Albert Barnes Commentary Daniel 3:21

"Then these men were bound in their hosen, their tunics, and their mantles, and their [other] garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace." — Daniel 3:21 (ASV)

Then these men were bound in their coats - They were seized just as they were. No time was given them for preparation; no change was made in their dress. In “autos-da-fé” of later times, it has been usual to array those who were to suffer in a peculiar dress, indicative of the fact that they were heretics and that they deserved the flame. Here, however, the king’s anger was so great that no delay was allowed for any such purpose, and they proceeded to execute the sentence upon them just as they were.

The fact that they were thrown into the furnace this way, however, only made the miracle more conspicuous, since not even their garments were affected by the fire. The word translated “coats” is translated in the margin as “mantles.” The Chaldee word (סרבלין sarbâlı̂yn) means, according to Gesenius, the long and wide pantaloons worn by people in the East, from סרבל sarbēl—to cover. The Greek word used in the translation is derived from this—σαράβαρα sarabara—and the word σαρβαρίδες sarbarides is still used in modern Greek. The Chaldee word is used only in this chapter. The Vulgate translates this, cum braccis suis—hence, the word “breeches,” and “brogues.” The garment referred to, therefore, seems to be what covered the lower part of their body rather than either a coat or mantle.

Their hosen - This word was evidently intended by our translators to mean undergarments or trousers, not stockings, as that was the common meaning of the word when the translation was made. It is not probable that the word is intended to mean “stockings,” as they are not commonly worn in the East. Harmer supposes that the word used here properly means “a hammer,” and that the reference is to a hammer carried as a symbol of office. To illustrate this, he refers to Sir John Chardin’s plates of carvings found in the ruins of Persepolis, among which a man is depicted with a hammer or mallet in each hand. Harmer supposes that this was some symbol of office. The more common and correct interpretation, however, is to regard this as referring to an article of dress.

The Chaldee word (פטישׁ paṭṭı̂ysh) is from פטשׁ pâṭash—to break, to hammer (πατάσσω patassō); to spread out, to expand. The noun means:

1. A hammer (Isaiah 41:7; Jeremiah 23:29; Jeremiah 50:23); and
2. A garment, probably with the idea of its being “spread out,” and perhaps referring to a tunic or undergarment.

Compare Gesenius on the word. The Greek is τιάραις tiarais—and so the Latin Vulgate, tiaris: the tiara, or covering for the head, a turban. The probable reference, however, is to the undergarment worn by people in the East: the tunic, much like our shirts.

And their hats - Margin, or “turbans.” The Chaldee word (כרבלא karb^elâ') is translated by Gesenius as mantle, pallium. The version called the “Breeches” Bible translates it as “cloaks.” Coverdale translates it as “shoes,” and so the Vulgate, calceamentis, sandals; and the Greek, περικνημίσιν periknēmisin—greaves, or a garment enclosing the lower limbs; pantaloons. There is certainly no reason for translating the word as “hats”—as hats were then unknown—nor is there any evidence that it refers to a turban.

Buxtorf (“Chaldee Lex.”) considers it to mean a garment, particularly an outer garment, a cloak, and this is probably the correct idea. We would then have in these three words the principal articles of dress in which people in the East appear, as is shown by the preceding engraving and from the ruins of Persepolis: the large and loose trousers, the tunic or inner garment, and the outer garment or cloak that was commonly thrown over all.

And their other garments - Whatever else they had on, whether turban, belt, sandals, etc.