3:4 Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. 14
1 tn Heb “and also.”
2 tn Heb “and he said.”
3 tn Heb “know.”
4 tn The word “here” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 tn Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.
6 tn Heb “What is this deed you have done?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question. A literal translation seems to contradict the following statement, in which Joseph affirms that he is able to divine such matters. Thus here the emotive force of the question has been reflected in the translation, “What did you think you were doing?”
7 tn Heb “[is] fully able to divine,” meaning that he can find things out by divination. The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis, stressing his ability to do this.
8 tn In the Greek text this is a third class condition that for all practical purposes is a hypothetical condition (note the translation of the following verb “should say”).
9 tn Grk “should say in his heart.”
10 tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (ajpokriqei") is redundant in English and has not been translated.
11 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
12 sn With the statement not one stone will be left on another Jesus predicted the total destruction of the temple, something that did occur in
13 tn Grk “not one stone will be left here on another which will not be thrown down.”
14 sn John’s lifestyle was in stark contrast to many of the religious leaders of Jerusalem who lived in relative ease and luxury. While his clothing and diet were indicative of someone who lived in the desert, they also depicted him in his role as God’s prophet (cf. Zech 13:4); his appearance is similar to the Prophet Elijah (2 Kgs 1:8). Locusts and wild honey were a common diet in desert regions, and locusts (dried insects) are listed in Lev 11:22 among the “clean” foods.