Matthew 11:7-8

11:7 While they were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness ¹  to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ²  11:8 What ³  did you go out to see? A man dressed in fancy clothes? ⁴  Look, those who wear fancy clothes are in the homes of kings! ⁵ 

[11:7]  ¹ tn Or “desert.”

[11:7]  ² tn There is a debate as to whether one should read this figuratively (“to see someone who is easily blown over?”) or literally (Grk “to see the wilderness vegetation?… No, to see a prophet”). Either view makes good sense, but the following examples suggest the question should be read literally and understood to point to the fact that a prophet drew them to the desert.

[11:8]  ³ tn Grk “But what.” Here ἀλλά (alla, a strong contrastive in Greek) produces a somewhat awkward sense in English, and has not been translated. The same situation occurs at the beginning of v. 9.

[11:8]  ⁴ sn The reference to fancy clothes makes the point that John was not rich or powerful, in that he did not come from the wealthy classes.

[11:8]  ⁵ tn Or “palaces.”