And they answered him, he was an hairy man,.... Either the hair of his head and beard were grown very long, having been much neglected for a great while; or he had an hairy garment on, either of goats' hair, such as the Chinese wear , whose women spin it, see Ex 35:26 and of which garments are made; or of camels' hair, such as John the Baptist wore, who came in his spirit and power, and imitated him in his dress, being also, as Elijah here,girt with a girdle of leather about his loins: for more expeditious travelling, not for warmth, the climate being hot:and he said, it is Elijah the Tishbite; for he had seen him formerly in his father's court in this dress.
Semedo's History of China, part 1. ch.