Matthew 11:8

What ¹  did you go out to see? A man dressed in fancy clothes? ²  Look, those who wear fancy clothes are in the homes of kings! ³ 

2Ki 1:8; Isa 20:2; Zec 13:4; Mt 3:4; 1Co 4:11; 2Co 11:27; Re 11:3

¹ 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.

² 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.

³ tn Or “palaces.”