Matthew 9:17 - Exposition

Neither do men put new wine into old bottles ; wine-skins (Revised Version); cf. Job 32:19 . (For rabbinic comparisons of the Law to wine, cf. Dr. Taylor, 'Aboth,' 4:29.) Else ( Matthew 6:1 , note) the bottles ( skins , Revised Version) burst . The stress is on "burst;" the thought is therefore not yet of the bottles, but of the fate of the wine. And the wine runneth out (is spilled , Revised Version; ἐκχεῖται ), and the bottles ( skins , Revised Version) perish . It ruins the vessels in which it is placed ( Job 32:16 , note). But they put new wins into new ; fresh (Revised Version); καινούς . The change from νέος of the wine to καινός of the skins is maintained in all three accounts, νέος suggesting the latest vintage, καινός that the skins are absolutely unimpaired (cf. Trench, 'Syn.,' § 60.). Bottles ( wine-skins , Revised Version), and both are preserved.