Bible Strands
Mark 1:6
John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Mark narrates John’s appearance as crowds from Jerusalem and Judea’s countryside gather at the Jordan to confess their sins and be baptized.
The words — ἐνδεδυμένος (endedumenos) means “having clothed himself in,” and τρίχας (trichas) translates literally to “hair,” describing John’s garment.
The thread — His attire echoes the description of Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8, while his diet references permitted food in Leviticus 11:22 and contrasts with the prophetic warning in Zechariah 13:4.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of John’s deliberate asceticism as a sign of prophetic continuity and prepares the reader to receive the announcement of a superior figure in the following verse.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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;
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 1:8 “He was a hairy man,” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.” “It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.
- Leviticus 11:22 Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket, or grasshopper.
- Zechariah 13:4 And on that day every prophet who prophesies will be ashamed of his vision, and he will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive.
- Matthew 3:4 John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.