Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Matthew 3:4 - 3:4
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
4. τὸ ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ κ.τ.λ. A kind of tunic or shirt coarsely woven of camel’s hair, ‘one of the most admirable materials for clothing, it keeps out the heat, cold and rain.’ Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 445.
ἀκρίδες καὶ μέλι ἄγριον. Thomson, Land and Book, pp. 419, 420, states that though tolerated, as an article of food, only by the very poorest people, locusts are still eaten by the Bedawin. Burckhardt mentions having seen locust shops at Medina and Tayf. After being dried in the sun the locusts are eaten with butter and honey. Sometimes they are sprinkled with salt and either boiled or roasted. Thomson adds that wild honey is still gathered from trees in the wilderness and from rocks in the Wadies.
Diod. Sic., speaking of the Nabatæans, an Arabian tribe living near this very region, says part of their fare was μέλι πολὺ τὸ καλούμενον ἄγριον ᾧ χρῶνται ποτῷ μεθʼ ὕδατος. The clothing and dress of John were in fact those of the poorest of his fellow countrymen. The description would recall—is probably intended to recall—that of Elijah, 2Ki 1:8.