Matthew 9:14-17
New English Translation
The Superiority of the New
14 Then John’s[a] disciples came to Jesus[b] and asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees[c] fast often,[d] but your disciples don’t fast?” 15 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests[e] cannot mourn while the bridegroom[f] is with them, can they? But the days[g] are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them,[h] and then they will fast. 16 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, because the patch will pull away from the garment and the tear will be worse.[i] 17 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins;[j] otherwise the skins burst and the wine is spilled out and the skins are destroyed. Instead they put new wine into new wineskins[k] and both are preserved.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 9:14 sn John refers to John the Baptist.
- Matthew 9:14 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Matthew 9:14 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
- Matthew 9:14 sn John’s disciples and the Pharisees followed typical practices with regard to fasting and prayer. Many Jews fasted regularly (Lev 16:29-34; 23:26-32; Num 29:7-11). The zealous fasted twice a week (cf. Luke 18:12) on Monday and Thursday (Didache 8:1).
- Matthew 9:15 tn Grk “sons of the wedding hall,” an idiom referring to wedding guests, or more specifically friends of the bridegroom present at the wedding celebration (L&N 11.7).
- Matthew 9:15 sn The expression while the bridegroom is with them is an allusion to messianic times (John 3:29; Isa 54:5-6; 62:4-5).
- Matthew 9:15 tn Grk “days.”
- Matthew 9:15 sn The statement the bridegroom will be taken from them is a veiled allusion by Jesus to his death, which he did not make explicit until the incident at Caesarea Philippi in 16:13ff. For Matthew it is unlikely this statement is meant to refer to fasting in the early church following Jesus’ resurrection and exaltation, since Matthew presents the post-resurrection period as a time of Jesus’ presence rather than his absence (18:20; 28:20). Nevertheless, this passage is frequently cited as a justification of the fasting practices of the early church (such a practice may be reflected in Didache 8:1).
- Matthew 9:16 sn The point of the saying is the incompatibility of the old and the new, with Jesus and his disciples representing what is new. In the context this explains why Jesus and his disciples do not fast like the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist (v. 14).
- Matthew 9:17 sn Wineskins were bags made of skin or leather, used for storing wine in NT times. As the new wine fermented and expanded, it would stretch the new wineskins. Putting new (unfermented) wine in old wineskins, which had already been stretched, would result in the bursting of the wineskins.
- Matthew 9:17 sn The meaning of the saying new wine into new wineskins is that the presence and teaching of Jesus was something new and signaled the passing of the old. It could not be confined within the old religion of Judaism, but involved the inauguration and consummation of the kingdom of God.
Matthew 9:11-13
New English Translation
11 When the Pharisees[a] saw this they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”[b] 12 When[c] Jesus heard this he said, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do.[d] 13 Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’[e] For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 9:11 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
- Matthew 9:11 sn The issue here is inappropriate associations (on the status of tax collectors see the note at 5:46; the phrase often occurs in the NT in collocation with sinners). Jews were very careful about personal associations and contact as a matter of ritual cleanliness. Their question borders on an accusation that Jesus is ritually unclean because of who he associates with.
- Matthew 9:12 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
- Matthew 9:12 sn Jesus’ point is that he associates with those who are sick because they have the need and will respond to the offer of help. People who are healthy (or who think mistakenly that they are) will not seek treatment.
- Matthew 9:13 sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 12:7). The statement both in the Hebrew text of Hosea and the Greek text of Matthew creates an apparent antithesis between mercy and sacrifice. Even among the church fathers, some understood this to be an absolute rejection of sacrifice by Jesus, and to signal the end of the sacrificial cult with the arrival of the new covenant. This interpretation is unlikely, however, both for Hosea and for Matthew. The LXX renders the Hebrew text of Hos 6:6 as comparative: “I want mercy more than sacrifice,” and this is probably closer to Hosea’s meaning (see the note at Hos 6:6). Such an understanding is also consistent with Jesus’ teaching elsewhere in Matthew (e.g. 5:18-24; 23:23-28). Obedience to the law is important, but even more important is to show mercy to those who are in dire need, as demonstrated by Jesus himself in his ministry of healing (alluded to in Matt 9:12 with the imagery of the physician, and in Matt 9:1-8 by the healing of the paralytic).
Matthew 9:34
New English Translation
34 But the Pharisees[a] said, “By the ruler[b] of demons he casts out demons!”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 9:34 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
- Matthew 9:34 tn Or “prince.”
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.