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. AND THE SAME JOHN HAD HIS RAIMENT OF CAMEL'S HAIR [that is, woven of it] and a leather girdle about his loins-the prophetic dress of Elijah (; and see ). AND HIS MEAT WAS LOCUSTS - the great well-known eastern locust, a food of the poor (). AND WILD HONEY - made by wild bees (). This dress and diet, with the shrill cry in the wilderness, would recall the stern days of Elijah....

Matthew 3:4._And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair _The Evangelist does not desire us to reckon it as one of John’s chief excellencies, that he followed a rough and austere way of living, or even that he avoided a moderate and ordinary degree of elegance: but, having already stated that he was an inhabitant of the mountains, he now adds, that his food and clothing were adapted to his residence. And he mentions this, not only to inform us, that John was satisfied with the food and dress of the peasants, and partook of no delicacies; but that, under a mean and contemptible garb, he was held in high estimation by men of rank and splendor. Superstitious persons look upon righteousness as consisting almost entirely of outward appearances, and have commonly thought, that abstinence of this kind was the perfection of holiness. Nearly akin to this is the error, of supposing him to

1-6 After Malachi there was no prophet until John the Baptist came. He appeared first in the wilderness of Judea. This was not an uninhabited desert, but a part of the country not thickly peopled, nor much enclosed. No place is so remote as to shut us out from the visits of Divine grace. The doctrine he preached was repentance; "Repent ye." The word here used, implies a total alteration in the mind, a change in the judgment, disposition, and affections, another and a better bias of the soul. Consider your ways, change your minds: you have thought amiss; think again, and think aright. True penitents have other thoughts of God and Christ, sin and holiness, of this world and the other, than they had. The change of the mind produces a change of the way. That is gospel repentance, which flows from a sight of Christ, from a sense of his love, and from hopes of pardon and forgiveness through h...

Verse Matthew 3:4. _HIS 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_] ακριδες. ακρις may either signify the _insect_ called the _locust_,

HIS 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 prophets, 2 Kings 1:8; Zechariah 13:4. HIS MEAT WAS LOCUSTS - His food. These constituted the food of the common people. Among the Greeks the vilest of the people used to eat them; and the fact that John made his food of them is significant of his great poverty and humble life. The Jews we

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 3:1 THE HERALD. His public appearance and proclamation (Matthew 3:1, Matthew 3:2), as foretold by Scripture (Matthew 3:3). His Elijah-like dress (Matthew 3:4). He is listened to by multitudes (Matthew 3:5, Matthew 3:6). His faithful warning to typical Jews, and his pointing not to himself, but to the Coming One ...

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 צמר גמלים "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 חמילה, 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 of a camel's skin with the hair on it, such was the "rough garment", or "garment of hair", the prophets used to wear,...

We are going to read three passages relating to John the Baptist's testimony concerning Christ. Matthew 3:1. _In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 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._ Everything connected with John the Baptist was in harmony with his message. He was the preacher of repentance, so the place where he preached was most suitable; it was in the wilderness, where there was nothing to distract his hearers' attention, as there would have been in crowded cities. His dress was striking, and everything about hi

3. THE HERALD OF THE KING; THE ENTRANCE UPON HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY. __ 1. The Herald of the King. (Matthew 3:1 .) 2. His Message and His Baptism. (Matthew 3:7 .) 3. The King in Jordan's Waters. (Matthew 3:13 .) CHAPTER 3 The third chapter relates the ministry of the herald of the King, who announces that the kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh, and the presence of the King Himself, who is to come after him; the baptism of the King, who comes from Galilee to the Jordan to John, and the events connected with it, are given in the second half of the chapter. “Now in those days comes John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of the heaven

JOHN THE BAPTIST (Mark 1:2 *, Luke 3:1) The common Synoptic material begins here. The chief difference from Mk. is the addition of Matthew 3:7 from Q (p. 672), _cf._ Luke 3:7, where the words are addressed not to the Pharisees and Sadducees, but to the crowd. In Mt.'s view the Pharisees thought to escape the coming judgment by the mere rite of baptism, and he makes John ask who indicated to (not warned) them that such escape was possible. More than outward repentance is needed a better life, and more than a claim to Abrahamic descent (_cf._ John 8:33). Judgment goes by ch