Matthew 9:16
New International Version
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.

New Living Translation
“Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.

English Standard Version
No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.

Berean Standard Bible
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. For the patch will pull away from the garment, and a worse tear will result.

Berean Literal Bible
But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on old clothing, for the filling up of it tears away from the garment, and a worse tear emerges.

King James Bible
No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.

New King James Version
No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.

New American Standard Bible
But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.

NASB 1995
“But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.

NASB 1977
“But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.

Legacy Standard Bible
But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.

Amplified Bible
But no one puts a piece of unshrunk (new) cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.

Christian Standard Bible
No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse.

American Standard Version
And no man putteth a piece of undressed cloth upon an old garment; for that which should fill it up taketh from the garment, and a worse rent is made.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“No man places a new patch of cloth on an old coat, lest its fulness tears from that coat, and the rip would be greater.”

Contemporary English Version
No one uses a new piece of cloth to patch old clothes. The patch would shrink and tear a bigger hole.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And nobody putteth a piece of raw cloth unto an old garment. For it taketh away the fullness thereof from the garment, and there is made a greater rent.

English Revised Version
And no man putteth a piece of undressed cloth upon an old garment; for that which should fill it up taketh from the garment, and a worse rent is made.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"No one patches an old coat with a new piece of cloth that will shrink. When the patch shrinks, it will rip away from the coat, and the tear will become worse.

Good News Translation
"No one patches up an old coat with a piece of new cloth, for the new patch will shrink and make an even bigger hole in the coat.

International Standard Version
"No one patches an old garment with a piece of unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.

Literal Standard Version
And no one puts a patch of undressed cloth on an old garment, for its filling up takes from the garment, and a worse split is made.

Majority Standard Bible
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. For the patch will pull away from the garment, and a worse tear will result.

New American Bible
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.

NET Bible
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, because the patch will pull away from the garment and the tear will be worse.

New Revised Standard Version
No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made.

New Heart English Bible
And no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch would tear away from the garment, and a worse hole is made.

Webster's Bible Translation
No man putteth a piece of new cloth to an old garment: for that which is put in to fill it up, taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.

Weymouth New Testament
No one ever mends an old cloak with a patch of newly woven cloth. Otherwise, the patch put on would tear away some of the old, and a worse hole would be made.

World English Bible
No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch would tear away from the garment, and a worse hole is made.

Young's Literal Translation
'And no one doth put a patch of undressed cloth on an old garment, for its filling up doth take from the garment, and a worse rent is made.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Patches and the Wineskins
15Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. 16 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. For the patch will pull away from the garment, and a worse tear will result. 17Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”…

Cross References
Matthew 9:15
Jesus replied, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

Matthew 9:17
Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

Mark 2:21
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, and a worse tear will result.

2 Corinthians 9:12
For this ministry of service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanksgiving to God.


Treasury of Scripture

No man puts a piece of new cloth to an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up takes from the garment, and the rent is made worse.

new cloth.

Genesis 33:14
Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.

Psalm 125:3
For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.

Isaiah 40:11
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Jump to Previous
Cloak Cloth Fill Filling Garment Hole Making Mends New Newly Otherwise Patch Piece Pull Puts Putteth Rent Sews Tear Undressed Unshrunk Worse Woven
Jump to Next
Cloak Cloth Fill Filling Garment Hole Making Mends New Newly Otherwise Patch Piece Pull Puts Putteth Rent Sews Tear Undressed Unshrunk Worse Woven
Matthew 9
1. Jesus heals a paralytic
9. calls Matthew from the receipt of custom;
10. eats with tax collectors and sinners;
14. defends his disciples for not fasting;
20. cures the sick woman;
23. raises Jairus' daughter from death;
27. gives sight to two blind men;
32. heals a mute man possessed of a demon;
36. and has compassion on the multitude.














(16) No man putteth a piece of new cloth.--There is a closer connection between the three similitudes than at first sight appears. The wedding-feast suggested the idea of the wedding-garment, and of the wine which belonged to its joy. We may even go a step further, and believe that the very dress of those who sat at meat in Matthew's house, coming as they did from the lower and less decently-habited classes, made the illustration all the more palpable and vivid. How could those worn garments be made meet for wedding-guests? Would it be enough to sew on a patch of new cloth where the old was wearing into holes? Not so He answers here; not so He answers again when He implicitly makes the king who gives the feast the giver also of the garment (Matthew 22:2);

New cloth--i.e., cloth that has not passed through the fuller's hands--new and undressed, in its freshest and strongest state. Such a patch sewn upon a weak part of the old cloak would, on the first strain, tear the cloth near it.

The rent is made worse.--Better, there comes a worse rent. St. Luke adds another reason, "the piece put in agrees not with the old."

The meaning of the parable in its direct application lies very near the surface. The "garment" is that which is outward, the life and conversation of the man, which show his character. The old garment is the common life of sinful men, such as Matthew and his guests; the new garment is the life of holiness, the religious life in its completeness; fasting, as one element of that life, is the patch of new cloth which agrees not with the old, and leads to a greater evil, a "worse rent" in the life than before. No one would so deal with the literal garment. Yet this was what the Pharisees and the disciples of John were wishing to do with the half-converted publicans. This, we may add, is what the Church of Christ has too often done in her work as the converter of the nations. Sacramental ordinances or monastic vows, or Puritan formulae, or Quaker conventionalities, have been engrafted on lives that were radically barbarous, or heathen, or worldly, and the contrast has been glaring, and the "rent" made worse. The more excellent way, which our Lord pursued, and which it is our wisdom to pursue, is to take the old garment, and to transform it, as by a renewing power from within, thread by thread, till old things are passed away, and all things are become new.

Verse 16. - No man; and no man (Revised Version); οὐδεὶς δέ. "And" is slightly adversative. They will indeed fast then, yet fasting does not belong to the essence of my teaching. To insist on fasting would only be right if my teaching came merely into mechanical connexion with the religion of the day. But this is not the case.

(1) Treated as an addition, it injures the religion of the day (ver. 16).

(2) Treated as something to be accepted by all Jews, regardless of their moral fitness for it, it is itself wasted, and also ruins those who so accept it (ver. 17). The verses thus

(1) answer the disciples of John the Baptist, that fasting must not be made compulsory for Christ's disciples; and . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
No one
Οὐδεὶς (Oudeis)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3762: No one, none, nothing.

sews
ἐπιβάλλει (epiballei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1911: From epi and ballo; to throw upon; specially to reflect; impersonally, to belong to.

a patch
ἐπίβλημα (epiblēma)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 1915: A patch on a garment. From epiballo; a patch.

of unshrunk
ἀγνάφου (agnaphou)
Adjective - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 46: Unshrunken, new. Properly, unfulled, i.e. new.

cloth
ῥάκους (rhakous)
Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 4470: A piece of cloth, a remnant torn off. From rhegnumi; a 'rag, ' i.e. Piece of cloth.

on
ἐπὶ (epi)
Preposition
Strong's 1909: On, to, against, on the basis of, at.

an old
παλαιῷ (palaiō)
Adjective - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3820: Old, ancient, not new or recent. From palai; antique, i.e. Not recent, worn out.

garment.
ἱματίῳ (himatiō)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 2440: A long flowing outer garment, tunic. Neuter of a presumed derivative of ennumi; a dress.

For
γὰρ (gar)
Conjunction
Strong's 1063: For. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason.

the
τὸ (to)
Article - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

patch
πλήρωμα (plērōma)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4138: From pleroo; repletion or completion, i.e. what fills, or what is filled.

will pull away
αἴρει (airei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 142: To raise, lift up, take away, remove.

from
ἀπὸ (apo)
Preposition
Strong's 575: From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses.

the
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

garment,
ἱματίου (himatiou)
Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 2440: A long flowing outer garment, tunic. Neuter of a presumed derivative of ennumi; a dress.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

a worse
χεῖρον (cheiron)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular - Comparative
Strong's 5501: Worse, more severe. Irregular comparative of kakos; from an obsolete equivalent cheres; more evil or aggravated.

tear
σχίσμα (schisma)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4978: A rent, as in a garment; a division, dissention. From schizo; a split or gap, literally or figuratively.

will result.
γίνεται (ginetai)
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1096: A prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; to cause to be, i.e. to become, used with great latitude.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 9:16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk (Matt. Mat Mt)
Matthew 9:15
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