Matthew Chapter 3 verse 4 Holy Bible

ASV Matthew 3:4

Now John himself had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
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BBE Matthew 3:4

Now John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey.
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DARBY Matthew 3:4

And John himself had his garment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and his nourishment was locusts and wild honey.
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KJV Matthew 3:4

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.
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WBT Matthew 3:4


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WEB Matthew 3:4

Now John himself wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
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YLT Matthew 3:4

And this John had his clothing of camel's hair, and a girdle of skin round his loins, and his nourishment was locusts and honey of the field.
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 4. - With this verse we begin to meet with matter peculiar to Matthew and Mark. And the same John (αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Ἰωάνης). (For the phrase, cf. Mark 6:17 Luke 3:23.) (1) If the Revised Version "Now John himself," holds good, the phrase seems to mean that not only did Isaiah speak of him in terms that implied that he was the forerunner of Messiah, the true Elijah (Mark 1:2), but also he himself had his very food and dress consistent with his office. (2) But it is safer, with Thayer's 'Grimm' (1:2, a), to take αὐτός as merely recalling the person before mentioned. "Now he, whom I spoke of, John" (cf. 2 Chronicles 32:30). Had; during all that time (εϊχεν). His habitual dress, etc., was as follows. Of (ἀπό) camel's hair. Not, as Dgr Old Lat. a in the parallel passage in Mark, δέῥῤην, pellem, "a camel's hide," but coarse cloth made from the hair. So probably," hairy man" (2 Kings 1:8; el. Zechariah 13:4). And a leathern girdle. Probably of sheep or goatskin, worn over the garment. Mentioned because (1) it formed another point of similarity to Elijah (2 Kings 1:8); . . .

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(4) His raiment of camel's hair.--The dress was probably deliberately adopted by the Baptist as reviving the outward appearance of Elijah, who was "a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather" (2Kings 1:8); and the "rough garment," that had been characteristic of the prophet's life even at a later period (Zechariah 13:4), as contrasted with the "long garments" of the Pharisees (Mark 12:38), and the "gorgeous apparel" of the scribes who attached themselves to the court of Herod (Luke 7:25). The Nazarite vow of Luke 1:15 probably involved long and shaggy hair as well.Locusts and wild honey.--Locusts were among the articles of food permitted by the Law (Leviticus 11:21), and were and are still used by the poor in Palestine and Syria. They are commonly salted and dried, and may be cooked in various ways, pounded, or fried in butter, and they taste like shrimps. It is needless, when the facts are so clear, to go out of the way to seek the food of the Baptist in the sweet pods of the so-called locust-tree (Ceratonia Siliqua), with which it has been sometimes identified. The "wild honey" was that found in the hollows of trees (as in the history of Jonathan, 1Samuel 14:25), or in the "rocks" (Deuteronomy 32:13; Psalm 81:16). Stress is laid on the simplicity of the Baptist's fare, requiring no skill or appliances, the food of the poorest wanderer in the wilderness, presenting a marked contrast to the luxury of the dwellers in towns. The life of Banus, the hermit-master of Josephus, who lived only on herbs and water (Life, c. 2) presented analogous though not identical features. . . .