And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;
Parallel translations
- WEB John was clothed with camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.
- BSB John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
- NKJV Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
- NASB John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey.
- NLT His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
John's rough clothing and simple diet mark him as a prophet in the mold of Elijah. His appearance signals his God-given role.
Overview
The camel's hair garment and leather belt deliberately recall Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), whom Malachi promised would come before the day of the Lord. John's austere desert life embodied his message of repentance and detachment from comfort. Jesus later confirms John fulfills the Elijah expectation, preparing the way for the Messiah.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 2 Kgs 1:8And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
- Lev 11:22Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind.
- Matt 3:4And 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.
- Zech 13:4And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 1:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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