Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 5:36

"And he spake also a parable unto them: No man rendeth a piece from a new garment and putteth it upon an old garment; else he will rend the new, and also the piece from the new will not agree with the old." — Luke 5:36 (ASV)

And he spake also a parable unto them.—The illustration that follows is common to all three reports, but Saint Luke only describes it as a parable, the others apparently confining that term to something that took the form of an actual narrative.

No man putteth.—The better manuscripts give, No man having rent a piece from a new garment putteth it upon an old. The form which the illustration thus assumes gives it obviously a greater vividness. What folly could be greater than the act described?

Both the new maketh a rent.—Better, as agreeing with the reading just given, he will both rend the new, and the patch from the new will not agree with the old.