Rhakos denotes the piece of unshrunk material used as a patch on old clothing.

The term is used for a piece of unshrunk material placed on old clothing, where the resulting pulling away produces a worse tear.

1. Material used as a patch on old clothing · dominant

   In Mark 2:21 and Matthew 9:16, the genitive singular neuter form occurs in the saying about placing unshrunk material on old clothing. In Mark 2:21 the APB renders the scene as sewing “a patch of unshrunk cloth” on old clothing; Matthew 9:16 likewise describes a patch whose pulling away makes the tear worse.

   Mark 2:21Matthew 9:16

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across both verses, the APB presents the term within the image of “a patch of unshrunk cloth” on old clothing. This identifies the verse-level image rather than assigning each English word precisely to the term.