'Locusts and Wild Honey' (Mk 1.6c aNd Mt. 3.4C): the Status Quaestionis Concerning the Diet of John the Baptist

Abstract

An astonishing variety of answers has been proffered by scholars who have considered the literary or sociohistorical interpretation of Mk 1.6c/Mt. 3.4c. This article surveys Synoptic passages pertaining to John's diet and reviews biblical scholarship on the subject from Erasmus to the present. The most prevalent interpretations maintain that the locusts and wild honey, however construed, highlight John as Prophet, wilderness-dweller, ascetic or vege tarian. A recurrent weakness in many interpretations of Mk 1.6c/Mt. 3.4c is that they ignore the possibility that this characterization could have meant different things for the historical Baptist, the author of Mark and the author of Matthew. An additional shortcoming concerns the lack of argument or historical analogy given to support a particular interpretation of John's diet.