Matthew 3:4

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. ¹ 

Matthew 3:12

3:12 His winnowing fork ²  is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, ³  but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.” ⁴ 

Matthew 10:25

10:25 It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more will they defame the members of his household!

Matthew 16:27

16:27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. ⁵ 

Matthew 22:24

22:24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children ⁶  for his brother.’ ⁷ 

Matthew 27:29

27:29 and after braiding ⁸  a crown of thorns, ⁹  they put it on his head. They ¹⁰  put a staff ¹¹  in his right hand, and kneeling down before him, they mocked him: ¹²  “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹³ 

¹ 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.

² sn A winnowing fork was a pitchfork-like tool used to toss threshed grain in the air so that the wind blew away the chaff, leaving the grain to fall to the ground. The note of purging is highlighted by the use of imagery involving sifting though threshed grain for the useful kernels.

³ tn Or “granary,” “barn” (referring to a building used to store a farm’s produce rather than a building to house livestock).

⁴ sn The image of fire that cannot be extinguished is from the OT: Job 20:26; Isa 34:8-10; 66:24.

³ sn An allusion to Pss 28:4; 62:12; cf. Prov 24:12.

⁴ tn Grk “and raise up seed,” an idiom for fathering children (L&N 23.59).

⁵ sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.

⁵ tn Or “weaving.”

⁶ sn The crown may have been made from palm spines or some other thorny plant common in Israel. In placing the crown of thorns on his head, the soldiers were unwittingly symbolizing God’s curse on humanity (cf. Gen 3:18) being placed on Jesus. Their purpose would have been to mock Jesus’ claim to be a king; the crown of thorns would have represented the “radiant corona” portrayed on the heads of rulers on coins and other artifacts in the 1st century.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

⁸ tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BDAG 502 s.v. κάλαμος 2.

⁹ tn Grk “they mocked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

¹⁰ tn Or “Long live the King of the Jews!”