Fasting and the New Cloth and Wineskins
Matthew 9:14-17
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Matt.9.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Τοτε: ADV
- προσερχονται: VERB,pres,mid/pass,ind,3,pl
- αυτω: PRON,dat,sg,m
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- μαθηται: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- Ιωαννου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- λεγοντες·Δια: PART,pres,act,nom,pl,m
- τι: PRON,acc,sg,n
- ημεις: PRON,nom,pl,1
- και: CONJ
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- Φαρισαιοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- νηστευομεν: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,pl
- πολλα: ADV
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- δε: CONJ
- μαθηται: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- σου: PRON,gen,sg,2
- ου: PART,neg
- νηστευουσιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,pl
Parallels
- Mark 2:18-20 (verbal): Near-duplicate synoptic parallel: John's disciples (and the Pharisees) ask Jesus why his disciples do not fast; Jesus replies about the bridegroom, mirroring Matthew's pericope.
- Luke 5:33-35 (verbal): Synoptic parallel that records the same question from John's and the Pharisees' disciples and Jesus' explanation about appropriate times for fasting.
- Matthew 9:15 (structural): Immediate Matthean continuation: Jesus explains the bridegroom metaphor and indicates that his disciples will fast at a later time—directly answers the question in 9:14.
- Matthew 6:16-18 (thematic): Jesus' teaching on fasting in the Sermon on the Mount addresses proper motives and practice for fasting, providing thematic background to the dispute about fasting in 9:14.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the disciples of John came to him and said, 'Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?'
- Then the disciples of John came to him and said, 'Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?'
Matt.9.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- ειπεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- αυτοις: PRON,dat,pl,3
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- Ιησους·Μη: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- δυνανται: VERB,pres,mid,ind,3,pl
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- υιοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,m
- νυμφωνος: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- πενθειν: VERB,pres,act,inf
- εφ᾽οσον: CONJ
- μετ᾽αυτων: PREP+PRON,gen,pl,m
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- νυμφιος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- ελευσονται: VERB,fut,mid,ind,3,pl
- δε: CONJ
- ημεραι: NOUN,nom,pl,f
- οταν: CONJ
- απαρθη: VERB,aor,pas,subj,3,sg
- απ᾽αυτων: PREP+PRON,gen,pl,3
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- νυμφιος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- και: CONJ
- τοτε: ADV
- νηστευσουσιν: VERB,fut,act,ind,3,pl
Parallels
- Mark 2:19-20 (quotation): Verbal parallel — Mark records the same saying about the sons of the bridechamber not mourning while the bridegroom is present and that days will come when the bridegroom is taken away and then they will fast.
- Luke 5:34-35 (quotation): Verbal parallel — Luke preserves the same teaching: no mourning while the bridegroom is with them, but days will come when the bridegroom is taken away and then they will fast.
- John 3:29 (thematic): The 'bridegroom' motif: John depicts the speaker as the friend of the bridegroom who rejoices at the bridegroom's presence, echoing the theme of joy while the bridegroom is present versus sorrow/abstinence when absent.
- Isaiah 62:5 (thematic): Old Testament wedding imagery — God portrayed as a rejoicing bridegroom over his people; provides background for Jewish bridegroom/bridechamber language and the association of presence with joy.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Jesus said to them, 'Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.'
- Jesus said to them, 'Can the wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.'
Matt.9.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ουδεις: PRON,nom,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- επιβαλλει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- επιβλημα: NOUN,acc,sg,n
- ρακους: NOUN,gen,sg,n
- αγναφου: ADJ,gen,sg,n
- επι: PREP
- ιματιω: NOUN,dat,sg,n
- παλαιω·αιρει: ADJ,dat,sg,n|VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- γαρ: PART
- το: ART,nom,sg,n
- πληρωμα: NOUN,nom,sg,n
- αυτου: PRON,gen,sg,m
- απο: PREP
- του: ART,gen,sg,m
- ιματιου: NOUN,gen,sg,n
- και: CONJ
- χειρον: ADJ,nom,sg,n
- σχισμα: NOUN,nom,sg,n
- γινεται: VERB,pres,mid,ind,3,sg
Parallels
- Mark 2:21 (verbal): Near-identical wording of the patch on an old garment; the same saying in the Synoptic tradition.
- Luke 5:36 (verbal): Same saying about not putting an unshrunk patch on an old garment—parallel version in Luke's account.
- Matt 9:17 (structural): Immediate continuation of the pericope in Matthew (new wine and wineskins), linking the garment image to the wineskins illustration.
- Mark 2:22 (thematic): Parallel wineskins saying in Mark that follows the cloth saying in the same tradition (new wine into new wineskins).
- Luke 5:37 (thematic): Luke's corresponding wineskins teaching (new wine and new wineskins), thematically linked to the garment- patch proverb.
Alternative generated candidates
- No one patches an old garment with a piece of unshrunk cloth, for the patch will pull away from the garment and the tear will be made worse.
- No one sews a patch of new cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear becomes worse.
Matt.9.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ουδε: CONJ
- βαλλουσιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,pl
- οινον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- νεον: ADJ,acc,sg,m
- εις: PREP
- ασκους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- παλαιους·ει: ADJ,acc,pl,m
- δε: CONJ
- μη: PART
- γε: PART,emph
- ρηγνυνται: VERB,pres,mid/pass,ind,3,pl
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- ασκοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- και: CONJ
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- οινος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- εκχειται: VERB,pres,mid/pass,ind,3,sg
- και: CONJ
- οι: ART,nom,pl,m
- ασκοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- απολλυνται·αλλα: VERB,pres,mid/pass,ind,3,pl
- βαλλουσιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,pl
- οινον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- νεον: ADJ,acc,sg,m
- εις: PREP
- ασκους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- καινους: ADJ,acc,pl,m
- και: CONJ
- αμφοτεροι: ADJ,nom,pl,m
- συντηρουνται: VERB,pres,mid/pass,ind,3,pl
Parallels
- Mark 2:22 (verbal): Near-verbatim parallel account of the same saying (new wine into new wineskins); reinforces the same imagery and teaching in Mark's Gospel.
- Luke 5:37-39 (verbal): Parallel wording and context in Luke, including the comparison of new wine/new skins and the concluding remark about people's taste for the old vs. the new.
- Matt 9:16 (structural): Immediate literary context in Matthew: the preceding illustration (no one sews a new patch on an old garment) forms a paired set of images with 9:17 to make the point about incompatibility of old and new forms.
- Jeremiah 31:31 (thematic): Speaks of a 'new covenant'—thematically related to Jesus' 'new' imagery (new wine/new skins) as signaling a new phase in God's dealings that cannot be contained by old structures.
- Hebrews 8:8-13 (thematic): Cites Jeremiah's promise of a new covenant and contrasts old and new covenants; thematically parallels Matthew's imagery of new wine requiring new vessels to express the incompatibility of old covenant structures with the new work of God.
Alternative generated candidates
- Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.
- Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the skins burst, the wine is spilled, and the skins are ruined. Rather they put new wine into fresh skins, and both are preserved.
Then the disciples of John came to him and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the attendants of the bridegroom mourn while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast."
No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth onto an old garment; for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.
Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will be spilled and the skins ruined. Rather, they put new wine into new skins, and both are preserved.