The Greek that is translated as “wineskins” in most English translations is translated in Guhu-Samane as “gourds.”
“Wineskins” caused “puzzlement [because] why would one put wine or any liquid into the skin of an animal since the skins just rot quickly? [But] it is conceded that a person wishing to store a liquid (wine or other) would not choose an old, but a new gourd. The people here are familiar with wine in the Eucharist and can readily conceive of how wine (literally ‘strong water’) could burst an old gourd and as such the argument is not lost.” (Source: Ernest L. Richert in Notes on Translation December 1963: p. 4-7; reprinted in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. .)
In Matumbi it is also translated as “gourd” (mapu’tu’), which just like wineskins become less flexible the older they are, and the verb associated with its breaking (“rip” in English) was translated as “burst.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is rendered as Lederschläuche or “skins.”
The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that are translated as “wine” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “grape juice pressed long ago (= fermented)” or “strong water” (source: Daud Soesilo). In Guhu-Samane it is also translated as “strong water” (source: Ernest L. Richert in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. ), in Noongar as “liquor” (verbatim: “strong water”) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), in Hausa as ruwan inabi or “water of grapes” (with no indication whether it’s alcoholic or not — source: Mark A. Gaddis), in sar as kasə nduú or “grape drink” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin), or in Papantla Totonac and Coyutla Totonac as “a drink like Pulque” (for “Pulque,” see here ) (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. ).
In Swahili, Bible translations try to avoid local words for alcoholic drinks, because “drinking of any alcohol at all was one of the sins most denounced by early missionaries. Hence translators are uncomfortable by the occurrences of wine in the Bible. Some of the established churches which use wine prefer to see church wine as holy, and would not refer to it by the local names used for alcoholic drinks. Instead church wine is often referred to by terms borrowed from other languages, divai (from German, der Wein) or vini/mvinyo (from ltalian/Latin vino/vinum). Several translations done by Protestants have adapted the Swahili divai for ‘wine,’ while those done by Catholics use vini or mvinyo.” (Source: Rachel Konyoro in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 221ff. )
The Swahili divai was in turn borrowed by Sabaot and was turned into tifaayiik and is used as such in the Bible. Kupsabiny, on the other hand, borrowed mvinyo from Swahili and turned it into Finyonik. (Source: Iver Larsen)
In Nyamwezi, two terms are used. Malwa ga muzabibu is a kind of alcohol that people specifically use to get drunk (such as in Genesis 9:21) and ki’neneko is used for a wine made from grapes (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext).
In some Hindi translations (such as the Common Language version, publ. 2015 ), one term (dākharasa दाखरस — grape juice) is used when that particular drink is in the focus (such as in John 2) and another term (madirā मदिरा — “alcohol” or “liquor”) when drunkenness is in the focus (such as in Eph. 5:18).
In Mandarin Chinese, the generic term jiǔ (酒) or “alcohol(ic drink)” is typically used. Exceptions are Leviticus 10:9, Numbers 6:3, Deuteronomy 29:6, Judges 13:4 et al., 1 Samuel 1:15, and Luke 1:15 where a differentiation between weak and strong alcohol is needed. The Mandarin Chinese Union Version (2010) translates that as qīngjiǔ lièjiǔ (清酒烈酒) and dànjiǔ lièjiǔ (淡酒烈酒), both in the form of a Chinese proverb and meaning “light alcohol and strong drink.” (Source: Zetzsche)
Click or tap here to see a short video clip about wine in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 5:38:
Noongar: “No! You must put new liquor into a new bottle.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “New wine must definitely be put into a container that is also just new.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But new grape water should be filled into new bags.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It’s necessary that the wine which is just made is put in a new container.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Recently-yeasted grape juice then, it must be a new leather in which it is placed.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Of course, what is suitable to put new drink in is a new skin container.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
blēteon ‘one must put,’ verbal adjective of ballō. It is used here as an impersonal verb with object (oinon neon).
The meaning of vv. 37f is more general than that of v. 36: it says that old forms and new contents cannot go together; new contents require new forms.
Translation:
Must be put. If an active construction is required it will usually be the positive counterpart of the construction used for ‘no one tears/puts’ in vv. 36 and 37.
Fresh wineskins. The adjective, in the Greek identical with the one rendered “new” in v. 36, refers to the strength and elasticity of the wineskins. Problems of specificity versus synonymity are similar to those in v. 37.
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.
In this verse, Jesus gave the conclusion to his illustration. In the metaphor, new wine represents the new way of living that Jesus was teaching. The new wineskins represent new traditions, that is, new ways of thinking and acting. Jesus’ new teaching must go along with new ways of thinking and acting.
Instead: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Instead is a conjunction that indicates strong contrast. Verse 5:37 described what people do not do. Verse 5:38 describes what people do and should do. Some ways to translate this conjunction are:
But (Revised Standard Version) -or-
No (New International Version) -or-
Rather (God’s Word)
Connect this verse with 5:37 in a natural way in your language.
new wine is poured into new wineskins:
The Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek phrase, which is literally “new wine is to-be-put,” as a passive clause. In some languages, it will be necessary to translate it with an active verb and provide a subject. For example:
⌊people⌋ must pour new wine into new wineskins -or-
⌊you⌋ have to put new wine into new wineskins
new wine…new wineskins: The two Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as new are not the same. The first one means “new in time” or “young.” It is used with “wine” as a phrase meaning unfermented grape juice. It is the same word that was used in 5:37a and 5:37b.
The second one means “new” in the sense of “unused, fresh.” Several English versions translate this word as “fresh.” For example:
new wine is to be poured into fresh skins (God’s Word)
General Comment on 5:37–38
You may want to add a footnote to explain some of the meaning of Jesus’ illustration about the wineskins. Some sample footnotes are:
Jesus implied that putting unfermented wine into old (dry) goatskin containers was like mixing his teaching with the old traditions. When the wine ferments, the containers will not be able to expand, and so they will burst. In the same way, his new teaching does not go with old traditions.
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