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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT ESA WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Mat C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28
Mat 3 V1 V2 V3 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17
OET (OET-LV) And the Yōannaʸs himself was_having the clothing of_him from hairs of_a_camel and a_ leather _belt around the waist of_him, and the food of_him was locusts and wild honey.
OET (OET-RV) Yohan himself wore clothes made from coarse camel hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
The story starting at 3:1 occurred about twenty-eight years after 2:23. Matthew did not tell what happened during those twenty-eight years. But he restarted the story at this time in Jesus’ life because Jesus was ready to begin the work that God gave him to do. He began at the time God chose for him.
John the Baptist was the last prophet before Jesus. The story of how John was born is in Luke chapter 1. He was the prophet whom God said would come (3:3). John wore the kind of clothes prophets often wore (3:4). He baptized people who repented. John preached that Jesus would be greater than he was (3:11).
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
The work of John the Baptist/Baptizer
The work of John who baptized people
John the Baptizer preached repentance and submission to God’s rule
John the Baptizer prepared people to receive the Lord
There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 1:1, Luke 3:1–18 and John 1:19–28.
Verse 3:4 is background information. It speaks about John’s simple clothes and simple food while he lived in the wilderness. His simple lifestyle and clothing indicated to the people of that day that he was a prophet. He resembled the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:8). You may want to put this information in a footnote.
John wore a garment of camel’s hair,
¶ John wore clothes that were made from camel’s hair.
¶ As for John, he wore a robe that people had woven from a desert animal’s hair.
In the Greek, 3:4a begins with a common Greek conjunction that is often translated as “now” (ESV). Here it functions to introduce new information about John the Baptist. The BSB and many English versions do not translate this conjunction here. Introduce this background information in a way that is natural in your language.
John wore a garment of camel’s hair: John wore clothes that were made from the hair of an animal called a camel. A camel is a large, domesticated animal that carries people and cargo in the desert. People wove a rough kind of cloth made from the hair of this animal.
If camels are not known in your area, you could:
Transliterate the word camel and explain the term in the text. For example:
John’s clothes were made from the hair of a large desert animal called a camel
Transliterate the word camel and explain the term in a footnote. Here is a sample footnote:
A camel is a large domesticated animal that carries people and cargo in the desert.
Translate using a general term:
The clothes that John wore were made from coarse hair of a desert animal
garment: The word garment is a general word that refers to all types of clothes. Here is probably refers to John’s outer robe or tunic.
Here is another way to translate this word:
clothes (NIV)
with a leather belt around his waist.
He wore a leather strap around his waist.
He tied his robe around his waist with a cord/rope of animal skin.
with a leather belt around his waist: The phrase leather belt refers to a strip of animal skin tied around the waist. It kept one’s outer robe close to the body. It also made it possible to tuck up the robe in order to walk or run unhindered.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
and he wore a long strip of animal skin around his waist
and he tied his clothes around his waist with an animal skin rope
His food was locusts and wild honey.
His food was large grasshoppers and honey from wild bees.
He ate locusts/grasshoppers and honey.
His food was locusts: The word locusts refers to a large kind of grasshopper. They are insects which jump and can fly. Large numbers of locusts frequently migrate together to eat and destroy crops. People who live in the desert sometimes eat locusts.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
His food was large grasshoppers
He ate large insects/bugs that jump and fly
wild honey: The phrase wild honey refers to honey that wild bees of the desert made. People found it under rocks or in cracks between rocks. It was not honey made by bees that people raised.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
honey of wild bees
honey
Note 1 topic: writing-background
αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Ἰωάννης
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: αὐτός Δέ ὁ Ἰωάννης εἶχεν τό ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ ἀπό τριχῶν καμήλου καί ζώνην δερματίνην περί τήν ὀσφύν αὐτοῦ ἡ δέ τροφή ἦν αὐτοῦ ἀκρίδες καί μέλι ἄγριον)
Matthew uses the word Now to introduce background information that will help readers understand what happens next. The word does not introduce another event in the story. This background information is found in [3:4–6](../03/04.md). Use a natural form in your language for introducing background information. Alternate translation: [Concerning this John, he]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
εἶχεν τὸ ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τριχῶν καμήλου
˓was˒_having (Some words not found in SR-GNT: αὐτός Δέ ὁ Ἰωάννης εἶχεν τό ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ ἀπό τριχῶν καμήλου καί ζώνην δερματίνην περί τήν ὀσφύν αὐτοῦ ἡ δέ τροφή ἦν αὐτοῦ ἀκρίδες καί μέλι ἄγριον)
The phrase had his clothing from the hair of a camel means that he wore clothes made from camels’ hair. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or plain language. Alternate translation: [wore clothing made from the hair of camels]
Note 3 topic: translate-unknown
ζώνην δερματίνην
˓a˒_belt leather
A leather belt is a thin strap made out of animal skin that holds clothing in place. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of clothing, you could use the name of something similar in your area or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [an animal skin strap] or [a band made from animal skin]
OET (OET-LV) And the Yōannaʸs himself was_having the clothing of_him from hairs of_a_camel and a_ leather _belt around the waist of_him, and the food of_him was locusts and wild honey.
OET (OET-RV) Yohan himself wore clothes made from coarse camel hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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