uses in v. 37 of wine merely wasted. This is the reading the commentators in this brief hold in common.

Jeremiah 31:31 · Luke 22:20 · Hebrews 8:13 · Luke 5:34

Full of new wine: the vessels made fresh at Pentecost ancient/widely-held

⚙ The parable requires fresh skins and does not say where they come from; Luke answers that in his second volume. Ellicott notices the thread, recording that it is not altogether without significance that St Luke himself reports in Acts 2:13 that the first workings of the Pentecostal gift led men to speak of the disciples as full of new wine. Gill reads the fresh skins the same way from this side of the text, as such as the disciples of Christ were, and sinners called to repentance are, who are renewed by the Spirit and grace of God. Pulpit reaches it through the choice of men rather than of doctrine, arguing that Christ would entrust his teaching not to the rabbis but to simple unprejudiced men. The pattern is consistent: Christ does not only bring the wine, he makes the vessel that can hold it, which is why the parable ends in promise rather than in warning.

Acts 2:13 · Ezekiel 36:26 · 2 Corinthians 5:17

The robe that was not rent novel

⚙ Cambridge says of this parable that the teaching of Christ was a new and seamless robe which would only be spoilt by being rent, and that it was impossible to tear a few doctrines and precepts from Christianity and use them as ornaments and improvements of Mosaism. The image is his; the extension is ours and we mark it as ours. At the cross the soldiers come to a tunic that was seamless, woven in one piece from the top, and decline to tear it, casting lots instead, at John 19:23 to 24. The verb Luke uses of the foolish patcher, σχίσας (G4977), is the same verb John uses of what the soldiers refuse to do to the tunic and Luke uses of the temple veil that was torn at Luke 23:45. We do not claim the evangelists intend the connection, and no commentator in this brief draws it. Offered as a figural reading to be tested.

John 19:23 · John 19:24 · Luke 23:45

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text: BSB for the English, Berean interlinear with Strong's for the Greek. Two variant units in this short passage bear directly on the reading and both are recorded by the voices. At v. 36 Cambridge reports that the participle σχίσας, absent from the text behind the older English version, is present in א, A, B, D and L, and that the inferior reading obscures one of the three mischiefs in view; the BSB follows the better reading. At v. 39 the better manuscripts read the positive χρηστός rather than the comparative chrestoteros, so the line is the old is good and not the old is better, a point made by Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit alike; the BSB here prints "better," which reflects the inferior reading, and our notes follow the Greek printed in the interlinear. The Authorized Version's "straightway" in v. 39 likewise lacks support in the better manuscripts, which matters because JFB builds part of his reading on the word.

Sources: three of the nine voices in this brief carry little unit-specific weight. Barnes refers the reader to his notes at Matthew 9:14 to 17 for vv. 36 to 38 and comments only on v. 39. Poole refers throughout to his note on Luke 5:33. Henry's entry is a single Concise note on the whole block Luke 5:27 to 39. Geneva's entries reproduce the verse text with no gloss attached. We have quoted only where a voice says something of its own.

Uncertain: the meaning of v. 39 is genuinely contested and we have not settled it, since the voices here divide on whether the old wine is the Law as the Pharisees held it (Ellicott, Cambridge, Pulpit), the gospel already tasted by the disciples (Barnes), or a habituation that time will cure (JFB). Gill offers three further readings of the same verse in succession and prefers the last. The allegorical assignment in v. 36 is contested too: Gill makes the new cloth the traditions of the elders, against the majority reading that makes it the gospel. Pulpit's claim that Paul directed Luke to include v. 39 is a traditional inference about the Gospel's composition and not a datum of the text. Pulpit reports Farrar's argument that unfermented must rather than wine is meant and judges it unnecessary; we follow Pulpit in leaving it aside. All Old Testament links in this unit are thematic or figural: the passage contains no formal quotation of the Old Testament, so no thread pairing it with a Hebrew text is tiered verbal, and the Jeremiah 6:16 pairing at v. 39 is flagged because it is our own juxtaposition and is unattested in this brief.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)