“Unshrunk cloth… new wine in old wineskins”
Matthew 9:16–17
Figure of speechSettledJesus
Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved. (Matthew 9:16–17 BSB)
What it sounds like today
Quaint imagery about incompatibility.
The cultural key
Two household facts: a patch of new, unwashed cloth shrinks with the first rain and rips the old garment it was meant to mend; wine was stored in whole goatskins, and fermentation stretches the skin: a fresh skin flexes; an old one, already stretched taut and brittle, bursts. Everyone had seen both failures.
Recovered meaning
The kingdom Jesus brings is still fermenting: alive, expanding. Forcing it into existing forms (the fasting customs just questioned) destroys both. New wine demands new skins; 'both are preserved' shows the goal is preservation, not demolition.
Parallels: Mark 2:21–22; Luke 5:36–38