Matthew 3:4

Matthew 3:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Context of Matthew 3:4

2“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken: “The voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight.’” Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. 5Then people from Jerusalem, as well as all Judea and all the region around the Jordan, were going out to him, 6and he was baptizing them in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Matthew 3:4 word by word

Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Ἰωάννης εἶχεν τὸ ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τριχῶν καμήλου καὶ ζώνην δερματίνην περὶ τὴν ὀσφὺν αὐτοῦ· ἡ δὲ τροφὴ ἦν αὐτοῦ ἀκρίδες καὶ μέλι ἄγριον.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andδέde · thenG1161
• the sameαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• JohnἸωάννηςIōannēs · JohnG2491
• hadἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• raimentἔνδυμαenduma · clothingG1742
• ofἀπόapo · away fromG575
• camel’sκάμηλοςkamēlos · camelG2574
• hairθρίξthrix trichos · hairG2359
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• a leathernδερμάτινοςdermatinos · made of leatherG1193
• girdleζώνηzōnē · belt/sash/girdleG2223
• aboutπερίperi · aboutG4012
• loinsὀσφῦςosphus · loinsG3751
• meatτροφήtrophē · foodG5160
• wasεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• locustsἀκρίςakris · locustG200
• wildἄγριοςagrios · wildG66
• honeyμέλιmeli · honeyG3192

Cross-references for Matthew 3:4

• Matthew 11:8What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fancy clothes? Look, those who wear fancy clothes are in the homes of kings!
• 2 Kings 1:8They replied, “He was a hairy man and had a leather belt tied around his waist.” The king said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.”
• Zechariah 13:4“Therefore, on that day each prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies and will no longer wear the hairy garment of a prophet to deceive the people.
• Malachi 4:5Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.
• Mark 1:6John wore a garment made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
• Luke 1:17And he will go as forerunner before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”
• Revelation 11:3And I will grant my two witnesses authority to prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth.
• Matthew 11:18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’
• Leviticus 11:22These you may eat from them: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, the grasshopper of any kind.
• Deuteronomy 32:13He enabled him to travel over the high terrain of the land, and he ate of the produce of the fields. He provided honey for him from the cliffs, and olive oil from the hardest of rocks,
• 1 Samuel 14:25Now the whole army entered the forest and there was honey on the ground.

Commentaries on Matthew 3:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4His raiment of camel's hair - A sort of coarse or rough covering, which, it appears, was common to the prophets, Zechariah 13:4. In such a garment we find Elijah clothed, 2 Kings 1:8. And as John had been designed under the name of this prophet, Malachi 4:5, whose spirit and qualifications he was to possess, Luke 1:17, he took the same habit and lived in the same state of self-denial. His meat was locusts - . may either signify the insect called the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4His raiment of camel‘s hair - His clothing. This is not the fine hair of the camel from which our elegant cloth is made called camlet, nor the more elegant stuff brought from the East Indies under the name of “camel‘s hair,” but the long shaggy hair of the camel, from which a coarse cheap cloth is made, still worn by the poorer classes in the East, and by monks. This dress of the camel‘s hair, and a leather belt, it seems, was the common dress of the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4John wore the same kind of clothes and ate the same kind of food as Elijah, a prophet who had lived many years before (2 Kings 1:8; Malachi 4:5; Sirach 48:10–11).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. 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 (2Ki 1:8; and see Zec 13:4). and his meat was locusts--the great, well-known Eastern locust, a food of the poor (Le 11:22). and wild honey--made by wild bees (1Sa 14:25, 26). This dress and diet, with the shrill cry in the wilderness, would recall the stern days of Elijah.Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 3:4

• Camel
• Girdle
• Honey
• Leather
• Locust
• Minister, Christian
• Stoicism

In the dictionaries

• Camel's Hair
• Apparel
• Camel
• Dress
• Dromedary
• Elijah
• Girdle
• Honey
• John the Baptist
• Kingdom

Commentaries on Matthew 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings