Then came to him the disciples of John— Dr. Campbell translates the 16th and 17th verses thus: Nobody mendeth an old garment with undressed cloth; else the patch itself teareth the garment, and maketh a greater rent. Neither do people put new wine into old leathern bottles; otherwise the bottles burst; and thus both the wine is spilt, and the bottles are rendered useless. But they put, &c. Ασκος is properly a vessel for holding liquor. Such vessels were commonly then, and in some countries are still, of leather, which were not so easily distended when old, and were consequently more ready to burst by the fermentation of the liquor. As this does not hold in regard to the bottles used by us, I thought it better, says the Doctor, in translating, to add a word denoting the materials of which their vessels were made. Mr. Wesley adds the same word in his translation of the New Testament.
In the law we find only one fast-day enjoined, namely, the tenth of the seventh month, on which the national atonement was made. But the Jews, of their own accord, observed many other days of fasting. See Isaiah 58:3. In our Lord's time, days of this kind were more frequent than ever; especially among the Pharisees, who, according to the practice of their sect, fasted probably twice a week. See Luke 18:12. And therefore, as Jesus did not pretend to teach his disciples a more lax kind of discipline than John and the Pharisees, the disciples of John were surprised to find them overlooking so essential a duty. As John the Baptist preached repentance, he not only lived upon coarse diet, but also fasted often, and trained up his disciples thereto. Compare John 11:18. Luke 5:33 and the note on ch. Matthew 6:16. The expression, Thy disciples fast not, may signify, "Do not fast often," or, "are not used to fast." To this our Saviour replies, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn? &c. "Would it not be improper for the guests at a wedding to fast and weep while the marriage solemnity continues? It would be equally improper for my disciples to enter on a course of severe and strict abstinence at the time that I, the spiritual bridegroom, am personally present with them." The children of the bridechamber is a Hebrew phrase, to denote "The friends of the bridegroom," who were wont to provide whatever was proper and necessary during the marriage festival. See John 3:29. As John had described our Saviour under the name of bridegroom, so he represents himself here under that idea: and some have supposed that there is in this similitude which our Saviour uses, a reference to the book of Canticles, as is not improbable. The proper meaning of the original words ρακους αγναφου, by which new cloth is expressed, is, "cloth which hath not passed through the fuller's hands," and which is consequently much harsher than what has been often washed and worn; and therefore, yielding less than that, will tear away the edges to which it is sewed; and thus it is a just representation of persons who have not yet been trained up and instructed. The similitude of new wine put into old leathern bottles is analogous to the former. See the note on Psalms 119:83 and those on Luke 5:36-39.