17Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are ruined, but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
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 Matthew 9:17:
Uma: “So also it is not good to pour new wine into an old putting-place. Because when it bubbles [word used of fermenting], that old putting-place will break, with the result that the wine just spills, and the putting-place also is wasted. New wine must be poured into a new putting-place, so that all is good.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Isa also compared his teaching with fresh grape juice/water put in bags of goat skin. He said, ‘Nobody also puts fresh grape water which still bubbles/ferments into an old bag. Because if he does that, the bag will tear. So-then the grape water will be spilled and the bag is destroyed. Instead fresh grape water should be put in new bags. Then both will not be destroyed.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “In the same way also, wine which is just newly made and is placed in a goatskin container, it is not possible to put it into an old container because the container will burst, and the wine will spill out, and the container also will be ruined. It is necessary for wine which has just been made to be put into a new container. In that way, neither the wine nor the container is not ruined.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Neither of course does anyone put recently-yeasted grape juice in a dried-up leather bag for rice-wine, because when it ferments, the leather will crack-open and the bag will be ruined while-simultaneously the grape juice will also be thrown-away. Recently-yeasted grape juice then, it must be a new leather in which it is placed so that nothing will be ruined or thrown-away.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Also no-one puts new drink into an already old container made of skin which no longer gives/stretches. For if one does like that, as (the drink) develops/ferments (the container) will of course burst. Well isn’t it so that the drink put in will be spilt and the container destroyed as well. Of course what is fitting to put new drink in is indeed a new skin container. Well isn’t it so that both will last a long time.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “It is like new wine cannot be put into an old wineskin to ferment. Because the new wine will split the wineskin when it ferments, and be lost. Therefore the new wine is put in new wineskins in order that neither will be lost.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi 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®).
Neither is (Good News Translation “Nor does anyone”) translates a Greek impersonal construction (“Neither do they”) which New English Bible represents as “Neither do you.” All three translations are here aiming toward a natural equivalent. The parallels in Mark (2.22) and Luke (5.37) use the singular (“no one…”).
No matter how this impersonal construction is translated at the beginning of this verse, whether “they,” “you,” or “anyone,” the rest of the verse should use a similar form to be grammatical and cohesive.
Whereas the situation described in verse 16 is fairly well universal, the situation described in this verse has a somewhat limited cultural setting. Wineskins were usually made from whole goat hides with the neck and feet tied. Wine would then be stored in these skins. As the wine fermented, gases would be produced, causing the skin to expand. An old skin would burst under this pressure, because it had become dry and brittle and would already have expanded to its maximum. A new skin, on the other hand, would expand without bursting as the wine fermented.
There are two key pieces of cultural information that must be clear if this proverb is to be understood. First is the fact that the process of fermentation is clearly being referred to. New wine is unfermented wine or wine that is not fully fermented yet. It can be translated as “wine that is becoming fermented” or “fruit juice that hasn’t fermented yet.” Fermenting is almost universally known in one form or another. Some cultures say the wine “boils” or “cooks,” for example.
In addition to calling the new wine “unfermented wine,” it may be necessary to show it is the fermenting process that causes wine in the old wineskins to expand. One can say, for example, “No one puts unfermented wine into old wineskins. If he does, when the wine ferments, the skins burst.”
A second relevant fact in this proverb is that new leather is slightly elastic. It has the power to expand. Old wineskins are already stretched to capacity and can only burst when put under pressure. This is a good reason not to use “bottles” or “calabashes” to translate wineskins. It would be better to say “container made from skins” or “container made from leather.” Even if these are not known, the phrase is descriptive enough to make sense to readers.
The wine and the wineskins are preserved. This can be rendered “will not be destroyed” or “will not be lost.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.