Breeches

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Exodus 28:42 (c) This is probably a figure of the righteousness which should characterize the priest of GOD with regard to his walking, his downsitting, and his uprising.

 Ezekiel 44:18 (b) This garment is a type of human righteousness, self-made and self-applied. We are not to confess that we are saved by grace but kept by works. These are not to be mixed. Sweat is a product of the exertion of the human body. GOD wants nothing that comes out from us spiritually when we take the place of being His servant. We must display for Him only that which He has given us. GOD's righteousness and our own righteousness are not to be mixed in our conversation and profession. See also  Deuteronomy 22:11. There are those religions which teach that we are saved by grace, but we are kept saved by works. Other religions teach that we are saved partly by faith, and partly by works. Both of these theories are false in GOD's sight, and are not to be believed nor accepted by any who want GOD's favor, His salvation and His approval. Nothing that emanates from our own spirits or originates in our own minds is acceptable with GOD when it is a matter of salvation or of our relationship to GOD. (See  Isaiah 64:6). Just as nothing that comes out of our bodies can be pleasing to another person, so nothing that emanates from our spirits is acceptable to the great Spirit.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Breeches . Rather short drawers of white linen ordered to be worn by the priests on grounds of modesty (  Exodus 28:42 ,   Leviticus 16:4 ,   Ezekiel 44:18 , Sir 45:8 ). Josephus describes those worn in his time in his Ant . III. vii. 1. The modern trousers are represented in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] by Hosen (wh. see).

A. R. S. Kennedy.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Exodus 28:42 Exodus 39:28 Leviticus 6:10 Leviticus 16:4 Ezekiel 44:18 Exodus 20:26

King James Dictionary

BREECHES, n. plu. brich'es. Low L. braccoe.

A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs. It is now a close garment but the word formerly was used for a loose garment, now called trowsers, laxoe braccoe.

To wear the breeches is, in the wife, to usurp the authority of the husband.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n. pl.) A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs; smallclothes.

(2): (n. pl.) Trousers; pantaloons.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Exodus 28:42 Ezekiel 44:17,18

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

brich´iz , brēch´iz  : A garment, extending from the waist to or just below the knee or to the ankle, and covering each leg separately. Breeches are not listed among the garments of an ordinary wardrobe, but the priests in later times ( Exodus 20:26 ) wore a garment resembling modern trousers. These priestly linen breeches, מכנסי בד , mikhneṣē bhadh , were worn along with the linen coat, the linen girdle and the linen turban by Aaron on the Day of Atonement, when he entered the "holy place." (The word מכנסי , mikhneṣē is derived from a root, כנס , kānaṣ = גנז , gānaz , "to cover up," "hide.") Ordinary priests also wore them on sacrificial occasions ( Exodus 28:42;  Exodus 39:28;  Leviticus 6:10;  Ezekiel 44:18 ). Apart from the breeches just referred to, the only reference to a similar garment among the Israelites is found in  Daniel 3:21 , where the סרבּל , ṣarbāl , the Revised Version (British and American) "hosen," is mentioned. (The King James Version translates "coats.") The rendering of the King James Version is the more likely, though the meaning of the Aramaic sarbāl is obscure (compare the thorough discussion in Ges., Thesaurus ). In Targum and Talmud (compare Levy, NHWB , under the word), and is so taken by the rabbinical commentators. Still, Aquila and Theodotion (σαράβαρα , sarábara ), Septuagint in  Daniel 3:27 , Symmachus ( anaxurides ), Peshitta, express the meaning "trousers" (of a looser kind than those worn by us), a garment known (from Herodotus and other sources) to have been worn by the ancient Scythians and Persians, and to have been called by them sarabara. The word, with the same connotation, was brought into the Arabic in the form sirwal . In both these senses the word may be originally Persian: in that of mantle, meaning properly (according to Andreas) a "head-covering" ( sarabara ), for which in Persia the peasants often use their mantle; in that of "trousers," corresponding to the modern Persian shalwar , "under-breeches." Cook has pointed out that "mantles, long-flowing robes, and therefore extremely liable to catch the flames," are more likely to be especially mentioned in this chapter than trousers, or (Revised Version) "hosen."

The word פטישׁ , paṭı̄sh ( Daniel 3:21 ), is also uncertain. The Septuagint and Theodotion render tiārai , "turbans"; Peshitta has the same word, which is variously taken by Syrian lexicographers as "tunic," "trousers," or a kind of "gaiter" (Payne Smith, Thes. Syriac ., col. 3098). (For further discussion of these words, compare commentaries on Dan of Jour. Phil ., Xxvi , 307ff.)

In general, we must remember that a thorough discussion of Israelite "dress" is impossible, because of the limitations of our sources.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

is the uniform rendering in the Auth. Vers. solely of the Heb. מַכְנְסִיַם , Miknesa'Yim, Two Drawers (from כָּנִס , to Wrap Up), Sept. Περισκελῆ (so  Sirach 45:8) or Περισκελές , Vulg. Feminalia, made of linen, and worn by the Jewish priests to hide the parts of shame while ministering at the altar ( Exodus 28:42;  Exodus 39:28;  Leviticus 6:10;  Leviticus 16:4;  Ezekiel 44:18). The description of Josephus ( Ὡσπερεί Ἀναξυρίδες , Ant. 3: 7, 1) agrees with this, making this article (which he Graecizes Μαναχασή ) of sacerdotal dress to be an under-garment for the loins and thighs only. See Braun, De Vestitu Sacerd. Eebr. lib. ii, ch. i, p. 345 sq. (See Priest); (See Attire).