I came across another translation issue. I found this one quite humorous. In an essay about the creation of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Bruce Metzger writes about the translation committee's difficulty with the Hebrew word miknas. It refers to the special underwear of the priests as described in Exodus 28:42. This word is rendered as “breeches” in the King James Version. The committee thought that was misleading since the garment covered the priest's body from the waist to the thighs. They eventually settled on “undergarments” after considering several other possibilities: drawers, underpants, shorts, and skivvies. I'm amused by the picture of these PhDs in Hebrew sitting around talking about underwear.