Luke 5:39

New Testament

36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old garment. If he does, he will have torn the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 Instead new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 No one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’

Sifre Deuteronomy 48:6

Halakhic Midrash
Rabbinic

— But perhaps, just as water does not rejoice the heart of one who has learned, so words of Torah do not rejoice (the heart); it is, therefore, written (Song of Songs 1:2) "for Your love is better than wine." Just as wine rejoices, so words of Torah rejoice, as it is written (Psalms 18:9) "The statutes of the L-rd are just, rejoicing the heart." And just as with wine, you taste the flavor of wine from the beginning, but the more it ages in the bottle, the more its flavor is enhanced, so, words of Torah — the older they grow in the body, the more their "flavor" is enhanced, viz. (Job 12:12) "With the aged there is wisdom, and with length of days, understanding." And just as wine is not preserved in vessels of gold or in vessels of silver, but in the basest of vessels, those of clay, so, words of Torah are preserved only in one who lowers himself.

 Notes and References

Flusser, David Do You Prefer New Wine? Immanuel 9, 1979

 User Comments
No comments currently available.

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.