Matthew 9:17 Meaning and Explanation
“Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →A second image: new wine must be put into new wineskins, or both the skins and the wine are lost.
What Does Matthew 9:17 Mean?
The "bottles" Jesus speaks of are wineskins, vessels of stretched animal hide. New wine still works and ferments, swelling as it does; poured into brittle old skins that have already stretched to their limit, it bursts them, and both the skins and the wine are ruined together. Fresh wine therefore calls for fresh skins, and then, he says, "both are preserved."
Like the patch and the garment, this image insists that the new life Christ brings requires new vessels to hold it. His kingdom is not a mere addition to old habits and routines of religion but a new creation altogether, demanding hearts made new to contain it. Where the new wine is rightly received into a renewed heart, nothing at all is lost; both the gift and the one who holds it are kept and preserved together.
Matthew 9:17 in the Original Language
oinos (οἶνος), 'wine' -- the fruit of the vine, here a picture of the fresh life of the kingdom.
Frequently Asked Questions About Matthew 9:17
What does Matthew 9:17 mean?
A second image: new wine must be put into new wineskins, or both the skins and the wine are lost.