JOHN THE BAPTIST, the "forerunner" of Jesus in the Gospel story. His preaching made a great impression upon his contemporaries (cf. Josephus Ant. xviii., 5). According to the birth-narrative in Luke i. and ii., he was born in "a city of Judah" (read, "the Province of Judah"), in "the hill country" (possibly Hebron). In this narrative his father, Zacharias, is represented as a priest "of the course of Abijah," and his mother Elizabeth (also of priestly descent) as related to Mary, the mother of Jesus. This narrative, which embodies some very primitive fea tures Palestinian in character (it probably depends upon a Hebrew original, and reflects the point of view of the early Palestinian Christian Church), manifests a strong tendency to bring the Bap tist into close connection with Jesus.
In the 15th year of the emperor Tiberius ( ?A.D. 28-29) John began his public life in the "wilderness of Judea," the wild dis trict between the Kedron and the Dead sea, especially near the Jordan. According to the Synoptics his preaching was essentially eschatological in character, being concerned with the nearness of the Messianic kingdom and the consequent urgency for prepara tion by repentance.
Possibly as Streeter (J.Th.S. July 1913) suggests John's bap tism was eschatological. "It was regarded as a 'sealing' or sym bolical act entitling to admission to the coming kingdom. . . .
The essential meaning of the rite would be rather aspiration for the future than regret for the past." Josephus, as cited, seems to suggest that John's baptism must be regarded as a bodily purifica tion corresponding to an inward change, not as a means of re mitting sins; in fact Josephus does not agree with the Synoptic accounts in this respect. Jewish scholars (e.g., Kohler and I. Abrahams) insist on the Essene affinities of John, though John was less rigid. The fourth Gospel preserves a trustworthy tradition in locating one place of John's baptism at "Aenon near to Salim" (John iii. 23.) This must be the modern tAinun, nearly eight
miles north-east of Salim (a town east of Nablus). This fact con firms the view that John preached to the Samaritans, and the per sistent tradition that he was buried at Sebaste in Samaria. See W. F. Albright, Harvard Th. Rev., xvii. p. 193 f.
If, as has been suggested, John's preaching was first of all directed to those who practised an ascetic mode of life, there must have followed a later period when the scope of his mission was widened and he delivered his message to the masses of the people, "the people of the land." He had disciples who fasted (Mark ii. 18, etc.), who visited him regularly in prison (Matt. xi. 2, xiv. 12), and to whom he taught special forms of prayer (Luke v. 33, xi. I). Some of these afterwards became followers of Christ (John i. 37). John's activity indeed had far-reaching effects. It profoundly influenced the Messianic movement depicted in the Gospels. The preaching of Jesus shows traces of this, and the Fourth Gospel (as well as the Synoptics) displays a marked interest in connect ing the Johannine movement with the beginnings of Christianity, though in fact the original connection may have been exaggerated. The existence of disciples of John at Ephesus after the lapse of 25 years is significant (Acts xviii. 25, xix. 3). It is curious that the Mandaeans or Sabians (from Saba—"Baptise"), called also "Christians according to John," have preserved some confused traditions about the Baptist. For Christ's estimate of John, cf. Matt. xi. 7 f. John's ministry terminated in his imprisonment in the fortress of Machaerus, where he was executed by order of Herod Antipas.
See Kohler, in Jew. Encyc., vii. p. 218 f.; I. Abrahams, Studies in Phar. and Gospels, 1st series, pp. 3o ff.; Foakes Jackson and K. Lake, Beginnings of Christianity, i., pp. lot ff.; Arts. MANDAEANS in E.R.E. and in this Encyc.; Box, St. Matt. (Century Bible), pp. 236 ff. for chronology. (G. H. B.)