John the Baptist Really Ate Insects

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Berean.ai · Accepted Answer

Did you know John the Baptist actually ate insects? Both Matthew 3:4 and Mark 1:6 say his food was "locusts and wild honey." The Greek word (akrides) unambiguously means the insect. The "carob pod" theory comes from 2nd-century Ebionite vegetarians, not from the biblical text. The Text — Matthew 3:4 // Mark 1:6: "Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey." (Matt 3:4) "Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey." (Mark 1:6) The Greek — Akrides (ἀκρίδες): The Greek word akrides (plural of akris) unambiguously means the insect — the grasshopper or locust. It is the standard word used in the Septuagint (Lev 11:22) for edible locusts. There is no lexical ambiguity. The Greek says the insect. Where the Carob Theory Came From: The Ebionites — a 2nd-century Jewish-Christian sect that was vegetarian on principle — could not tolerate the idea of John the Baptist eating insects. They reread the text in various ways, sometimes suggesting akrides meant enkrides (a type of cake) or that "locusts" referred to carob pods (Ceratonia siliqua). Later medieval commentary picked up the carob theory. This is why carob is still sometimes called "St. John's bread" or the "locust tree." The name preserves a 2nd-century theological dodge, not a linguistic fact. Locusts Are Kosher — Leviticus 11:22: "Of them you may eat: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind." Four kinds of locusts (arbeh, sol'am, chargol, chagab) are explicitly permitted as clean food in Mosaic dietary law. Torah explicitly permitted what John was eating. Historical Parallels: The Qumran community at the Dead Sea (~150 BC - 70 AD) preserved detailed instructions for preparing locusts as food.