of uncertain derivation · noun — genitive plural feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
leathern
δερματίνηνdermatinēn
G1193
made of hide · adjective — accusative singular feminine
girdle
ζώνηνzōnēn
G2223
a belt · noun — accusative singular feminine
about
περὶperi
G4012
properly · preposition
his
αὐτοῦ·autou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
loins
ὀσφὺνosphun
G3751
the loin (externally) · noun — accusative singular feminine
and
δὲde
G1161
but · conjunction
his
αὐτοῦautou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
meat
τροφὴtrophē
G5160
nourishment (literally or figuratively) · noun — nominative singular feminine
was
ἦνēn
G2258
I (thou
locusts
ἀκρίδεςakrides
G200
a locust (as pointed · noun — nominative plural feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
wild
ἄγριον.¶agrion
G66
wild (as pertaining to the country) · adjective — nominative singular neuter
honey
μέλιmeli
G3192
honey · noun — nominative singular neuter
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Kings 1:8 And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
Leviticus 11:22 Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grassho…
Zechariah 13:4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall th…
Matthew 11:8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.
Mark 1:6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;
Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the w…
Deuteronomy 32:13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the roc…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 3:1-6
We have here an account of the preaching and baptism of John, which were the dawning of the gospel-day. Observe,
I. The time when he appeared. In those days (Mat 3:1), or, after those days, long after what was recorded in the foregoing chapter, which left the child Jesus in his infancy. In those days, in the time appointed of the Father for the beginning of the gospel, when the fulness of time was come, which was often thus spoken of in the Old Testament, In those days. Now the last of Daniel's weeks began, or rather, the latter half of the week, when the Messiah was to confirm the covenant with many, Dan 9:27. Christ's appearances are all in their season. Glorious things were spoken both of…
And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair--woven of it.
and a leathern girdle about his loins--the prophetic dress of Elijah (Kg2 1:8; and see Zac 13:4).
and his meat was locusts--the great, well-known Eastern locust, a food of the poor (Lev 11:22).
and wild honey--made by wild bees (Sa1 14:25-26). This dress and diet, with the shrill cry in the wilderness, would recall the stern days of Elijah.
John Gill on Matthew 3:4
The same John had his raiment,.... The Evangelist goes on to describe this excellent person, the forerunner of our Lord, by his raiment;
the same John of whom Isaiah prophesied, and who came preaching the doctrine in the place and manner before expressed,
had his raiment of camel's hair; not of camel's hair softened and dressed, which the Talmudists (z) call "camel's wool"; of which wool of camels and of hares, the Jews say (a) the coats were made, with which God clothed Adam and Eve; and which being spun to a thread, and wove, and made a garment of, they call (b) and we "camlet"; for this would have been too fine and soft for John to wear, which is denied of him, Matthew 11:8 but either…
A garment woven with camel's hair designates the peculiar clothing of this prophetic preacher. He is covered with the skins of an unclean animal. Whatever had been useless or shabby in us becomes sanctified by the prophet's clothes.
In this clothing and this poor food, he shows that he sorrows for the sins of the whole human race. In John (which name is interpreted 'the grace of God,') is figured Christ who brought grace into the world; in his clothing, the Gentile Church.
As for the leather belt, what else does it demonstrate but this fragile flesh of ours, trapped in the grip of vice before the coming of Christ and which, after his coming, was restrained by virtue? Before his coming this flesh was fat through dissipation. Now by abstention it is firmly held in place.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Apparel — In Old Testament times the distinction between male and female attire was not very marked. The statute forbidding men to wear female apparel (Deut. 22:5) referred especially to ornaments and…
Camel — From the Hebrew gamal, “to repay” or “requite,” as the camel does the care of its master. There are two distinct species of camels, having, however, the common characteristics of being “ruminants…
Dress — (1.) Materials used. The earliest and simplest an apron of fig-leaves sewed together (Gen. 3:7); then skins of animals (3:21). Elijah’s dress was probably the skin of a sheep (2 Kings 1:8). The…
Dromedary — (Isa. 60:6), an African or Arabian species of camel having only one hump, while the Bactrian camel has two. It is distinguished from the camel only as a trained saddle-horse is distinguished from a…
Elijah — Whose God is Jehovah. (1.) “The Tishbite,” the “Elias” of the New Testament, is suddenly introduced to our notice in 1 Kings 17:1 as delivering a message from the Lord to Ahab. There is mention made…
Food — Originally the Creator granted the use of the vegetable world for food to man (Gen. 1:29), with the exception mentioned (2:17). The use of animal food was probably not unknown to the antediluvians.…
Girdle — (1.) Heb. hagor, a girdle of any kind worn by soldiers (1 Sam. 18:4; 2 Sam. 20:8; 1 Kings 2:5; 2 Kings 3:21) or women (Isa. 3:24). (2.) Heb. ‘ezor, something “bound,” worn by prophets (2 Kings 1:8;…
Handicraft — (Acts 18:3; 19:25; Revelation 18:22) A trade was taught to ail the Jewish boys as a necessary part of their education. Even the greatest rabbis maintained themselves by trades (Delitzsch). Says Rabbi…
Honey — (1.) Heb. ya’ar, occurs only 1 Sam. 14:25, 27, 29; Cant. 5:1, where it denotes the honey of bees. Properly the word signifies a forest or copse, and refers to honey found in woods. (2.) Nopheth,…
John the Baptist — The “forerunner of our Lord.” We have but fragmentary and imperfect accounts of him in the Gospels. He was of priestly descent. His father, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abia (1 Chr.…
Matthew 3:1-6
Matthew 3:1-6
Mark 1:1-6
Luke 3:1-6
1. Now in those days John the Baptist comes, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2. And saying, Repent: [243] for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, 3. For this is he, of whom it has been spoken by Isaiah the prophet, who says, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 5. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan. 6. And were baptized in Jordan by him, confessing their sins.
1. The beginning of the gospel of…
Kings, The Books of — The two books of Kings formed originally but one book in the Hebrew Scriptures. The present division into two books was first made by the LXX., which now, with the Vulgate, numbers them as the third…
Leather — A girdle of, worn by Elijah (2 Kings 1:8) and John the Baptist (Matt. 3:4). Leather was employed both for clothing (Num. 31:20; Heb. 11:37) and for writing upon. The trade of a tanner is mentioned…
Locust — There are ten Hebrew words used in Scripture to signify locust. In the New Testament locusts are mentioned as forming part of the food of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6). By the Mosaic law…
Shepherd — A word naturally of frequent occurence in Scripture. Sometimes the word “pastor” is used instead (Jer. 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 12:10; 17:16). This word is used figuratively to represent the relation of…
Weaving — The art of weaving appears to be coeval with the first dawning of civilization. We find it practiced with great skill by the Egyptians at a very early period; The vestures of fine linen” such as…
Camel · Hair of, ma — Hair of, ma
Camel, The · Coarse cloth made from its hair — Coarse cloth made from its hair
Garments · Materials used for: Camel’s hair — Materials used for: Camel’s hair
Girdle · Ma — Ma
Girdles · Made of: Leather — Made of: Leather
Honey · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Leather · Belts of — Belts of
Locust · Used as food — Used as food
Locust, The · The Jews: Used as food — The Jews: Used as food
Prophets · Wore a coarse dress of hair-cloth — Wore a coarse dress of hair-cloth
Sabbath, The · Made of coarse hair — Made of coarse hair
Stoicism · wild honey — wild honey
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
