UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: patch

Semantic entry: 6.157

Semantic domains: Artifacts

Subdomains: Cloth, Leather, and Objects Made of Such Materials

Definition: a piece of cloth sewed on clothing to repair a hole or tear

Notes: The statement in RV MAT 9:16 · LV MAT 9:16 · Read together MAT 9:16 that ‘no one puts a patch of new cloth on an old garment’ seems almost preposterous or incredible in some societies, since people habitually repair old clothing by putting on patches of new cloth, sometimes to the point where it is difficult to determine what was the original fabric. In RV MAT 9:16 · LV MAT 9:16 · Read together MAT 9:16 the phrase ῥάκους ἀγνάφου, often translated ‘new cloth,’ is literally ‘unshrunken cloth,’ in other words, cloth which has not been washed one or more times and thus has been shrunken in the process. In biblical times there was no technique for preshrinking cloth.

Further resources: realia:1.5.3.12