Mark 1:6

was clothed The Evangelist draws our attention to three points in reference to the Baptist:

(a) His appearance. He recalled the asceticism of the Essene. His raiment was of the coarsest texture, such as was worn by Elijah (2 Kings 1:8) and the prophets generally (Zechariah 13:4). His girdle, an ornament often of the greatest richness in Oriental costume and of the finest linen (Jeremiah 13:1; Ezekiel 16:10) or cotton or embroidered with silver and gold (Daniel 10:5; Revelation 1:13; Revelation 15:6), was of untanned leather (2 Kings 1:8), like that worn by the Bedouin of the present day.

(b) His dietwas the plainest and simplest. Locusts were permitted as an article of food (Leviticus 11:21-22). Sometimes they were ground and pounded, and then mixed with flour and water and made into cakes; sometimes they were salted and then eaten. For wild honeycomp. the story of Jonathan, 1 Samuel 14:25-27.

(c) His message. (1) That the members of the Elect Nation were allmorally unclean, and allneeded moral and spiritual regeneration; (2) that One mightier than he was coming; (3) that He would baptize with the Holy Ghost.