מַחֲלָצָה

From the study of Zechariah 3:4

Range of meaning

Found only here and in Isa 3:22. It means fine clothes for special occasions. Most lexicons link it to the root ḥālaṣ, "to draw off, take off," so the word probably means clothes that are taken off and stored between feast days, the "good clothes" kept for occasions. HALOT gives "festal robes" and BDB "robes of state."

Against the English

KJV's "change of raiment" (taken from the Latin Vulgate's mutatoria) follows the root's idea of a change of clothes and loses the luxury. BSB "splendid robes", WEB "rich clothing", YLT "costly apparel" and NASB "festal robes" bring out the richness. Renderings such as "pure vestments" read the priestly context into the word, which by itself is not a technical priestly term.

How it drifted

KJV's "change of raiment" was ordinary language in 1611 for a fresh, often fine, set of clothes. To modern readers it sounds like any spare outfit, which undersells it.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Isa 3:22 the word sits in a list of the expensive finery of Jerusalem's elite women, all to be stripped away in judgment. Zechariah 3 reverses that: here the fine robes are given, not taken. The Greek Septuagint uses podērē, "full-length robe," the same word it uses for the high priest's robe in Exod 28:4, 31. That shows Greek-speaking Jewish readers took these as priestly garments.