Text:

After (second) ho oinos ‘the wine’ Textus Receptus adds ho neos ‘new’: all modern editions of the Greek text reject this addition.

Instead of kai ho oinos apollutai kai hoi askoi ‘and the wine is lost and the skins also’ of all modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus (from the parallels Mt. 9.17, Lk. 5.37) has kai ho oinos ekcheitai kai hoi askoi apolountai ‘and the wine is poured out and the wineskins are ruined.’

After the last words askous kainous ‘fresh skins’ Textus Receptus adds blēteon (from the parallel Lk. 5.38) ‘must be put’: all modern editions of the Greek text reject this addition.

Exegesis:

ballei (some 17 times in Mark) here in the sense of ‘place,’ ‘put,’ ‘pour’: Moulton & Milligan illustrate from the papyri this unemphatic use of the verb.

oinon neon ‘new wine,’ i.e. still fermenting. On neos ‘new’ as distinguished from kainos ‘new’ see 1.27 and reff.

askous palaious ‘old wineskins’ (King James Version ‘bottles’ is quite misleading today).

askos ‘a leather bag,’ particularly a wineskin .

palaios ‘old’ has here the same meaning as in the previous verse; an “old wineskin” is one which has long been used and lost its elasticity, being unable to expand with the fermenting wine.

rēxei (cf. 9.18) ‘will burst,’ ‘will tear,’ ‘will break.’

kai ho oinos … kai hoi askoi ‘and the wine … and the skins’: this construction in Greek is translated ‘both the wine … and the skins.’

apollutai (cf. 1.24) ‘is lost,’ ‘is destroyed,’ ‘is ruined.’

eis ‘into’: instead of Revised Standard Version “new wine is for fresh skins,” it is probably better to translate ‘new wine (is to be poured) into fresh skins.’

Translation:

The generic negative expression used to introduce verse 21 should also be used in the parallel construction in verse 22.

In the selection of a term for wine in this passage it is essential that in so far as possible the concept of fermentation be present or at least understandable in the context. For that reason, for example, most translations in central Africa have used the local equivalent of palm wine, in which the processes of fermentation are well-known. Some missionaries have, however, insisted on the use of a borrowed word which would be more likely to relate the meaning to the foreign product, which may be known but rarely consumed by the local population, e.g. ‘drink called vin’ (or ‘wain’ or ‘vino,’ depending upon the source of the borrowing). There may be special reasons for the choice of a nonindigenous term for wine in other contexts, but for this particular passage it would seem that a well-known local product would be considerably more meaningful than any foreign one. New wine may be rendered as ‘wine beginning to ferment.’

Wineskins are variously described as ‘leather containers for wine’ (Southern Subanen), ‘bottle-like objects made of leather for wine,’ ‘animal skins used as containers for wine,’ and ‘animal skins into which wine is poured, to be kept.’ Toraja-Sa’dan uses a loan word; Pamona has ‘goat-skin,’ and Javanese ‘bladder (of an ox).’

Old in this context should refer to ‘used’ or ‘worn out.’

As may be required, the ellipsis in if he does may be expanded (see verse 2.21).

In some languages different verbs must be used to describe what happens to the wine and the skins. For example, ‘the wine runs out and the skins are ruined’ or ‘the wine is lost and the skins are made useless.’

The last clause may be translated as ‘fermenting wine should be put into new skin containers.’

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .