Bottle

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(little boot). Primitive bottles, either of skin or earthenware (Gen. 21:14; Jer. 19:1; Matt. 9:17); of different sizes and shapes. Tear bottles used (Psa. 56:8).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

There are six Hebrew words translated “bottle” in the Old Testament. Among the descendants of Judah there were some described as “potters” (1 Chron. 4:23); and from the relics found in the tombs of Egypt it is evident that bottles were very early made of earthenware; and small ones of glass; though then, as now in the East, especially for larger vessels and for those to be carried about, skins were used (Josh. 9:4, 13). They are made of goats’ skins: the head, the legs and the tail are cut off, and the body drawn out. In the New Testament the word is ἀσκός, and signifies a “wineskin,” or “skin-bag.” Hence new wine must be put into new skins, which are more or less elastic (Matt. 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37-38). The Lord was teaching that the new principles of the kingdom would not suit the old forms of Judaism: everything must be new.

“218. Rent Bottles” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Joshua 9:4. Wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up.
Bottles made of skins when they get old are liable to be torn. The rents are repaired by sewing the broken edges together, by letting in a piece of leather, by putting in a round piece of wood, or by gathering up the rent place like a purse.
For a description of skin bottles, see note on Matthew 9:17 (#651).

“450. Shriveled Bottles” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Psalm 119:83. I am become like a bottle in the smoke.
Bottles made of skin (see note on Matt. 9:17) are often hung up in Oriental tents. Here the smoke from the tent fire can freely act upon them, since there is no chimney to carry it away. Skins of wine were sometimes hung in the smoke to give the wine a peculiar flavor. When skin bottles are long exposed to smoke, they become hard, shriveled, and unsightly. This is the foundation of the striking figure of the text.

“545. Earthen Bottles” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Jeremiah 19:1. Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle.
It is evident from this and other passages that it is a mistake to suppose that all Eastern bottles were made of skin. Ancient bottles of earthenware of various shapes are to be found in the museums, and are often depicted on the monuments. In 1 Kings 14:3, bakbuk, here rendered bottle, is spoke of as a “cruse” in which honey was kept.

“546. Bottles Broken” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Jeremiah 19:10. Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee.
This action, so symbolical of utter destruction, is still used in the East to denote the same thing. Dr. Thomson says, “The people of this country have the same custom of breaking a jar when they wish to express their utmost detestation of any one. They come behind or near him and smash the jar to atoms, thus imprecating upon him and his alike hopeless ruin” (The Land and the Book, vol. 2, p. 497).

“651. Skin Bottles” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Matthew 9:17. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.
See also Mark 2: 22; Luke 5:37.
The use of bottles made from the skins of animals is very ancient, and is still practiced in the East. The skins of goats and kids are commonly taken for this purpose, and are usually so fashioned as to retain the figure of the animal. In preparing the bottle, the head and feet are cut off, and the skin stripped whole from the body. The neck of the animal sometimes makes the neck of the bottle; in other cases one of the fore-legs is used as all aperture through which the liquid may be poured out. The thighs serve as handles; by attaching straps to them the bottle can be fastened to the saddle, or slung over the shoulder of the traveler. The Arabs tan the skins with Acacia bark and leave the hairy side out. For a large party, and for long journeys across the desert, the skins of camels or of oxen are used. Two of these, when filled with water, make a good load for a camel. They are smeared with grease to prevent leakage and evaporation. These water-skins, large and small, are much better than earthen jars or bottles for the rough experiences of Oriental traveling. Earthen bottles are, however, sometimes employed in domestic use. See note on Jeremiah 19:1 (#545). The “bottle” which Hagar carried into the wilderness, and from which she gave Ishmael drink, was probably a kidskin. See Genesis 21:14. A similar scene is represented in the engraving, from an ancient Assyrian sculpture. Skin-bottles were also used for milk (Judges 4:19) and for wine (1 Sam. 16:20.) In the text and its parallels allusion is made to this use of skins. When the skin is green. it stretches by fermentation of the liquor and retains its integrity; but when it becomes old and dry, the fermentation of the new wine soon causes it to burst.
For the mode of repairing skin-bottles when broken, see note on Joshua 9:4 (#218).

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