Wineskin

A container or sack, made from animal skin to hold wine. Jesus Christ used the image of old and new wineskins to explain the differences between himself and John the Baptist.

Wineskins used to store or carry wine

1 Samuel 10:2–4 See also 1 Samuel 1:24; Psalm 119:83; Jeremiah 13:12–14; Habakkuk 2:15–16

When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’ Then you will go on from there until you come to the Oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hands.

Old and new wineskins

Job 32:17–20 New wine was stored in new wineskins, which expanded with the wine as it fermented. See also Joshua 9:3–13

I too will answer; yes, I will declare what I know. For I am full of words, and my spirit within me compels me. Behold, my belly is like unvented wine; it is about to burst like a new wineskin. I must speak and find relief; I must open my lips and respond.

Wineskins as gifts

2 Samuel 16:1–2 See also 1 Samuel 16:14–20, 1 Samuel 25:14–20

When David had gone a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth was there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred clusters of raisins, a hundred summer fruits, and a skin of wine. “Why do you have these?” asked the king. Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the wilderness.”

The parable of old and new wineskins

Matthew 9:14–17 parallels Mark 2:18–22, Luke 5:33–39

Then John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast so often, but Your disciples do not fast?” Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. For the patch will pull away from the garment, and a worse tear will result. 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.”