# Connecting Statement:

Jesus begins to talk to the crowds about John the Baptist.

# What did you go out in the desert to see—a reed ... wind?

Jesus uses a question to cause the people to think about what kind of person John the Baptist is. Alternate translation: "Surely you did not go out to the desert to see a reed ... wind!" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-rquestion]])

# a reed being shaken by the wind

Possible meanings are 1) Jesus mean the literal plants by the Jordan River or 2) Jesus is using a metaphor to mean a kind of person. Alternate translation: "a man who easily changes his mind and is like a reed blowing back and forth in the wind" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor]])

# being shaken by the wind

This can be translated in active form. Alternate translation: "swaying in the wind" or "blowing in the wind" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-activepassive]])