and coarsely woven. — Cf. Mark i. 6. — *«/ £uv offpuv aurou, and a girdle of skin around his loins) Thus the LXX. in 2. KillfiJS i. 8, of Elijah, xai ^uvqv b^p^arh^v irtpit^uefUVOf rf^ off<pi/v auroy, and girt around his loins with a girdle of skin. The girdle of John, like that of Elijah, was not of leather, but of skin rudely dressed. It is not without object that Scripture records the dress of many saints, of the Baptist, and of Jesus Christ Himself. — rpopri, food) We gather the nature of his drink from Luke i. 15.
— axptdfg, locusts') In Lev. xi. 22, the LXX. render 3Jn (an animal which the Jews were permitted to eat), by a,Kpi$, locust. — p'tki ciypiov, ivild honey) flowing spontaneously. — See 1 Sam. xiv. 25.
— Locusts might sometimes fail.
5. na<ra, all) i.e., from all parts.
6. 'E'SaTr/^ovro, received baptism) The verb is in the middle voice. — s^opoXoyoupivoi, confessing) The preposition k^ denotes that they confessed their sins freely and expressly, not merely in the car of John. A true confession mentions even individual sins (as formerly in the case of sin-offerings), although it does not enumerate them one by one. It holds the just mean between the lax abuse of a general formula and the narrow strictness of auricular confession. Thus it relieves the soul. At the Baptism of Repentance men confessed their sins, at the Baptism of Christ they confessed Christ.
7. IToXXoOg, x.r.A., many, etc.) of whom some adhered to their purpose of receiving the baptism of John ; some, deterred by his just denunciations, appear to have gone back. By far the greater number did not come at all. — See ch. xxi. 25, and Luke vii. 30.
— ruv <t>apiffaiuv xai "SaddovxaiMv, of the Pharisees and Sadducees) Differing sects. — avroTg, to them) i.e., to the Pharisees especially, but also to the people, before baptizing them. — See ver. 11, and Luke iii. 7. It frequently occurs, that words are mentioned after the act which they accompany or precede. — See 2 Sam. i. 16, 15. — ytvvru&ara, broods) Various families. — sp//<5i/£ii/, of vipers) This is said in opposition to their boasting of their descent from Abraham. — rig, K.T.\., who ? etc.) As though he had said, " You appear to be showing the way to others, but who showed it to you?" He implies that wrath was in store for them; that there Avas, close at hand, a means of escaping it, but that the Phari sees and Sadducees were strangers to it. — Ivsdfi^iv, hath showed)