Luke 5:37
What does Luke 5:37 mean?
A plain-English look at Luke 5:37 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Luke 5:37 means
He continues with the parable of new wine and old wineskins: putting new wine into old skins will burst them, spilling both the wine and the skins. The picture shows that new spiritual vitality (the gospel’s work in people) expands and ferments; using old, brittle structures (traditional religious forms) will fail under that pressure. The consequence is loss of both the fresh wine and the container. Jesus warns that the new movement requires flexible, fresh vessels—new institutions and practices adequate to contain and nurture the vitality he brings.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And no man putteth new wine into old wine-skins; else the new wine will burst the skins, and itself will be spilled, and the skins will perish.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And no man putteth new wine into old wine-skins; else the new wine will burst the skins, and itself will be spilled, and the skins will perish.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And no man puts new wine into old wine-skins, for fear that the skins will be burst by the new wine, and the wine be let out, and the skins come to destruction.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862`And no one doth put new wine into old skins, and if otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and itself will be poured out, and the skins will be destroyed;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: otherwise the new wine will break the bottles; and it will be spilled and the bottles will be lost.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And no one puts new wine into old skins, otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be poured out, and the skins will be destroyed;
Context
This second parable follows the patched garment image and amplifies the point about incompatibility. The wine metaphor is vivid for an agrarian audience: fermentation causes expansion. Luke places these parables directly after Jesus’ defense of his table fellowship to explain the practical problem of fitting new salvation into old systems. The parable points forward to the church’s need for new forms and cautions against forcing the gospel into rigid, outdated religious molds.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Joshua 9:4
they also did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine-skins, old and rent and bound up,
- Psalms 119:83
For I am become like a wine-skin in the smoke; Yet do I not forget thy statutes.
- Joshua 9:13
and these wine-skins, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they are rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.
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