Texts in Conversation
Matthew 9:17 depicts Jesus using the image of new wine in new wine skins to explain why his disciples do not fast, describing it as a sign of the messianic age. Rabbinic tradition in Pirkei Avot 4:20 also speaks of old and new wine, using it to describe the value of learning from teachers of different generations.
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Matthew 9:17
New Testament
14 Then John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?” 15 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment because the patch will pull away from the garment and the tear will be worse. 17 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the skins burst and the wine is spilled out and the skins are destroyed. Instead they put new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved.”
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Pirkei Avot 4:20
Mishnah
Rabbinic
20 Elisha ben Abuyah said: He who learns when a child, to what is he compared? To ink written upon a new writing sheet. And he who learns when an old man, to what is he compared? To ink written on a rubbed writing sheet. Rabbi Yose ben Judah a man of Kfar Ha-babli said: He who learns from the young, to what is he compared? To one who eats unripe grapes, and drinks wine from his vat; And he who learns from the old, to what is he compared? To one who eats ripe grapes, and drinks old wine. Rabbi said: don’t look at the container but at that which is in it: there is a new container full of old wine, and an old [container] in which there is not even new [wine]. 21 Rabbi Elazar Ha-kappar said: envy, lust and [the desire for] honor put a man out of the world.
Date: 190-230 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... the one who learns from the old, to what is it like? To one who eats ripe grapes, and drinks old wine ... Consider the saying of Jesus, 'the old wine is better. (Luke 5:39) ..."
Young, Brad
Meet the Rabbis: Rabbinic Thought and the Teachings of Jesus
(p. 135) Hendrickson Publishers, 2007
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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