Luke 5:36

5:36 He also told them a parable: ¹  “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews ²  it on an old garment. If he does, he will have torn ³  the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. ⁴ 

Luke 7:44

7:44 Then, ⁵  turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, ⁶  but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

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¹ sn The term parable in a Semitic context can cover anything from a long story to a brief wisdom saying. Here it is the latter.

² tn Grk “puts”; but since the means of attachment would normally be sewing, the translation “sews” has been used.

³ tn Grk “he tears.” The point is that the new garment will be ruined to repair an older, less valuable one.

⁴ sn The piece from the new will not match the old. The imagery in this saying looks at the fact that what Jesus brings is so new that it cannot simply be combined with the old. To do so would be to destroy what is new and to put together something that does not fit.

⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁶ sn It is discussed whether these acts in vv. 44-46 were required by the host. Most think they were not, but this makes the woman’s acts of respect all the more amazing.