‫אמת‬

All the Ways of

Truth
The stories of John the Baptist, Jeshua of Nazareth, James the Just (the Church in Jerusalem)
& Paul of Tarsus (the Gentile Church), as they may have happened.

Part :
Prepare the Way

Nigel Perels
© Nigel D. Perels 2020 All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of historical fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents, other than those which are historically attested, are either
the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any presently living persons or modern organ-
izations is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including
infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

All Bible quotations translated from either Hebrew or Greek by the author;
all New Testament quotations adapted from The Clarified English New Testament © Nigel D. Perels 2008-2020

Quotes marked DSSU are from The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered, R. Eisenman & M. Wise, Penguin Books, 1993
(often with minor stylistic alterations).
Quotes marked DSSE are from The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, Geza Vermes, Penguin Books, 2004
(often with minor stylistic alterations).
Quotes marked AJ (Antiquities of the Jews) & BJ (War of the Jews) are from William Whiston’s translation of The Works of
Flavius Josephus, Thomas Nelson, 1847 (often with minor stylistic alterations).
Quotes marked as TGS are from The Gnostic Scriptures, Bentley Layton, SCM Press, 1987
(often with minor stylistic alterations).
 ‘Bend your back to all discipline, and through all
[Wisdom] purify your heart, and in the abundance
of your intellectual potential, investigate the Mystery
of Existence. And ponder all the Ways of Truth,
and consider all the roots of Evil.’
(Fragment , Col. , ll. f, Q [DSSU, - ])
 A Historical Romance in four volumes:

Part :

Prepare the Way (Isaiah : ). The story of Yōḥanan bar Zechariah ‘haMetabbel’,
also known as John the Baptist.

Part :

The Way of God (Matthew : ) The story of Jeshua bar Joseph ‘haMashiyaḥ’,
also known as Jeshua the Anointed (Christ).

Part :

The Way of Righteousness (Matthew : ) The story of Jacob ‘haṢaddiyq’, Simeon ‘Petros’ and the Twelve Apostles
– the founding of the Jewish ‘Church’.

Part :

The Most Excellent Way ( Corinthians : ) The story of Sha’ul ‘Paulus’ and the Gentile Church:
From Jerusalem to Rome.
 Author’s Note

This is a true story... is how I would have liked to have been able to describe this tale. But I cannot – not without
telling lie after lie, until the entire edifice came tumbling down. There is so much that we do not know about the lives,
character, and upbringing of those individuals that are central to Christianity, so much that we think we know until put
to the test, only to find out how little we truly know.
So then, this is not a wholly true story, but where we have written evidence, as well as archaeologically preserved
remains, then that information is contained within this narrative. But so little is preserved that directly and contempo-
raneously relates to Jeshua of Nazareth, John the Baptist, James the Just, Simon Peter and Paul of Tarsus, that we have
to seek information which tells us about the world in which they lived – the world which defined them and made them
into the people we think we know.
There is no reason to assume that because later story-tellers wanted to impose their values and opinions upon
the stories of these individuals, that they never existed, or that their stories are inherently fairy tales, just because
millions of people believe in what they’ve been told. Those stories do not interest me, and I will not be telling them.
The story which I will be telling is one that is possible; one that is plausible; one that may well have happened.
It includes, with some reservations and some exceptions, much of what is told in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and
Luke, a little from the Gospel of John, as well as much that is related by Josephus, that master-storyteller and historian.
Other information is obtained from the Dead Sea Scrolls, from the Tanakh (or Hebrew Bible), the Pseudepigrapha,
Apocrypha, Herodotus (and other Greek historians), Tacitus and other Roman writers, Philo of Alexandria; Coptic,
Syrian, Persian, Armenian, Ethiopic and Egyptian legends, and archaeological sites across the Eastern Mediterranean.
And so, this story is what may have happened in the lives of Jeshua of Nazareth, John the Baptist, James the
Just, Simon Peter, Paul of Tarsus and the other movers and influencers of that time. You will seek miracles in vain, nor
will you find a resurrection or a virgin birth, because this is the story of real people, people like us, with their likes,
dislikes, prejudices, and fears. People from an alien culture – alien to non-Jews, that is, but still at times strange to
modern Jews, let alone to Christians, or followers of different paths.
This story is not a sideways swipe at Christians, although some may see it that way. I have endeavoured to treat
all beliefs with respect (which is why I have omitted some events, rather than narrate what I understand to be lies,
albeit pious ones), but after much deliberation, I am unable to treat pious tales of miracles with the respect with which
they have been imbued. There are some anachronisms – some are deliberate, others are inadvertent, and no doubt there
are many errors. Those are my fault, and I hope they will not detract from the value of this story. There are also
plausible claims by some writers that John the Baptist and Jeshua were vegans, or at least vegetarians – claims that are
based primarily on Gnostic writings. Since they were both Torah-believing Jews, this seems unlikely, since a manda-
tory commandment is to observe Passover, otherwise one would be “cut off” from Israel, and an integral part of Pass-
over is the eating of the paschal lamb – something quite impossible for a Torah-observant Jew to ignore at the time.
Although modern Jews can practise vegetarianism, this choice was not available to Jews at the time of the New Testa-
ment.1 Although Eusebius in his Demonstratio Evangelica states that the apostles practised ‘abstinence from wine and
meat’2, this should not be interpreted that they never drank wine or ate meat, but rather that they regularly fasted, meat
simply meaning food, although, to be fair, this was written about the apostles nearly three hundred years after the fact.
Otherwise this is a true story – as far as culture, fashion, lifestyle, beliefs of people at the time, all are portrayed
with as much veracity as I can ascertain. But the reader needs to be aware that the world in which the New Testament
and other historical individuals lived, is one that is quite alien to most western readers, accustomed as we are to reading
a narrative which has firstly been Hellenised, then Romanised, then (for many readers), Anglicised and modernised.
So put aside your preconceived ideas, your modern worldview, and enter the first century world of the early Roman
Empire and, in particular, that of the Eastern Mediterranean, and look at it with fresh eyes.
 Foreword

This work is primarily a historical romance. It is not a Christian apologetic work, neither is it a Jewish work,
but rather an attempt to recreate the New Testament world and examine the role of Jeshua and his contemporaries.
Wherever a source is available, I have endeavoured to make use of it, so I have trawled the Dead Sea Scrolls, the works
of Philo and Josephus, the Mishnah, Gemara᾽, Talmud and other pertinent Jewish tractates, the histories of Caesar,
Tacitus, Dio Cassius, Suetonius, Herodotus, the works of Greek and Roman poets, orators and statesmen, the writings
of the Gnostics. I have almost certainly forgotten much of what I have read, but have tried to show my sources. Need-
less to say, I have also closely examined the Bible – the Hebrew Tanakh (TNK), the Greek Septuagint (LXX) & New
Testament, and the Latin Vulgate. Indeed, I have been working on a fresh translation from the Greek of the New
Testament, much of which still exists only in manuscript at present, but if I live that long, then I hope someday to
present The Clarified English New Testament.
I should confess that although I was a Christian for a number of years, I am now a Humanist. This metaphysical
position has the advantage that at no time will I be putting a denominational slant on this book, indeed there is much
that the dramatis personae of this work say or do with which I profoundly disagree, but I believe each should speak as
they may well have done, rather than in some rarefied spiritual fashion, so I tend to avoid biblical speech like the
proverbial plague. As a Humanist, I do not believe in miracles, so I allow all rational miracles, and ignore the more
unlikely ones. This will, I suspect, put me at odds with the faith community, but to do otherwise would require dishon-
esty and indeed even gullibility on my part. Hence my explanation of the birth and resurrection of Jeshua…
Originally typed (from a third hand-written draft) in Microsoft ™ Word © , which is not particularly well-
adapted at handing transliterations from Semitic languages and, in particular, does not handle words containing ᾽ and
῾ at all well. It also has had a feature almost since the first Windows version of offering to ignore a word once, but not
permanently – which may be fine for writing letters and short documents, but useless for a novel. To avoid having to
inspect each ignored error each time I add text, I have had to mark a number of words
as Armenian, since I do not have that dictionary/language installed! By so doing, I
have been able to check spelling and grammar on the go – although even then, MS
Word does have some curious idiosyncrasies. I’ve had it offer, incorrectly as it so
happens, to replace you’re with your – an error which rather surprised me; and it
insists the Oxford comma, which I prefer, should be used before ‘and’ in lists, i.e.
‘oranges, apples, grapes, and bananas’, rather than ‘oranges, apples, grapes and ba-
nanas’ – the latter format being my preferred one. It is not, however consistent in this matter. It also treats Roman
numerals as words, with some hilarious suggestions (‘Biloxi’ Mississippi, is often proffered, and what about ‘lixivia’?
I had to look that one up!).
The maps are taken from Map , Palestine, Droysen’s Historical Atlas . This work was published in German,
but this should not affect their usefulness, although a number of the smaller villages mentioned in this work are not
listed here.
Lastly, I must apologise for the endnotes. I realise that one does not ordinarily expect endnotes in a historical
romance, but this work is more of a tapestry where historical works and biblical narrative form the warp and conjecture,
plausible invention and personal narrative form the weft. The endnotes, by and large, are attached to the warp. Please
feel free to ignore them.

If you find this work enjoyable, or useful, then perhaps you could send me a donation to buy a cup of coffee, or
else let me know your thoughts: I am found at ndperels@gmail.com.
 Maps

Figure . Southern Syria, Galilee & minor States (Droysen’s Historical Atlas )
Figure . Phoenicia, Galilee, Samaria & Northern Peraea (Droysen’s Historical Atlas )

Figure . Judaea, Idumaea & Peraea (Droysen’s Historical Atlas )

Figure . Jerusalem & environs (Droysen’s Historical Atlas )
 The story of Yōḥanan bar Zekharyah ‘haMetabbel’, also known as John the Baptist.

Prepare the Way

‫קול קורא—במדבר פנו דרך יהוה ישרו‬
‫בערבה מסלה לאלהינו‬
‘A voice shouting, “In the wilderness, prepare the Way of ’Adonay,
make straight the paths of our God!”’
1
(Isaiah : , Hebrew from the Aleppo Codex )

‘John, that was called the Baptist…who was a good man and com-
manded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards
one another, and piety towards God and so come to baptism; for that the
washing would be acceptable to him… not in order to the putting away
of some sins, but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the
soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness.’
(Antiquities of the Jews XVIII.v. tr. William Whiston )
Prepare the Way

Part

Nigel D. Perels
 Prepare the Way

Chapter
‘By the tender mercy of our God.’ (Luke : )

It was a bitterly cold day. Zechariah bar Zicri shivered as an errant breeze caressed his legs, and adjusted his robes
as he slowly and methodically made his way to the Sanctuary, the Holy Place. It was his privilege and honour to be a
member of a priestly family stretching all the way to the first priest, Aaron, and it was his duty, now that the sun was
setting, to trim the wicks of the seven lamps, to top up the reservoirs of olive oil and to light the menorah. He also had
to burn incense on the incense-altar, and to replace the Bread of the Presence. A precious honour indeed, but he wished
his division, was not serving in the middle of winter!
The twenty-third day of Shevat was not really midwinter, of course, as already seven weeks had passed since
Hanukkah, when the whole city was bathed in the golden glow of thousands of lamps; he particularly loved the eighth
night, when the eighth and final lamp of that special menorah was lit, as the people remembered the rededication of the
House of God, by Judah of the Maccabees. Still, it was very cold…
A priest had to be most punctilious in the proper observation of the calendar and much time was spent in calcu-
lating the correct date. The Essenes of Sekhakhah had devised a much-admired -day solar calendar, arranged in such
a way that no feast or festival could fall on the sabbath and every date always fell on the same day of the week, which
considerably simplified the complex schedule of prescribed sacrifices, but the Great Temple still followed the much
older lunar year. Anyway, the priests were unlikely to pay much attention to a bunch of fanatics who refused to bring
their tithes and Temple taxes to the Temple, but were reputed instead to bury their tithes and offerings in the desert!
Zechariah pondered as he continued in his stately procession across the flagstones of the draughty courtyard.
There seemed to be so schisms among the Jews these days, and that had to be a bad thing! For centuries, the people had,
by and large, been united in their zeal for Adonai, and, although factions had arisen under the Hasmonean kings –
primarily the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and, although less influential, the Essenes – nonetheless the nation had been
as one against the non-Jews. Well, apart, of course, from those apostates who had repudiated their faith entirely, but they
did not count…
But when the Romans came – invited by no less a personage than King Hyrcanus II himself – and Pompey the
Great had pacified the sparring royalist factions2 – then schisms had proliferated: from secularised royalist Hellenised
Jews (so eager to hide their circumcisions when performing in the frankly obscene naked gymnasia and athletics events!)
to rabid separatist Zealots. All held, more or less, to the tenets of the Torah and worship of the One True God, but all
differing hugely in interpretation, direction, and application.
Zechariah stopped as he reached the Sanctuary and settled his thoughts; it really would not do to be meditating
upon schism when he entered the Holy Place! His retinue – his fellow-priests, Ananias, Simeon, Jeshua, and his half-
cousin Matthew, as well as the High Kohen’s assistant, Eleazar, also stopped.
The Kohen haGadōl, or High Priest – as the foreigners called him, although that was such an inadequate term –
Simeon bar Ezer, had been appointed by King Herod amid considerable controversy. Herod had married Simeon’s
daughter Mariamne and elevated her father to the post of Kohen haGadōl which infuriated the conservatives who insisted
that only the descendants of Zadok – the Kohen haGadōl under King Solomon and a direct descendant of Aaron – could
be eligible for the position. The fact that no descendant of Zadok had held that august position for almost years
always seemed to have escaped their worldview…
Zechariah’s retinue of Levite singers, as usual of the line of Isaiah, began to sing, ‘Give thanks to Adonai, for he
is good; his merciful patience endures forever…’3 and two of the Temple servants came forward, one with a gold flask
of pure olive oil and the other bearing a small carved cedarwood box containing especially blended incense. Twelve
other Temple servants, each carrying a freshly baked loaf of bread on a gold salver, waited calmly behind their fellows.
After the ritual of the lamps and incense, Zechariah would then come to the entrance of the Sanctuary to replace the
week-old loaves with the fresh loaves.
He turned slowly and the two servants knelt and held out the oil and the incense, which he accepted with a slight
inclination of his head; then he turned back and took the half-dozen steps into the Golden Sanctuary.
Perhaps it was not as magnificent as Solomon’s was reputed to have been, but the walls gleamed with gold-leaf
and the table was made, as prescribed in the Torah, of acacia-wood overlaid with gold; the menorah and the incense
altar were both made of solid gold and the twelve loaves of the Bread of the Presence – each representative of one of
the Twelve Tribes of Israel – were displayed on solid gold platters. Likewise, the wick-trimmers, censers, sprinkling
bowls and all the other dishes and paraphernalia were also all made of gold.
Separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place – or Holy of Holies – was a thick curtain through which only
the Kohen haGadōl was permitted to pass, and then only on the Day of Atonements. Such was the dread of meeting with
Adonai when the Kohen haGadōl entered this inner sanctuary, that a linen sash was attached to his left ankle so that

Nigel D. Perels
 Prepare the Way

should Adonai strike the Kohen haGadōl dead because of the sins of Israel, his body could be retrieved safely without
further incurring the wrath of the enraged Deity!
There were conflicting rumours about what was in the Most Holy Place. When Pompey the Great had come to
Jerusalem, the ignorant infidel had not only impudently entered the Courtyard of the Israelites – forbidden to all for-
eigners on pain of death – but also the Holy Place and, albeit alone, the Most Holy Place. Some said that he claimed it
to be quite empty, but many Jews believed that Adonai had obscured his vision so that he would not lay unclean eyes
on the Ark of the Covenant and the massive golden cherubim who stretched their wings protectively over the Ark.
This view was, however, most contentious, since others claimed that the Prophet Jeremiah had actually rescued
the Ark from the Babylonian destruction of the House of God and hidden it in a secret cave, which should remain hidden
until the time that Adonai should gather his people together again and receive them with mercy.4 Still others insisted the
prophet had sent the Ark to Arabia or Ethiopia.
At any rate, the Kohen haGadōl was sworn to secrecy concerning anything relating to the Most Holy Place and
was thus unable to either confirm or refute these speculations.
Zechariah began the ritual, trimming the wicks whilst reciting the appropriate prayers. Just as he lit the incense
that he had placed on the incense altar, his vision was suddenly overwhelmed with a brilliant light and a jagged pain
flashed down the right side of his head.
‘Is this what it’s like to see the face of Adonai?’ he thought, as the pain subsided. He slowly released the edge of
the table he had been gripping with his right hand – so hard, he noticed through tear-filled eyes, that his fingertips had
left indentations in the golden surface of the table. He found that he had difficulty moving his left arm, and his left leg
was trembling uncontrollably, but the searing light had faded and he could see again.
Steadying himself against the table, determined to continue the designated prayer of adoration over the smoulder-
ing incense, he opened his mouth only to find that the best he could utter was a strangled squawk – he was quite unable
to speak!
He staggered uncertainly to the entrance of the Temple and steadied himself against a pillar. Ananias and Simeon
took one look at his ashen face and hurried over, whilst Matthew smoothly took Zechariah’s place, accepting the first of
the loaves of the Presence and stepped into the Sanctuary. The ritual had to be completed.
Meanwhile Ananias and Simeon, both distant relatives of Zechariah’s through their common ancestor Abijah,
gently supported him to the chamber of the priests. Still Zechariah could not speak and his left leg was trembling like a
reed in the wind, so after a brief discussion, they decided to help him get to his cousin Matthew’s house where he stayed
whenever he was in Jerusalem.
By the end of the week, as the duties of the Eighth Division of Abijah were coming to an end, apart from the full
moon sacrifice, it was evident that Zechariah was not going to regain the power of speech soon, if ever again, so on the
third day of the week his cousin sorted out an especially placid donkey and, leaving at sunrise, escorted him to his home
in a busy market town nearby: Bethlehem, in the hill country of Judah and the town where the great King David bar
Jesse had been born a thousand years earlier.5
His wife Elizabeth had been forewarned by a mutual friend, so was ready to receive her pale and shaken husband.
She helped him dismount and tenderly bathed his face, hands, and feet, before assisting him to a couch. He smiled wanly
at her, tried to say her name, but could only muster a faint croak, much to his wife’s dismay. Matthew shared a brief
meal with them then left, eager to get back to Jerusalem before it was too dark.
That evening Elizabeth had to help Zechariah to disrobe and prepare for bed; fortunately, as it was still rather
cold, the bedding had not been moved up to the roof where they slept every summer, so Zechariah did not have to worry
about struggling up the steps. Once Elizabeth had completed the evening’s chores, they lay quietly together.
They were very comfortable in each other’s company as they had been married for thirty-two years. She had only
just turned thirteen when she was married to the gangly, good-natured, twenty-year-old priest, to whom she had been
betrothed since she was eight.
Being a priestly household, they had been blessed to have had the services not only of a Jewish maidservant,
Beulah, paid for out of the Sanctuary Treasury, but also a foreign slave, a eunuch, bought for them as a wedding gift.
The slave was called Hippomanes, as his former owner, a Greek charioteer, was ‘mad about horses’ (hence his name).
No-one knew what his birth name was except that it was unpronounceable, as he had come as a small boy from Scythia
in the far north.
Life was good and the couple had never lacked for any material desire, but one great sadness overshadowed their
otherwise happy existence: they were childless. How they had begged Adonai in the early days – initially for a son to
minister to Adonai, but as time went by their please grew more impassioned as they implored the Almighty to give them
a child, a boy, a girl, it no longer mattered what…

Nigel D. Perels
 Prepare the Way

The years passed by; Zechariah gained recognition for his learning and zealous attention to the minutiae of the
Torah, and for his piety and impartial righteousness in dispensing judgements, whilst Elizabeth became renowned for
her hospitality and generosity to the poor. But now, well it was too late for them – Elizabeth was almost forty-five, so it
was most unlikely that there would be any children or grandchildren to comfort their old age.
Of all the commandments, one that Zechariah and Elizabeth would have happily obeyed even if it had not been a
commandment, was the rabbinical teaching that a husband and wife should not withhold themselves from each other,
lest they stray and seek sexual solace in the arms of another. Elizabeth was deeply aware of her husband’s fretting as he
worried about what was happening to him now, and what might happen in the future, so she took it upon herself to take
his mind off his worries, even if only for a short time. She gently aroused him, then the couple made love, albeit a trifle
clumsily in his palsied state, with a tenderness borne of many years’ familiarity.

⸎⸎⸎

Purim arrived two weeks later and gifts were exchanged as was the custom. Zechariah seemed more like himself,
aside from his worryingly continued inability to speak, and a tendency to lurch suddenly whilst walking.
Elizabeth prepared for her monthly seven-day ritual uncleanness and went into pūrdah, separation, in rooms set
aside for that purpose for herself and Beulah, although Beulah had not required the rooms now for over a year.
A woman living in a non-priestly household was required to stay indoors during her monthly courses, but other-
wise lived normally, but in a priestly household life was very different. She had to be careful not to touch her husband
or even the dishes from which he ate, lest he became ceremonially unclean and unable to perform his sacred duties.
Even when not on duty in the Temple, a priest was required to carry out certain duties from home, such as mediating
disputes, consoling the bereaved, comforting the ailing and the dying, and ensuring the distribution of alms and provi-
sions to widows and orphans. All of which could be jeopardised by accidental uncleanness, and why the household had
servants to minister to the priest during such times as his wife could not, as well as to lighten the burden upon the priest
and his family.
Although it seemed unlikely that her husband would again serve his division’s duties in the House of God, he
would still minister to his community and anyway old habits die hard, so Elizabeth withdrew to the comfort of her
quarters. Yet her monthly course did not start, and she sadly contemplated the childless future that assuredly lay before
her. She had never accepted that she was barren and had even, although very secretly in the deepest recesses of her heart,
wondered whether Zechariah was to blame (not, of course, that she could ever have even imagined being unfaithful to
him so as to find out!). But now, well it did not matter anymore – she would never know how it felt to nurse a little baby
at her breast… She broke down and wept.
In ancient times Adonai had answered the prayers of Hannah6 and she had borne Samuel, who had become a
mighty prophet and kingmaker; yet she, who had also obeyed, honoured, and revered Adonai, was not to be likewise
blessed. She left seclusion reluctantly, as though by remaining she might suddenly start menstruating: she felt diminished
and worthless, no longer, as she saw it, able to fulfil the function for which she had been created.
That night she whispered to Zechariah that they would now never have any children, and they grieved together…

⸎⸎⸎

Spring arrived. Lambs were beginning to appear on the hillsides around Bethlehem, and Passover was just around
the corner. Zechariah was fully recovered as far as his palsy was concerned, but frustratingly still unable to make much
more than unintelligible croaky whispers and had to make his wishes known by writing on a slate, which caused further
problems for the household, since neither Beulah nor Hippomanes could read, so this meant that Elizabeth – who was
temporarily overseeing the distribution of alms and provisions to the widows and orphans of their community – had to
be on hand to interpret.
The house also had to be cleaned for Passover and the week-long festival of Unleavened Bread – even although
the couple always went to cousin Matthew’s home in Jerusalem, the house had to be spotlessly clean in case any crumbs
of leavened bread were present, which defile the house if left during Unleavened Bread. Whilst she was busy with this
task, she realised suddenly that she somehow felt different.
She had been a little nauseous these past few days and her breasts felt rather tender and perhaps a little fuller. Was
she also gaining weight? She thought back to all her mother had told her to expect concerning the change of life, but her
self-examination did not seem to reveal the appropriate symptoms. Nevertheless, perhaps this was natural at her time of
life…

Nigel D. Perels
 Prepare the Way

Zechariah and Elizabeth travelled up to the holy city on the fourth day of the week so that they could spend the
next few days leading up to the day of preparation, in getting ready for Passover which started at sunset on the first day
of the week that year.
Although Zechariah was classed as mute, he was still permitted to enter the Temple, which he did at the ninth
hour. Had he been blind or deaf, he would have been considered as unclean, and excluded from the Court of the Israelites,
since a blind man cannot see whether something is unclean or not, and a deaf man cannot hear the words of the Torah,
so does not know what is clean and what is not. Had he still been partially lame he may have had to delegate the sacrifice
of his lamb to Matthew, but otherwise would still have been permitted to mingle with the other priests. A priest who had
lost part of his body through injury – regardless of cause – was permanently excluded from the priesthood, although his
sons were not affected.
The air was filled with the piteous bleating of yearling lambs, and smoke billowed up into the sky from the
thousands of burnt offerings. There was a strong smell of charred fat and entrails, and the air was laden with the coppery
stench of blood – smells that always reminded Zechariah of the story of Noah in the Torah, where Adonai smelt the
pleasing aroma of the clean animals and birds which Noah sacrificed when he came out of the ark after the Flood, which
was also when Adonai had commanded mankind to refrain from consuming the blood of his creatures.7
So many lambs were sacrificed at Passover, and so many men were milling about the Court of the Israelites, that
it was impossible to avoid being spattered with blood and one would end up with feet and sandals drenched in the blood
and ordure of the sacrificial lambs. Flies were, of course, an unpleasant, albeit concomitant component of life in the
Temple, and Zechariah was pursued by persistent hordes of hovering flies as he carried the carcase of the lamb home,
where it would be skinned and spit-roasted whole under his watchful supervision, as he had to ensure that no bones were
inadvertently broken in the process.
As head of the household in Jerusalem, Matthew presided over the celebration of the Passover that night, although
Zechariah would normally have had that honour as he was head of the extended family – as well as being a chief priest;
Matthew likewise was a chief priest, but was junior to his cousin. Zechariah’s father had died from convulsions several
years earlier, just before Zechariah had turned fifty, so he was now the oldest surviving male of the line of Abijah. He
was, however, still unable to speak, so Matthew, only two years his junior, conducted the seder.
Fifteen people reclined, oriental-style, at the Passover meal that night: Zechariah and Elizabeth; Matthew and his
wife Judith (the Kohen haGadōl’s sister), and their two sons, with their wives, and three daughters; Matthew’s elderly
parents Theophilus and Azubah; Judith’s mother, who spent some feasts with her illustrious son, and some with her
daughter and an elderly widower called Michael, who lived next door. A sixteenth couch was made available, according
to custom, for Elijah, should he choose that night to return, although should a stranger call by it would be ready for him
instead.
And so, the evening progressed, as they solemnly ate the Passover lamb, matzah, bitter herbs, and steamed vege-
tables, and drank the prescribed number of cups of wine. Then they took turns in retelling the story of the Going Out
from Egypt: how the mighty Moses had, in the power of Adonai, parted the waters of the Sea of Reeds, so that all the
children of Israel could cross safely, and how the waters had then returned and drowned the hard-hearted pharaoh and
his army who had been pursuing them, wishing to return the people to slavery.
The following morning was a special sabbath and a fast day until sunset, the first of Unleavened Bread, as pre-
scribed in the Five Fifths of Moses, so after a visit to the synagogue, the family rested, entertaining each other with
stories drawn not only from the Torah, but also from the Prophets and the Writings.
The family attended daily meetings at the Sheep Gate Synagogue for the rest of the week of the festival, where
the ruler, a member of the sect of the Pharisees, taught about the expected Prophet that Moses foretold, the Messiah,
who was to deliver Adonai’s people from the Roman oppressors. At one of these meetings Elizabeth looked across to
where the menfolk were sitting, and, sure enough, her husband was nodding in agreement, as were most of the men
there, which was to be expected since it seemed that every time one attended a service, all one heard about these days,
was how Adonai’s Messiah would come and free Israel from the tyranny of a mad king and the over-lordship of infidels,
and usher in a new, glorious and righteous kingdom.
After the second special sabbath, at the end of the Feast, Zechariah and Elizabeth returned to Bethlehem on the
third day – as he was unable to perform priestly duties there seemed little reason to stay to watch the Waving of the
Barley Sheaf simply as spectators rather than as active participants.
Once home, Elizabeth settled back into her usual housekeeping duties, whilst Zechariah spent his time sitting in
a shady corner of the courtyard, meditating and poring over several precious sheets painstakingly copied from the great
scroll of the Prophet Isaiah; his inability to speak very obviously perturbing him, as evinced by the grunts, moans and
other sounds emanating from his still semi-paralysed throat.8

Nigel D. Perels
 Prepare the Way

⸎⸎⸎

The month of Nisan came to an end and Iyyar arrived. The wheat fields were streaked with golden yellow as the
grain ripened, and the last of the barley was being harvested. Elizabeth continued to experience unexpected changes in
her body and by Pentecost in mid-Sivan, she could wait no longer as her belly seemed bloated and her breasts felt
swollen and tender.
When the couple was back in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks, she decided to consult the wise woman
whose services she had made use of some years earlier when Zechariah’s father fell ill. Although the old man had
eventually died, she nonetheless had confidence in her skills – as it so happened, the wise woman had diagnosed that
the old man had a canker of the bowel, and no number of potions, lotions or tinctures could heal that sort of disease.
Elizabeth quietly left the house near the Sheep Gate just after dawn, and made her way to the Fish Market, to a
little house in a nearby side street. She knocked tentatively at the carefully oiled door, as though she were afraid to
smudge the shiny surface, although in reality it was because she was afraid the wise woman would take one look at her
and tell her that she, too, was pregnant with a malignant canker… After a few moments, a stout, elderly woman an-
swered, took her inside and invited her to sit on a couch, whilst she bustled about the fireplace making a soothing herbal
tea.
The two women conferred awhile with Elizabeth expressing concern about what seemed to be happening to her
body, then the wise woman examined her methodically.
‘Well, daughter,’ she remarked, while Elizabeth readjusted her clothing, ‘Of course you need to be particularly
careful at your age, but you have no cause for concern at present – your pregnancy is progressing splendidly as far as I
can tell.’
Elizabeth was stunned. ‘But,’ she stammered, ‘how can that be? Am I not too old? And… and well, I never had a
moment’s morning sickness, well perhaps a couple of times, now I come to think of it – but that was surely due to a bad
piece of fish; but my sister was sick every day for the first three months or so…’ She paused. ‘Are you sure? And how
far gone am I?’
‘Very sure, daughter – it was obvious to me as soon as you walked through my doorway! Indeed, that was why I
gave you the camomile tea… I would say,’ she continued, ‘that you are probably in the early part of the second trimester
– between three or four months into your pregnancy.’
Elizabeth walked pensively back to the house near the Sheep Gate. She still felt confused and not a little guilty at
having doubted Adonai’s power and compassion. Adonai had indeed had mercy on her and Zechariah after all these
barren years. She would name her son – she just knew the baby growing inside her was a boy! – John, meaning Adonai
had mercy. She kept this thought to herself, though, as it was a paternal prerogative to name sons.
She decided to wait for the right moment to tell Zechariah, but in the end did not have long to wait. They returned
to Bethlehem the following day; as they lay in their bed on the roof that evening, Zechariah rolled over, picked up his
slate and thoughtfully wrote something by the light of the oil lamp.
He then took her by the hand and passed over the slate: ARE YOU PUTTING ON WEIGHT, MY WIFE?
she read aloud with amusement.
‘It’s not what you think, Zechariah dear,’ she said, a smile lighting up her face as he had not seen for many years.
‘After all these years of supplication, Adonai has had mercy on us and has answered our prayers. I’m going to have a
baby!’
The old priest stared at her in astonishment, then with tears of joy trickling down his cheeks, he kissed her gently.
Then he moved aside the covers, lifted her night robe, and kissed her belly which was clearly beginning to swell with
new life.
The next morning, she told her neighbours and soon the whole quarter where they lived was buzzing with the
news that kind, generous, loving, barren Elizabeth had been blessed by Adonai and was with child! Sivan ended in a
blur of visits, gifts, and advice, and she was careful not to overdo things, but to leave the more physical chores to Beulah
and Hippomanes. As was customary, the couple now refrained from sexual intercourse, but as they were so solicitous
of the welfare of the unborn babe, it was no hardship at all.
Tammuz came and passed, and still Zechariah had not uttered a single intelligible word. It seemed he was destined
to remain mute and so never again to perform the sacred rituals in the House of God – a role he had been destined to
fulfil since birth. Furthermore, most of his communal duties had been transferred to other priests living in the town and
Zechariah did not know which loss of function troubled him more…
Tammuz became Ab, and the Eighth Division, the Course of Abijah, ministered in the House of God; but Zecha-
riah was not present, and his cousin Matthew officiated in his place.

Nigel D. Perels
 Prepare the Way

It was very hot that summer and every day the dust-settlers would sprinkle the roads with water, for just a lepton
or two, to settle the dust outside the houses. The priestly household was entitled to this service for free, but Zechariah
was scrupulous in his payments to the men, all of whom were desperately poor. The heat was hard on Elizabeth, and
Beulah kept her cool with regular cold baths drawn from the family purification-bath.
The fields were green with the second crops of the year, and gardens were burgeoning with produce: peas, beans,
and lentils; cabbages, kale, beets, and carrots; onions, garlic, and chives; squashes, gourds, and cucumbers. Likewise,
mint, coriander, dill, chervil, sorrel, and rue, as well as mustard and cumin – all were ready for picking, plucking,
pickling, preserving, or spreading on the rooftops to dry. Fruit trees, too, were full of ripening figs, almonds, pomegran-
ates, persimmons, and olives; heavy clusters of dates were almost ready to harvest from the omnipresent palms, and
vines were groaning under the weight of swelling bunches of grapes.
It was a time full of promise and plenty, and one could pretend that King Herod the Great (as he proudly called
himself) was really a mighty independent Hasmonean monarch, rather than the half-breed, half-mad puppet-king of a
Roman Provincia.
⸎⸎⸎

Elizabeth was about six months pregnant when, towards the end of Ab, she had a surprise visit – her cousin
Hannah (who had married Joachim, a distant cousin of the line of Aaron) arrived from Bethsaida in Galilee, where
Joachim taught as a rabban in the newly built synagogue.
She had her daughter Miriam in tow, and Miriam wore a very sheepish expression. After they had washed their
faces and hands, and Beulah had washed their feet, they made themselves comfortable under the date palm, where they
were provided with refreshments.
Hannah then leant across to her cousin and cast a slightly furtive glance at Zechariah who was sitting on the far
side of the courtyard, apparently napping in the afternoon sun. ‘Now listen carefully, cousin – you won’t believe this!’
she began. ‘᾽Ōy ᾽iy! Such disgrace! And a daughter of mine! Where shall I begin? Well…’ before Elizabeth could re-
spond, ‘you know that nice young man, Hosea, son of Abraham the potter? Of, of course you don’t, but Abraham’s
father owned the pottery behind old Nathanael’s bakery…’
Elizabeth nodded at the last comment, as she recalled Nathanael’s bakery – he had not been old in those days!
She was born in Bethsaida and lived there until she married Zechariah and moved away. The last time she had seen
Abraham, he could not have been older than ten as she had never returned to the town since she had married, but she
forbore to interrupt the flow of Hannah’s narrative.
‘We’d betrothed our Miriam to Hosea when she was eight, and were in negotiations concerning the dowry with
Abraham and Hephzibah, when Miriam – oh, the shame! She said it was an angel, but angels don’t make nice girls
pregnant!’9
Elizabeth nearly fell of her couch with surprise. If this news became common knowledge, Miriam would be seized
and dragged before the local sanhedrin and there could be only one outcome – she would be stoned to death!
‘Of course, it wasn’t an angel – now Joachim knows nothing of this part yet – she and Joseph, Jacob the carpenter’s
eldest, had been fooling around. Fooling around? ᾽Ōy ᾽iy! What foolishness it is that leads to death and disgrace!’ And
Hannah started to weep loudly, whilst Miriam looked hopefully at the ground, wishing it would swallow her up and
remove her from this unbearable situation.
Zechariah looked up and got slowly to his feet. Although mainly recovered from the incident in the Sanctuary –
apart from his continued lack of speech – he had been suffering from rheumatism in his hips, and was finding it harder
to move about. He crossed the courtyard, rummaging in a fold of his robe for his stylus to write on the new wax tablet
hanging from a cord around his neck.
DON’T BE AFRAID, he wrote, MIRYAM CAN STAY WITH US UNTIL THE BABY IS BORN.
Once Hannah had deciphered his scrawl, he smoothed the wax and continued: FIND JOSEPH AND INSIST HE
COMES HERE BEFORE THE DAY OF ATONEMENTS. Again, she read it aloud, and again, he smoothed
it over, and wrote: AND HE WILL MARRY MIRYAM HERE IN BETHLEHEM.
Elizabeth looked askance at her husband – he had certainly mellowed since his affliction! Not all that long ago,
he would have been outraged at such immorality and at the very least demanded she be driven away in disgrace into the
wilderness. Now he had learned compassion and mercy.
‘As my husband wrote, Hannah, young Miriam is welcome to stay with us – indeed, I think it will be the safest
thing to do.’ Then she surprised her guests by adding, ‘As it so happens, I too have been blessed by Adonai, and am
soon to have a child of my own!’ At this, she felt a stirring within her womb – the first she had ever felt, and tears of joy
streamed down her cheeks. Her guests were astonished and delighted for her, although her news was diminished by their
predicament.

Nigel D. Perels
 Prepare the Way

So young Miriam, not yet thirteen, was brought into the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth. The older woman took
it upon herself to continue Miriam’s education, both spiritual and practical, and the two spent much time together. Zech-
ariah had managed to obtain two cors of good quality wool, so the women were kept busy combing, carding, and spin-
ning the wool, and then weaving cloth to make into blankets and baby clothing, as well as winter robes for the household.
Miriam may have lost her innocence, but she was such a gentle, loving soul that no-one visiting the house could
have imagined she had fallen in such a way. Friends were told that she was staying with them whilst her husband, Joseph,
was working in the new city of Sepphoris in Galilee, where his skills as a builder’s carpenter were much in demand.
Almost true, although the consummation had preceded the marriage, so in the eyes of Adonai, they were already married.
The wedding actually took place, if a little furtively, in the middle of Elul, three weeks after Miriam arrived, much to
her delight and relief, since Joseph’s prompt appearance at the house, demonstrated not only his genuine love for Miriam,
but that he was also otherwise a man of honour.
The month of Elul also was the time when anyone who owned an olive tree or two, got friends around to help
harvest the olives. Since these fruit cling tenaciously to the branches of the trees, there would be much enthusiastic
thrashing of the trees, and youngsters would clamber around the branches picking those obstinate olives which still
refused to let go. Some of the fruit would be eaten fresh, and some preserved in brine, but most would be taken to a
local oil press to extract the supremely useful oil – the precious life-blood of the nations around the Great Sea. Used in
cooking and for medicinal purposes, for good quality lighting, for massage, lubrication, and skin cleansing (with a strigil,
in the Roman manner, or as soap) – indeed its uses seemed limited only by human imagination!
Elizabeth usually accompanied Zechariah when he travelled to Jerusalem around the twentieth and twenty-first
of the month for the Feast of Oil-Giving, when the tithe of the first pressing was given to the Temple for the menorah
and other lamps, and the Feast of Wood-Gathering or Xylophory, as the Hellenised Jews called it, when carefully se-
lected wood was given to fuel the altar for burnt offerings. Due to her condition and her concern for her unborn child,
she was loath to do anything which might cause complications and was also unwilling to leave Miriam, so she decided
to stay behind.
Zechariah returned as soon as he could on the twenty fourth of the month, as it had finally dawned on him that
his wife really was in no condition to travel to Jerusalem for the approaching festal season: the Day of Remembrance,
the Ten Days of Repentance, the Fast of the Day of Atonements and the week-long Feast of Tabernacles. He would be
away from his wife and young charge for just over four weeks and needed to ensure they were going to be safe whilst
he was away, especially now that Elizabeth was seven months advanced in her pregnancy.
He made arrangements for the midwife to make regular checks on her and ordered Hippomanes to make his bed
by the front entrance of the house. A previous owner had castrated Hippomanes, so that he could be trusted to guard his
womenfolk and, as a result, he had gained a great deal of weight, so an intruder would not find it easy to get past him;
and the geese in the courtyard would raise a mighty clamour if a stranger tried to gain access over a wall. Satisfied that
he had done all he physically could, he commended them all into the care of Adonai, blessed them and left for the festal
weeks in Jerusalem.
It was a time of mixed feelings for Zechariah – so much where he could no longer participate…

‘Let us sing to Adonai a new song

For he has done marvellous things!
Salvation comes from his right hand
And it flows from his holy arm!’10

The Day of Remembrance was about to commence and there was an air of expectancy as the pilgrims waited for
the three notes of the shofar – the ram’s horn blown at New Moons and the Day of Remembrance. Then a priest from
the Fourteenth Division of Jeshebeab blew the shofar and the sonorous notes echoed across the city.

‘He remembers his love and faithfulness unto the house of Israel;
All the ends of the Land have seen his salvation!
Shout for joy to Adonai, all the Land;
All make a loud noise with song and music,
Play music to Adonai with the harp —
Yes, with the harp, and with the sound of singing;
With trumpets and with the sound of the shofar
Rejoice before the King, our Adonai!’11

Nigel D. Perels
 Prepare the Way

And the silver trumpets rang out in commemoration as required by the Torah,12 giving the day its alternate desig-
nation of Feast of Trumpets. As the pilgrims praised Adonai and jubilantly swirled about Zechariah, he felt alone. He
had no voice and could only mime the psalms and prayers, and his rheumatism was really hurting so much that he could
not dance for Adonai. He returned to cousin Matthew’s house in a sombre mood, at odds with the exultant pilgrims
surging around him.
During the Days of Repentance, several friends came to see him to pay back small loans or to seek his forgiveness
for real or supposed affronts. He searched his heart – had he offended or hurt anyone over the past year, or held a grudge
or unforgiveness? He could not think of anything specifically, but set off regardless to visit friends, extended family,
and fellow priests to ask if he had inadvertently offended them and to ask for their forgiveness if he had.
And so the Day of Atonements arrived – the day Israel’s sin would be covered over: the most solemn day of the
year, the Day of Atonements when the Kohen haGadōl, Simeon, would enter the Most Holy Place, to plead for for-
giveness from Adonai, for the sins of his people, Israel. Assuming Simeon survived his encounter, he would then cast
lots for the life of one of two carefully selected male goats; one would be sacrificed for a sin offering on behalf of the
people, the other, the ῾azaz᾿el,13 would have the sins of the people transferred to him, then taken away and released into
the wilderness, carrying his metaphorical burden into oblivion.
The day was a regular sabbath,14 and Matthew – who was the cantor of the Sheep Gate Synagogue – had finished
leading the congregation in the appropriate psalms. The haftorah reading from the Prophets, which followed, was a
passage which suddenly spoke volumes to Zechariah – a passage from the great prophet Isaiah: ‘A voice of one calling,
“In the wilderness, prepare the way for Adonai; make straight in the wilderness a road for our God …”’15
When he heard those words, he heard a small, quiet voice in his heart. I have had mercy on you, Zechariah bar
Zicri. Your son will become a mighty prophet who will prepare the way in the wilderness for me. When he is born, he’s
to be set apart for me; he’s to be a life-long nazirite16 for me.
‘Of course,’ he thought, ‘my Elizabeth is another Hannah, barren until Adonai opened her womb, and my son will
be a second Samuel! Adonai has had mercy upon us. Hmm, his name can only be John, so that through him, we can tell
all of Adonai’s mercy! Perhaps he’ll be greater than Samuel, who judged our people and made kings; perhaps he’ll be
another Elijah who broke kings and showed the way to the kingdom of Adonai!’ As he mused, he felt at peace with the
world, and came to terms with his own afflictions. John would be all the voice he needed!
He danced with exhilaration over that Feast of Tabernacles, barely feeling the pain in his hips, waving the palm
frond and citron17 with all his might, as he went up to the House of God to live for a week, in leafy tabernacles made of
branches and palm fronds,18 with the other priests, the Kohen haGadōl and his household, as they remembered the time
the children of Israel lived in the wilderness.
After the second statutory sabbath, Zechariah left on the fifth day for Bethlehem, eager to see Elizabeth and to
share with her his vision for their son. However, when he arrived home, he quite forgot his intentions, as Elizabeth was
full of the news that Miriam had left.
Joseph had returned from Sepphoris where he had been working, as he had acquired a modest home in a tiny
hamlet in the valley of Neṣereth, where an uncle of his had lived. This uncle, a widower, had recently passed away and
as he had no children, he had left his home to his eldest nephew. Nobody knew Joseph there, and it was a fair distance
from Bethsaida, so he could safely live there with his young wife without anyone asking awkward questions. So, the
couple had left Bethlehem, but promised to return when Miriam’s time was near, as she wanted a familiar midwife to
deliver her baby.
⸎⸎⸎

Towards the end of Marcheshvan, Elizabeth finally gave birth to a strong, healthy son. The last few weeks of
pregnancy had been very hard on her, and she was very weak from blood loss. Zechariah was in turns wildly ecstatic
and deeply troubled as he watched her nurse their precious child for the first time. She was exhausted, her once shiny
soot-black hair now streaked with dull grey, matted against her face and neck, but she refused to hand the baby over to
the midwife until she had examined him closely for any defects.
As was customary, the baby was then carefully wiped clean, and rubbed gently with olive oil and salt to toughen
his skin; he was then firmly wrapped in swaddling bands – strips of linen – to stop him from moving around too freely.
Elizabeth would be holding him close to her in a sling, so that she would be able to nurse the infant more easily. He
would not officially be named until he was eight days old and had been circumcised, but the cousins and neighbours
who were soon clustering around Elizabeth, wanted to know him name.
‘John,’ she replied, much to Zechariah’s surprise and delight. ‘For Adonai had mercy upon us.’

Nigel D. Perels
 Prepare the Way

Several cousins remonstrated about this and started squabbling, since this was not a family name. One demanded
of Zechariah that he tell them what the boy was really to be called, suggesting the names Zechariah or perhaps Zicri, a
good family name and also the name of the child’s grandfather.
Zechariah smiled, looked at Elizabeth, who was silently imploring him to support her choice, took his tablet and
wrote: THE BOY ’S NAME IS JOHN, FOR INDEED ADONAI HAD MERCY UPON US! As he
handed the tablet over to be read, he croaked, with a voice long out of practice, ‘John. He must be called John!’
The room fell silent as everyone turned in wonder to Zechariah.
‘You spoke, my husband!’ Elizabeth said, her face glowing with delight. ‘Hallelū Yah! You can speak again!’

Nigel D. Perels
 Chapter
‘And when the days of purification have been fulfilled…’ (Leviticus : )

John bar Zechariah, one day to be known as haMetabbel,1 was duly circumcised on the eighth day in accordance
with the covenant of Abraham, in late Marcheshvan, in the thirtieth regnal year of King Herod ‘the Great’; the twenty-
fifth regnal year of the Imperator Augustus Caesar as counting from the Battle of Actium, when he defeated Marcus
Antonius and his royal wife Cleopatra VII Philopatōr; a year also known to the people of Rome as ab urbe condita
‘from the founding of the city’; to the people of Antioch and Syria as the Seleucid year and to the Greeks as the
rd
second year of the Olympiad. A year which was also to see what was then an insignificant event, but which later
had massive repercussions: the birth of John’s second cousin, Jeshua bar Joseph.2
A week after the baby had been circumcised, the household celebrated Hanukkah. Zechariah was torn between
wanting to share his delight in the birth of his son and his physical restoration with his fellow priests in the joyful
celebration of the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and staying at home with his wife who was still unclean from the
birth. Eventually he decided to stay put in Bethlehem; he would tell Simeon the Kohen haGadōl personally when his
family visited the House of God to make the prescribed sacrifice on the fourth of Tevet, when the time of his wife’s
ritual uncleanness would be complete – a total of thirty-three days (plus three days to the end of Hanukkah) counting
from John’s circumcision.3
So, Elizabeth stayed in her quarters for just over a month, but so overjoyed was she to be a mother at last, that the
time sped by for her. Each morning and evening, Zechariah, who waited impatiently for her confinement to finish, came
to her door, and peered through the fine fretwork of the carved wooden screen, to gaze at the serene features of his son,
and to offer up prayers of benediction and praise over his wife and baby.
At last the time of waiting was over, and on the morning following the eighth day of Hanukkah, the little family
prepared for the journey to Jerusalem. Travelling on donkeys as usual, they planned to leave at daybreak, and Beulah
packed necessities on a fourth ass, since she was to accompany the family, so as to help look after the baby. As the sun
rose on a cold, crisp winter’s morning, they mounted the donkeys and soon were plodding placidly along.
By early afternoon the intramural towers of Antonia, Hippikos, Mariamne, and Phasael, and the peaks and towers
of the roof of the Temple, slowly hove into view, with the slopes of the Mount of Olives shimmering behind them. The
road drew closer to the Hinnom Valley where, infamously, children had once been sacrificed to evil demons some seven
hundred years previously. The rubbish of centuries had been since been discarded here – small fires were smouldering
here and there, and dogs and vultures squabbled over the bones of countless sacrifices.
The road then swerved to pass closely by the Pool of Solomon – or the Pool of Bathsheba, where the wife of
Uriah the Hittite ensnared King David and lured him into the twin sins of adultery and the murder of her husband.
Despite this inauspicious beginning, which cost them the life of their first son, their second son Solomon became the
greatest and most powerful king Israel had ever known…
They entered by the gate to the Old City, the Dung Gate, so called because from the days of Nehemiah, the first
Governor of Judah after the Exile, ashes from the burnt sacrifices as well as ordure, were taken from the Temple out of
the city by this gate, to be dumped in the Hinnom Valley. Many folks, however, preferred to use the more euphemistic
name, the Beautiful Gate.
As they had made very good time, they left Beulah to sort out the donkeys at cousin Matthew’s house and went
to the House of God. Then Elizabeth, cradling baby John in a sling, went to the Court of the Women and presented the
presiding priest with a yearling lamb for the burnt offering and a dove for the sin offering.
Zechariah had purchased both creatures for that purpose, from the animal market in Solomon’s Colonnade, when
they arrived at the House of God, since they kept neither sheep nor doves; although they both disliked having a market
within the walls of the House of God, not even the Kohen haGadōl had the authority to move it out, since it was so
profitable for the house of Herod. Of course, no honourable Kohen haGadōl would stoop to accepting any income from
either the animal market or the money-changers.
Elizabeth watched as the priest said the prescribed prayers and then, as his assistants held the lamb, he deftly slit
the animal’s throat and watched dispassionately as its blood flowed into the gutter. Elizabeth had long hated watching
sacrificial slaughters, as she felt personally responsible for the innocent creatures which had to die for her sins and purify
her, as it were, with their blood. However, as the wife of a chief priest, she was expected to stand by passively as the
blood gushed out. Fortunately, she was standing some distance away as the Court of the Israelites separated her from
the altar.
The priest dipped a small bronze ladle into the still flowing blood and, continuing to mutter the prescribed prayers,
walked around the altar, sprinkling a little blood on each side of it. The altar had since time immemorial been built of
rough, unhewn stone, as no iron tool was permitted to touch or even be brought near the altar of Adonai. This particular
altar had been rebuilt only a few years earlier from the stones selected by the priests of the Maccabees when the Second
Temple of Nehemiah had been rededicated. The rest of this magnificent edifice in which Elizabeth found herself, had
been only quite recently completed, built under the patronage of King Herod, a little after the somewhat dilapidated
older building had been irrevocably damaged in the earthquake of Herod’s sixth regnal year.
 Prepare the Way

Having skilfully butchered the carcase of the lamb, the priest carefully arranged the portions over the burning
wood on the altar. This sacrifice was completely for Adonai, so the meat would be left to burn to ashes, which would be
collected the following morning and taken to a designated disposal area in the Hinnom Valley. He then took the dove,
deftly wrung its neck, partially separating the head from the body and sprinkled a little of the blood against the sides of
the altar, allowing the rest of the blood to drain away into the gutter. He placed the bird in a receptacle, along with the
carcases of other sin offerings which would be cooked in bronze pots and eaten by the duty priests and Levites that
evening. Any leftovers would be disposed of the following morning along with the ashes from the altar.4
The priest came back over to Elizabeth, stretched out his arms in benediction over mother and child, and solemnly
intoned the Berakhōt Koheniym over them: ‘Adonai shall bless you and keep you; Adonai makes his face to shine upon
you, and is gracious to you; Adonai turns his face to you and gives you shalom.’5 He smiled kindly at her and inclined
his head to whisper, ‘Congratulations! Zechariah must be very proud!’ and then walked towards another supplicant.
Elizabeth stayed a little longer, whispering prayers of gratitude to Adonai, then turned and walked through the
glorious House of God. From the Court of the Women she entered the Court of the Foreigners, which was the closest an
῾orlah or uncircumcised non-believer could come to the Sanctuary and altar. Indeed, there was a stone tablet beside each
entrance, declaring in Greek:
LET NO FOREIGNER ENTER BEYOND THIS WALL AND ENCLOSURE SURROUNDING
THE SANCTUARY. BY SO DOING, THIS WILL BE THE GROUNDS FOR DEATH.6
She usually only visited the House of God during feasts and special sabbaths, but there were so many pilgrims
then, that one could see very little in the constant jostle and bustle, so it was a special treat for her to visit the place on
a relatively quiet weekday. She gazed in stunned admiration at the gilded Sanctuary, its entrance shrouded by a heavy
curtain embroidered with purple flowers and decorated with gold pomegranates and bells, all surrounded by an extraor-
dinary vine wrought from pure gold, with branches draped cunningly around the entrance. She gaped unselfconsciously
at the mighty ᾿Ammūdiym Shlomoh – or Stoa of Solomon, as the Hellenised Jews called it – with its four rows of colossal
Corinthian columns: each so wide that three men with outstretched arms could barely encompass its girth, and eighteen
cubits high; and there were one hundred and sixty-two of these titanic structures!7
The ᾿Ammūdiym was busy most days, filled with itinerant teachers and their disciples, scholars expounding the
Torah, Pharisees and Sadducees endlessly debating various interpretations of the Torah and, at the western end, the
controversial sellers of sacrificial animals and the money-changers – an innovation of Herod’s which was deeply offen-
sive to all righteous Jews, who believed that merchants and bankers should ply their regrettably essential trades outside
the sacred walls.
Elizabeth lingered a while to take in the fantastic sights of the magnificent House of God; the colossal stones that
made up the walls and the dazzling white paving stones. And everywhere the priests in their white robes purposefully
striding about, followed by trains of Levites and Temple servants.
She could not see Zechariah anywhere, but did not dare ask any of the priests for fear of disturbing a ritual or
prayer, but she guessed her husband was either still closeted with the Kohen haGadōl in his chambers, or else had already
left. She decided to leave, so, still gawping around her as though she were some peasant’s wife from a mud village in
Arabia, she made her way to the House of God steps.
Near the entrance she passed the great bronze Treasury for voluntary offerings, tithes (in coinage) and the Temple
taxes. Those who belonged to the tribe of Levi – which included the priests, as well as the Levites – were not required
to tithe or pay the Temple tax, but were still expected to make voluntary offerings, so she happily tossed a few silver
shekels into it.
About halfway down the steps, a party of Levites singers passed her on their way up to the evening sacrifice,
singing a psalm of ascent, ‘…where the tribes go up, the tribes of Adonai – the testimony of Israel, to give thanks to
Adonai…’8 The musicians were plucking harps and lyres, shaking sistra and striking tambourines and cymbals in ac-
companiment.
⸎⸎⸎

Meanwhile Zechariah had reported to the Kohen haGadōl only to find much disarray, as Simeon bar Ezer had
been summarily dismissed! Had this been due to an unpardonable offence, an infraction of the Torah, or permanent
disfigurement, or had he been struck down with a defiling skin disease, this would have been deemed reasonable and
acceptable, albeit virtually unheard of, but once again Herod was exercising a prerogative granted him by the rule of
Rome – and not for the first time either.
According to traditions handed down since the time of Aaron and Moses, a Kohen haGadōl was elected for life,
unless he became irreversibly unclean or disfigured. No Kohen haGadōl had otherwise stepped down. Furthermore, a
Kohen haGadōl was not to be elected unless he was of the line of Aaron. Originally this was through either of his sons
 Prepare the Way

Eleazar or Ithamar, but when Abiathar of the line of Ithamar was stripped of this honour by King Solomon, every Kohen
haGadōl henceforth was to be of the line of Zadok, who was of the line of Eleazar.
From then, until Antiochus V Eupator had executed Menelaos, the last surviving son of Simeon II, at the time of
the Maccabee revolt about a hundred and sixty years earlier, every Kohen haGadōl was indeed descended from Aaron
through Zadok. Purists, such as the Essenes of Sekhakhah, believed that every Kohen haGadōl from then on was ille-
gitimate and so stayed away from the House of God, but most Jews accepted that the nature of the role had changed
somewhat.
Apart from the usurper Alcimus ‘the Wicked’9, who was made Kohen haGadōl by Demetrius I – successor to
Antiochus V Eupatōr – and who illegally officiated for about four years, the position thereafter until Herod became king,
was filled by members of the ruling Hasmonean dynasty – so called because the Maccabees were descended from a
certain Hasmon who was himself descended from Aaron.
Herod had married into the dynasty, so as to lend credibility to his royal ambitions, (he was already married to
Doris, a woman of Edom), so was not of the Aaronic pedigree. To his credit, when he first came into power, he did not
attempt to claim the honour for himself, but from the beginning he used it to gain political leverage. His predecessor,
King Antigonus, son of King Aristobulus II, had also been the Kohen haGadōl, and was in effect a usurper, in that he
had disfigured his uncle Hyrcanus II, by cutting off his ears and so rendering him permanently unclean and unable to
serve any longer as Kohen haGadōl. Antigonus had then made the ill-advised and foolhardy decision to cast his lot with
Rome’s bitter enemy, Parthia, and his fate was sealed.
Rome had backed Herod, a former Procurator of Syria, Governor of Galilee, and the son of Antipatros, a former
Procurator of Judah and Cypris, his Arabian wife, against Antigonus and his Parthian mercenaries. Antigonus was de-
feated, and beheaded at the behest of Marcus Antonius, the Supreme Governor of the eastern half of the Great Sea. This
happened seven years after the assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar, a personal friend of Herod’s. So, Herod, by this
time married to Mariamne, the granddaughter of Hyrcanus II, was the logical choice and was confirmed king by the
Senate of Rome.
Initially, so as not to annoy either the Pharisees or the Sadducees – both powerful factions – Herod appointed
Ananel, an obscure priest of the line of Aaron, from the Jewish diaspora in Babylon, and so had no ties with the feuding
parties in Judah. However, his mother-in-law, Alexandra, was offended that Herod had not granted this honour to her
son, Aristobulus.
This young man was only sixteen at the time, and was therefore disqualified from being Kohen haGadōl, since
holders of the prestigious office had to be at least thirty, which is why Herod had never given him a moment’s thought,
but Alexandra asked Marcus Antonius and his wife, Queen Cleopatra to intercede with Herod. After a short time, Herod
succumbed to the pressure and reluctantly deposed Ananel and elevated the princeling to the dignity of Kohen haGadōl:
the youngest man ever to hold this august position. Herod bitterly resented being manipulated into this situation and
after about a year had him accidentally drowned whilst he was swimming in the palace fishponds at Jericho. Ananel
was reinstated shortly afterwards.
A few years later, however, Herod found a fresh candidate, who suited his political purposes better, so he deposed
Ananel for a second time and appointed Jeshua bar Pavet to the post. It was around then that Herod accused Mariamne,
his favourite wife, of conspiracy and treason, and had her executed.
In his fourteenth year,10 he fell in love with another Mariamne, the daughter of Simeon bar Ezer, a priest from
Alexandria in Egypt. Since Simeon was of a rank far inferior to King Herod’s exalted station, Herod casually deposed
Kohen haGadōl Jeshua, and replaced him with Simeon. Although the new Kohen haGadōl personally favoured Saddu-
cean doctrine, he never discriminated against the Pharisees, and had subsequently enjoyed this privileged position for
nearly seventeen years, during which the Sadducees had prospered – indeed, the sect was often called the Boëthoi from
this time onwards.11
Now it was Simeon’s turn to be deposed. It so happened that Herod believed Mariamne to be involved in some
plot against him, so he divorced her, and disinherited his son by her, Herod the Younger – her only child. This Herod
had been married to Herodias, and they had a baby daughter, Salome, named after Herodias’ grandmother (and Herod’s
great-aunt), but when he was disinherited, Herodias promptly divorced him and in due course married his half-brother
Antipas, with whom she had an affair whilst they were both living in Rome. To further punish Mariamne, King Herod
deposed her father, having no further use for him.
Simeon was deep in discussion with the other chief priests when Zechariah entered the Kohen haGadōl’s cham-
bers. They were all delighted that he had miraculously regained the power of speech, and warmly congratulated him on
the birth of his son, but they were naturally enough rather distracted with the problem at hand, namely who was to
succeed Simeon, and invited Zechariah to join in their deliberations. Herod had magnanimously permitted the Knesset
 Prepare the Way

of chief priests, made up of the heads of each of the twenty-four divisions, to select a successor to Simeon, subject to
Herod’s approval, and so they were discussing bloodlines.
At last they decided that although Simeon was not of the line of Zadok, he had served Israel in an exemplary
fashion and therefore, so as to honour him and to maintain continuity, a relative should be selected. Much to Zechariah’s
surprise and pleasure, they selected his cousin Matthew bar Theophilus, as he was married to Simeon’s sister, Judith.
He hurried back to Matthew’s house to tell Elizabeth and his cousin’s family the good news; three days later,
amidst the customary pomp and splendour, wearing the purple and scarlet robes, and mitre due his elevated rank, Mat-
thew was sworn in as Kohen haGadōl.
Shortly afterwards, Zechariah, Elizabeth, baby John and their maidservant Beulah, returned home to Bethlehem.
⸎⸎⸎

The winter days passed slowly. Zechariah missed sitting in the courtyard, but although it did not snow that year,
it was still too cold to sit outside. Instead he passed the time reading to his wife and son, or resolving local disputes.
He spent the last day of Tevet checking his priestly robes, as he would soon be returning to the House of God in
time to start ministering from the fifth to the eleventh days of Shevat. He had last ministered with the priests of the
Eighth Division of Abijah on the twenty-third of Shevat, so it was nearly a year since he had last come before Adonai
in the Sanctuary. The next day he tenderly kissed his wife and infant son farewell, and making himself comfortable on
his favourite donkey, ῾Asel (‘Lazybones’), set off for Jerusalem. At last he felt truly whole again, even if his rheumatism
was a trial; at last he could do again that to which he had been born, and he bowed his head in worship of his God.
The following month was Adar and the family prepared for Purim; on the evening of the thirteenth day, they
attended their local synagogue. Reb Nehemiah welcomed the congregation and then the cantor led them in a celebratory
psalm:

‘Why do you stand away, Adonai?

Why do you overlook our affliction?
While the ungodly act proudly and the poor, hotly pursued –
They are caught in the plans they create…’12

Then the ruler read the scroll of Esther, reciting blessings before and after as customary. This story he read six
lines at a time, allowing the meturgemen to translate it into Aramaic.
There had been considerable controversy over the scroll of Esther – most Essenes rejected it outright and did not
celebrate Purim, whereas the Pharisees were inclined to accept it as a canonical writing, even although the Name is
nowhere to be found in it. The Hellenised Jews of Alexandria had an expanded Greek version, which included a number
of prayers and pious passages, but the Jews of Israel rejected these additions as spurious. The Sadducees evinced no
interest in the work since Purim was not a Temple-prescribed celebration as it had originated in the Diaspora in Babylon.
Nonetheless Esther, with its message of vengeance against those who would oppress the Jews, a message of hope,
salvation, freedom, the overcoming of adversity and the reward for fidelity, was very popular with the common people.
Good food was consumed, often to excess, at this time of the year, and gifts were exchanged. Zechariah’s house-
hold was no exception as Beulah and even Hippomanes were able to join in. Zechariah received a new ivory comb to
replace his nearly toothless box wood one (Elizabeth used to joke that his beard probably had more teeth than his comb
did – as the worn teeth had a habit of snapping off when he combed his beard), and a beautifully woven prayer-shawl –
during his voiceless year he had gotten into the habit of nervously plucking and twiddling the tassels13 whilst praying,
and his prayer-shawl was quite threadbare. He also received an amphora of sweet wine, enriched with raisins, from a
neighbour over whose estate he had pontificated, and a jar of ointment to ease his rheumatism. Nehemiah bar Qolaiah,
the rabban from the Bethlehem Synagogue and a close friend, gave him a recently published scroll of the sayings of the
great sage, Hillel.
Elizabeth received a lovely saffron-yellow robe, several jars of unguents and lotions, a brooch of made of elec-
trum, and a new sewing kit. Beulah and Hippomanes each received a new outfit of clothes and sandals – as they did
each Purim – packets of sweetmeats, nuts and savouries, and an amphora of olive oil each. As he was only a baby, John
did not get anything as such, but Elizabeth and Beulah had been busy making clothes for him, so he did not go without.
Passover came a month later, on the fifth day of the week, so on the twelfth of Nisan they decided to pack up the
household, including Hippomanes, and travel to Jerusalem, so as to give them sufficient time to settle in. Had Elizabeth
remembered that young Miriam was nearing the end of her pregnancy, she would have left Hippomanes at home, so that
should Miriam and Joseph arrive around Passover, they would at least have had somewhere to stay, but she and Zechariah
 Prepare the Way

had heard nothing from the couple since they had left for Gennesaret, so they locked up home and left, filled with
excitement and anticipation for the Feast.
It was a time to which Hippomanes had always looked forward, since apart from sorting out the cooking on the
sabbaths, he had quite a bit of free time to enjoy the sights and sounds of Jerusalem. Strictly speaking, of course, not
even foreigners were supposed to work on the sabbath, but that restriction had long been overlooked, provided that the
foreign slaves were not abused. Livestock needed to be tended and children fed on the sabbath, so foreign slaves were
used only for essential work on the sabbath.
On the day of preparation, the fourteenth of Nisan, Matthew’s household was a hive of activity as the menfolk
left for the House of God. Matthew had to preside over the preparation for the sacrifices, whilst Zechariah, as a chief
priest, also had to attend to prayer duties. Later he would have to select a male lamb without blemish and, in his capacity
as a priest, slaughter it and return it to the house to be roasted whole, although that would not take place before the ninth
hour. Meanwhile the women and the slaves cleaned the house from rooftop to root-cellar and prepared huge quantities
of food.
In the early afternoon, Elizabeth and Judith, Matthew’s wife, carefully concealed crumbs of yeasty dough around
the house, then challenged the neighbourhoods’ children to find every last piece, with a prize of sweetmeats for each
piece that they found. This game had a very serious purpose, as it was symbolic of the First Passover, when due to the
haste of the Israelites as they prepared to flee Egypt, no yeast was added to the bread, and they ate unleavened bread,
matzah, until they had crossed the Sea of Reeds,14 miraculously parted by the power of Adonai – which flight was
commemorated by this present feast. Henceforth, in the hours leading to the Passover celebration, the people of Israel
were required to remove all traces of yeast, from their homes, since anyone who ate anything contaminated, even acci-
dentally, with yeast for the following seven days would then, and in perpetuity, be cut off from the children of Israel.15
⸎⸎⸎

At the same time as the children of the neighbouring households were gleefully searching Matthew’s house in
Jerusalem, a weary, heavily pregnant Miriam and her travel-stained husband, Joseph, arrived in Bethlehem, only to find
they had nowhere to stay.
Not only had Zechariah and Elizabeth forgotten the couple, but the inns and hostelries were filled to capacity,
because even although many of the residents had gone up to Jerusalem for the Feast, a Levite census had been decreed,
to count all males aged twenty and above for the purposes of assessing the total income available to the House of God
from the Temple taxes.
The Temple tax (which was at that time valued at a half-shekel, or a didrachmon), was levied to support the tribe
of Levi, as this tribe, which included the priests, was not permitted to engage either in commerce or agriculture, so as to
be able to concentrate on serving God on behalf of the nation. Zechariah, being of the tribe of Levi through the line of
Aaron, did not pay the Temple tax, so the census did not affect him. The census was so devised as to require that all who
were subject to it, had to return to their ancestral towns to be counted.
Although Joseph had been born in Bethsaida, he was actually descended from the royal line of David, so he had
had to go to Bethlehem anyway, to register, irrespective of Miriam’s desire to be attended by a midwife who knew her.
So here they were in Bethlehem with nowhere to stay. And it was raining… 16

⸎⸎⸎

Passover with cousin Matthew, now the Kohen haGadōl, was a joyous yet solemn affair. Matthew presided, as
was proper, and read the story of the Going Out from Egypt17from a scroll portion which had been copied directly from
one of the Torah-scrolls from the House of God. They ate the roast lamb, the bitter herbs, and the relish, and drank the
four cups of wine. They solemnly broke the matzah, whilst the children recited the passages which they had memorised
during the winter months.
The next morning, as usual, was a special sabbath and a fast day, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread
and all the adults went to the House of God, where Matthew officiated and led the nation in the prescribed prayers and
blessings. It was at times like these, too, when the advantage of having foreign slaves and servants really became appar-
ent, since whereas one could usually rely on being able to keep food warm for the sabbath (a practice known either as
ḥammiyn or ḥōlent – as even reheating food on the sabbath is classed as work, forbidden labour), but keeping food warm
for two days just was not really practical. Children did not fast, so Hippomanes and Demetrius – Matthew and Judith’s
house-slave were also needed to tend to the needs of the children (including those of the neighbours, which was greatly
appreciated by them).
 Prepare the Way

The fast itself lasted from dawn to sunset, so the slaves prepared the evening meal to coincide with sundown.
Strictly speaking even foreigners were constrained by sabbath regulations, but most people agreed to overlook this
restriction, as most of the actual work was done in advance.
Matthew had duties at the House of God every day of the festal week, so Zechariah and Elizabeth took Judith
with them to the Sheep Gate Synagogue. Naturally the gathering house had elected a fresh cantor, since Matthew had
formerly held that post, but otherwise it was much as it had been that momentous sabbath just before the Feast of
Tabernacles when Adonai had spoken to Zechariah through the scriptures. He mused again on what he had heard in his
heart and the implications of what it meant for John to be a nazirite…
‘The haftorah this morning,’ said the scribe, breaking through his reverie, ‘is from Sefer Shafatiym, the story of
Samson, a lifelong nazirite, dedicated to God…18
Zechariah was stunned. Surely Adonai was speaking to him again? No bright light or searing pain this time, but
once again through the lips of a man. He listened with heightened interest to the familiar story of the conception of
Samson, and the agreement between the angel of Adonai and Samson’s parents. How Manoah needed convincing that
his barren wife would have a son – just like Elizabeth! – and that this son was never to have his hair cut, neither was he
to drink wine or beer, or, indeed, any fermented liquor; nor to eat of any part of the vine – neither grape, nor raisin, nor
even the vine-leaves; nor any food that was deemed unclean. ‘And the child grew and Adonai blessed him…’
The ruler took over the story in his sermon. Samson fell in love with a Philistine woman and induced his parents
to arrange his marriage. How the Spirit of Adonai came upon him and he killed a lion with his bare hands; how bees
made a hive within its carcase. ‘Surely that was unclean’, Zechariah pondered. Of his dispute with the Philistines and
his unfaithful bride, and how he caught three hundred foxes, tied them in pairs by their tails, tied a firebrand to each
pair, lit them, and drove the terrified creatures into the fields, vineyards, and olive groves of the Philistines. Not unsur-
prisingly, they retaliated and killed his abandoned, but still, it seemed, beloved wife and her father! Samson then attacked
and killed many Philistines; later still he killed a thousand men armed with just the jawbone of a donkey. After various
trials and tribulations, not all to his credit, he was captured. Prior to his capture, he judged Israel for twenty years.
As they walked back to Matthew’s home after the meeting, Zechariah was in a pensive mood; later he shared his
thoughts with Elizabeth who listened intently to what he had to say.
‘So is our son destined to be like Samson, and to liberate Israel from the rule of the Romans and the family of
Herod?’ she asked, frowning as though she had just tasted something rather unpalatable.
‘Of that, I’m not sure yet, my dear, as when I first had a word about this from Adonai, the scribe had just read
from Isaiah: that John was to prepare the way for Adonai in the wilderness. So, I believe our son is to be more like the
prophet Elijah, who was also a lifelong nazirite and who reminded Israel of her sin, and performed wonders. But of this
I’m sure, that Adonai will continue to make his will known to us.’
The rest of the days of Unleavened Bread passed uneventfully and they again attended the celebrations in the
House of God on the last day – a special sabbath, to lift the restrictions on eating bread leavened with yeast.
Three days later, after the sabbath, on the twenty-fourth of Nisan, was the Waving of the Sheaf, or First-fruits,
when the people brought freewill offerings from the first harvests of the year. Zechariah and Elizabeth went up to the
House of God and mingled with the other worshippers as they watched Matthew receiving the sheaf of barley from the
chief priest of the Seventh Division of Hakkoz. Matthew held the sheaf high and took it into the golden Sanctuary, where
he would wave it before Adonai. He then came back out, and conducted the sacrifice of burnt offering: a male yearling
lamb – in perfect condition as all such sacrifices had to be – a grain offering of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and a
drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine.19 After the prescribed prayers and psalms, the couple left the House of God.
The following sabbath it was again the turn of the Division of Abijah to minister, so the following week, Elizabeth
attended the services in the House of God, whilst her husband presided over the daily sacrifices.
After this, the only prescribed feast until Pentecost – which was in slightly over five weeks – was that of Second
Passover, which was only for those who due to ritual uncleanness, or unavoidable travelling, had been unable to partake
of Passover; so, on the ninth of Iyyar, on the first day of the week, the family packed their bags, loaded up the donkeys,
made their farewells and travelled back to Bethlehem.
Elizabeth was still unpacking, when Beulah brought in Shulamith, a neighbour from over the road, and a close
friend ever since Elizabeth had met her over thirty years previously. They embraced, then Shulamith settled down as her
friend continued unpacking.
‘Judah heard someone knocking on your gate in the late afternoon on the day of preparation,’ she began, referring
to her elderly husband. ‘He went out to check. When he came back indoors, he said that a young man called Joseph was
looking for you, so he told him that your whole household had gone up to Jerusalem for the Feast. Then he left with his
wife – hardly more than a child, Judah said – sitting on a worn-out donkey.
 Prepare the Way

‘It took me a little while to think of who they could be, but I suddenly thought of young Miriam, who stayed with
you some months ago, so I went out to look for them and invite them to celebrate Passover with us – the old man is so
poorly these days, sometimes doesn’t seem to know where he is, poor soul. As you know, we’ve not gone up to Jerusalem
since the year those locusts came: now when was that…?’ Shulamith paused, as Elizabeth, who was looking aghast,
staggered over to a couch.
‘Hmm, must be about eight years ago, I think… At any rate, as I was saying…’, the older woman continued,
oblivious to the reaction her words were causing, ‘I went to look, as their company would have been most welcome, but
I couldn’t see them anywhere at all.’
‘᾽Ōy ᾽iy! What have I done?!’ Elizabeth cried out, cradling her head in her hands. ‘I promised her mother, Hannah,
I’d take care of young Miriam, yet when she came – she was about to have a baby, you know, I wasn’t there for her!’
‘How could you have known she’d come when she did?’ Shulamith asked, tears springing in her eyes with em-
pathy for her friend’s distress.
Elizabeth shook her head several times as though in self-negation. ‘I wonder where she could be now? She’ll be
in confinement somewhere – but where? I’ll ask around to see who’s had a baby during the Feast.’
After Shulamith had departed to check on her husband Judah, Elizabeth left the rest of the unpacking to Beulah
and went to find Zechariah. He was adjudicating over a particularly bitter inheritance dispute, but when he saw his
wife’s distress, asked the disputants to excuse him and, leaving them temporarily to their own devices, went over to her.
When she explained, he was likewise upset that they had missed the young couple, but believed it had been the will of
Adonai; after all, they had missed them by only two days.
She checked on John, who was sleeping peacefully in his crib, then set out to visit her midwife. To her relief, she
discovered that the couple had found lodging at the Hostelry of the Last Resort on the outskirts of Bethlehem, and that
the baby had been delivered safely.
Miriam was confined to the women’s quarters, and Joseph was staying in the men’s dormitory. It was all they
could afford, especially as it had been an unforeseen expense and one that was going to continue for just over another
month. The baby, Yehoshua, or Jeshua, as he would always be known, had an animal trough for his cradle – an ugly,
rough-hewn manger, which had been manhandled up a flight of stairs from the central animal pen.
Elizabeth was most contrite and settled the bill immediately, although, unfortunately, Miriam would have to stay
in confinement there in the screened-off section of the women’s quarters until the eighteenth of Iyyar, when the young
couple could travel to Jerusalem to present the baby to Adonai and make the appropriate sacrifices.
They told her how when Jeshua was born, most people were eating the Passover lamb; and that a group of shep-
herds staying overnight, had brought the manger for baby Jeshua to sleep in. How they had stayed to hold him awhile
and how they laid him in the manger, salted and wrapped in swaddling bands, alongside their new-born lamb. And how
one of their number had put his hand to his ear, looked up and asked if they could not hear the very angels in the heavens
singing with joy over their little baby?
Several foreign astrologers who were, so they insisted, on their way to visit the court of King Herod himself,
having visited the temples of the gods and pharaohs of Egypt, were also staying in the hostelry – in the very best rooms,
of course. They came to see the new-born child, declaring the birth to be a most propitious omen, and uttered blessings
over Jeshua. Miriam and Joseph had eyed them with considerable suspicion, since they were dressed in flamboyant
robes and were certainly not of the Jewish faith.
Indeed, they claimed they were magoi from Babylon, although the young couple lacked the experience to judge
the veracity of such a claim. They gave the couple a tiny gold box of frankincense and one anointed the baby with a dab
of myrrh-oil on his forehead. Then they left and the couple tried to make sense of what had happened…
Elizabeth had to leave as it was nearing John’s feeding-time, but promised to check up on them as often as she
could. She scurried home and managed to reach John moments before he woke up. In the first few months, before her
milk prematurely dried up it was, perhaps, this act, above all others, that had made her feel like a complete, wholly
fulfilled woman – when she offered a nipple to the rosy-cheeked infant, and he suckled happily, nourished by her body
as he had been whilst he was in her womb. All too soon, that finished, and she had to make use of the services of a wet-
nurse, but she still preferred to be at hand to supervise and to hold him directly after he had fed.
She visited Joseph and Miriam every day, always bringing meals for them, or at least the makings of a meal, until
Miriam’s time of confinement was over and the little family left for Jerusalem to offer their sacrifices at the House of
God. They would then travel back to the hamlet in Gennesaret on the shores of Sea of Galilee.
Although Zechariah did see Joseph once or twice at feasts in Jerusalem, Elizabeth never saw Miriam or Joseph
again.
 Chapter
‘And the child grew and became strong in spirit’ (Luke : )

By the time of his first birthday, John was a sturdy child and long-weaned, three months after Elizabeth had been
unable to nurse him, she had decided that she disliked having him fed from another woman’s body, so had fed him with
goat’s milk, and weaned him a little sooner than custom dictated. An inquisitive and enquiring child, he liked nothing
better than to toddle around the courtyard, peering into every nook and crevice, and examining the insects and other
invertebrates he found. Elizabeth was worried that he would disturb a scorpion or a snake, but if he did, he was not stung
or bitten; he was deeply aware of and interested in the world around him. In that he bore a close resemblance to his
kinsman Jeshua although neither was aware of that fact. He was a solemn infant who seldom cried, and then never with
without good reason, and a source of great pride to his doting parents.
‘“Spoil your child and he will distress you; play with him and he will grieve you. Do not laugh with him lest you
sorrow with him… Beat his sides while he is still young…”1 What an unpleasant, self-righteous, evil-minded individual
this Jeshua ben Sirach was! Did you ever hear of such a wicked attitude to one’s children? He’s taken the proverb about
correcting a child by beating him if he misbehaves,2 and added this... this foul, distorted nonsense to it!’ Zechariah rolled
up the scroll he had been reading, slipped it into a woollen sheath and lay it beside him on the couch under the date
palm. ‘If old Judah and Shulamith really brought up their children by paying heed to this supposed sage’s teachings, it’s
no wonder their sons ran off to join camel trains as soon as they as could!’
Elizabeth looked up from her sewing – John was growing up so quickly these days that she seemed to spend much
of her time making new clothes and adjusting those given by neighbours. ‘I’m sure they were only trying to help,’ she
said, mildly surprised at the vehemence of his reaction to The Wisdom of Jeshua ben Sirach,3 which the neighbours had
loaned him. ‘After all, he is our first child, so we need all the advice we can get.’
‘Hmmph’, he muttered, ‘The Torah was good enough for my parents and is good enough for me. When I need
more help, I have examples from the Prophets and tested advice from the Writings. Hillel, too, has much to say that is
good, positive, and wholesome, loving, and gentle. Otherwise simply follow the inclinations of your heart, woman,
because that’s why the good Adonai gave you one!’ Zechariah got up, wincing a little at the pain in his joints. ‘I’m going
for a short walk.’ He picked up the scroll as he spoke and made his way to the courtyard gate.
‘Be nice, dear,’ Elizabeth called out as he paused by the mezuzah. ‘Remember that they don’t have your learning
– and be gracious!’
⸎⸎⸎

The following year was often referred to as ‘The Year of the One-Day Kohen haGadōl’ among the priests.
This is how it came to be so called. Matthew had had a slight fever and was unwell in the days between the Day
of Remembrance and the Day of Atonements, which was a problem as for seven days prior to the Day of Atonements,
the Kohen haGadōl prepared himself spiritually. He lived in special chambers in the House of God, whilst the elders,
selected from the twelve tribes of Israel, either read or expounded the sections pertaining to the Day of Atonements from
the Scroll of The Torah of the Priests.4
The night before the Day of Atonements, the Kohen haGadōl and his retinue were to stay awake, fasting until the
morning, all the while meditating on the sins the people of Israel had committed that year, whilst the elders read to him
from Job, Ezra, Daniel, and ‘The Matters of the Days’.5
But Matthew fell asleep in the early hours of the morning. This in itself was a serious lapse, but as he related
afterwards, he dreamt he was making love to his wife (for the sake of his marriage, no-one questioned that detail!).
When he awoke with a start, he discovered that a nocturnal emission had made him unclean, which meant that not only
would he have to immerse himself in the purification-bath, but he would remain unclean until the evening!6 Mortified,
he called his assistant Joseph bar Helem, a distant kinsman, who had stood vigil all night, and bestowed upon him the
unique privilege of standing in as Kohen haGadōl for the day, of wearing the simple white robes and of entering the
Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonements.7
⸎⸎⸎

Zechariah continued to minister in the House of God twice a year with the Eighth Division of Abijah, although
his rheumatism troubled him more and more, particularly during the winter months. He also continued to hold court
once a week to listen to the prayers, petitions, and grievances of the folk in the Potters’ Quarter of Bethlehem, settle
disputes, and advise on matters of religious etiquette.
John’s second birthday fell exactly eight days before Zechariah’s week of ministry in the House of God, and he
was strongly reminded, as he performed the ritual of incense, of that momentous occasion when he was struck dumb by
Adonai, and prepared, all unawares, for the conception of his son. Suddenly another thought surfaced as Adonai re-
minded him that his body had also been touched: although he had not wrestled with an angel of Adonai, he had been
lamed just as the patriarch Jacob had been lamed when he wrestled all night at Peniel8 - further confirmation, indeed,
that he had met with Adonai Lord of Hosts! He smiled contentedly as he completed the ritual and left the Sanctuary. It
was the second day, so the loaves of the Presence were still fresh and would not be changed until the fifth of Chislev by
 Prepare the Way

the incoming Ninth Division of Jeshua, which his own course would witness, but in which it would not actively partic-
ipate.
The family went up to Jerusalem for Hanukkah, about a month after John’s second birthday, to celebrate the time
Judah Maccabee cleansed the House of God from the desolating abomination of idol worship and unclean sacrifice,
when Antiochus IV Epiphanes had desecrated the Temple by slaughtering a pig on the altar, in his unsuccessful efforts
to eradicate the religion of the Jews. These incidents had taken place by then nearly years earlier, but the events
were to be commemorated in perpetuity. It was not a Torah-prescribed Feast, but all the same, lamps were lit in the
House of God, and, in every home in the city and, indeed, wherever Jews lived, and the Sanctuary menorah was extin-
guished to mourn the desecration. A special nine-branched menorah was brought in, and the shamash, or servant-candle
was lit, then one other lamp was lit on the first day. On each subsequent day of the festival, another lamp was lit, until
the last day of the celebrations, when amid much joyful singing and dancing, the eighth lamp was lit and, on that day,
Jerusalem became a city of light.
Zechariah went to the House of God when they reached the city, to pay his respects to his kinsman, the Kohen
haGadōl, only to find the usually tranquil chambers in an uproar. News had just arrived that Herod, who had been at
odds with various members of his family for years now, had recently, at his palace in Sebaste in Samaria, had had his
two surviving sons by Queen Mariamne executed by strangulation! This Mariamne, the daughter of King Alexander,
son of King Aristobulus II and Alexandra, daughter of Hyrcanus II (brother of Aristobulus II), was she whom Herod had
previously had executed about eighteen years earlier.

⸎⸎⸎

Her first son, Alexander, named for his grandfather, had been married to Glaphyra, daughter of Archelaus, King
of Cappadocia, and their sons, Alexander the Younger and Tigranes were heirs to the throne of Armenia, so their grand-
father, Archelaus took them in. The other murdered son, Aristobulus, named for his great-grandfather, had three sons
and two daughters by Berenice, the daughter of Herod’s sister Salome: the oldest son, five-year-old Agrippa – who was
destined one day to rule as Herod Agrippa I over his grandfather Herod’s territories; Herod, later known as Herod of
Chalcis, of which territory of Euboea he was to become tetrarch, and Aristobulus the Younger, who later married Jotape,
the deaf daughter of the King of Emesa.
The oldest daughter was his first-born, Mariamne (named for a grandmother), who was to marry – within that
year – her uncle Antipater, the son of Doris, Herod the Great’s first wife, although the brief marriage was to be cut short
when Antipater was subsequently also executed! She was then married to her uncle Archelaus, until he divorced her to
marry his half-brother Alexander’s widow Glaphyra. The other daughter was Herodias, who was destined to play a
pivotal role in John’s life…
Herod had by this time reigned for nearly thirty-two years. By the standards of the era, he was not a bad king, as
he had maintained peace in his kingdom for much of his reign. He had supported his friendship with Rome by providing
Jewish soldiers for various Roman campaigns, and through his machinations had also obtained important concessions
for his Jewish subjects. They were permitted to retain certain privileges as regards dietary requirements; the worship of
one Deity, to the exclusion of all Roman – and other – deities; permission to abstain from individual sacrifices to the
Imperator – provided that a daily sacrifice for the Imperator’s well-being was made in the Temple, and the observance
of the sabbath. These hard-earned privileges would endure for just over a hundred years.
As a reward for his services to Rome, Herod had also been granted the personal right to raise taxes for himself
rather than for the Roman treasury, as firstly Gaius Julius Caesar, then later both Marcus Antonius and Augustus Caesar
confirmed this privilege. For the most part, he had not been over-zealous in extracting taxes from his subjects, in part
because he was aware of how much the House of God extracted from the Jews.
Herod used much of what he raised to fund his extraordinarily prolific building programme. Apart from the mag-
nificent House of God, he also built the Antonia Fortress and Tower – both named after Marcus Antonius, the Phasael
Tower – named in memory of his elder brother, and a theatre – all within Jerusalem. On the plain outside the city, he
built a huge amphitheatre, where he staged splendid pagan games every fifth year in honour of Augustus, where gym-
nasts9 competed in Greek-style games for sought-after prizes, much to the horror of his Torah-abiding subjects. Curi-
ously, as in the days of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, not a few Jewish men found ways to disguise their circumcisions by
wearing little ‘hats’, so as to be allowed to compete!10
He also fortified Sebastē, a Samaritan city about a day’s journey from Jerusalem; built the fortress port of Caesarea
– complete with a spectacular harbour, fit for receiving ships from across the Empire; developed Gibea in Galilee and
Hesbon in Peraea, as well as the mountain fortresses of Machaerus and Masada. Not content with these achievements,
 Prepare the Way

he also built various palaces, theatres, and even heathen temples across the eastern reaches of the Great Sea – even in
Rome and Athens.
To help fund this extravagant programme, he even robbed the Sepulchre of King David, and so obtained three
thousand talents of silver. He was not the first to tap this source of wealth and would doubtless have taken more, had
King John Hyrcanus not also taken a similar amount from the tomb about a hundred years earlier.
On several occasions, Herod provided famine relief to neighbouring lands and, by and large, generally seemed to
be careful of his people’s welfare and sensibilities, but his own family life was more like a Greek tragedy, than a devout
Jewish parable. Indeed, Augustus himself is said to have remarked that it would be preferable to be Herod’s pig rather
than his son, (since at least the pig had a better chance of living to a ripe old age!).11

⸎⸎⸎

The rest of the year passed uneventfully for Zechariah and his family – John turned three: a sturdy little fellow
with an unruly mop of black curly hair; but across the Land, the people were getting restless.
Herod the Great was deteriorating according to palace rumour, both in his mental state and in his physical health.
It was heard that worms were consuming his bowels and that he often cried out in agony. He had accused Antipater, his
eldest son – by his first wife – of plotting against him. Word was that at last the chickens had come home to roost, since
it was a commonly held belief that Antipater and his Edomite mother, Doris had indeed been plotting for years, not only
against his father Herod, but also against Mariamne and her sons who had at different times been executed by Herod,
owing to the machinations of Antipater, who wanted the throne.

⸎⸎⸎

On the first of Nisan, in the thirty-fourth year of Herod’s reign, Azariah, Matthew’s eldest son, arrived at the gate
of Zechariah’s house; the mule he was riding was lathered and drooping with fatigue as the fifteen-year-old lad dis-
mounted and led it to the water-trough – normally the domain of Zechariah’s small gaggle of geese.
‘Shalom, uncle! Bad news, father’s been deposed!’ he said, rubbing the animal down. ‘Herod’s soldiers came to
our home last night and informed him that the king considered him to be disloyal, and that he was elevating uncle
Jehoazar to the position of Kohen haGadōl instead!’12
‘Jehoazar?’ Zechariah was momentarily lost for words and stroked his beard thoughtfully. ‘I thought he was in
Shechem, happily married to a Samaritan woman…Hmm, because of his marriage, he isn’t really suitable, although
because of Malthace, Herod’s now principle wife, who is, of course, Samaritan, Jehoazar probably seems the best choice
for the old vulture. I suspect he won’t be popular with the priests… Mind you, I’m sure Jehoazar is quite without
ambition, and certainly won’t want the post…’
‘I think that is another reason he was chosen,’ Azariah replied, still tending to the mule, ‘and at least the king is
trying to keep the position in the family! First mother’s eldest brother, Uncle Simeon, then Father and now her middle
brother, Uncle Jehoazar.’
‘True. Don’t know how most people will take to this though. Still, only your uncle Eleazar is left now – haven’t
seen him for years – I suppose he’s still living in Ramathayim?’
‘Yes, uncle, but we don’t have much to do with him these days.’
‘And how’s your father bearing up? How did he offend Herod anyway? I mean, your abba isn’t normally involved
with politics.’
‘Well,’ Azariah answered, filling a nosebag with grain from the storage bunker outside Zechariah’s small stable.
‘As you know, he had nothing to do with those foolish men who falsely believed King Herod was dead…’
‘No, Azariah, I heard nothing about this,’ the old priest interjected, frowning.
‘You didn’t hear, uncle? You didn’t hear about how Judah bar Zarephah and Matthew… oh, what’s the fellow’s
name now... oh yes, Matthew bar Margalōth.13 Well they stirred up their young followers, a bunch of hotheads if you
ask me,’ he said, with all the wisdom of his fifteen years, ‘to pull down the gold eagle over the gate of the House of God
last week…’
‘Well it always made me feel uncomfortable, I must admit. I suppose your father got the blame for that, didn’t
he?’
‘Yes, uncle, because although they were acting according to the Torah’s prohibition against graven images, or so
they said, Herod was furious that they should have the impudence to deface the House of God which he had built – a
Temple which no-one else had bothered to build for centuries, “content”, he is reported to have said, “to worship in a
 Prepare the Way

second-rate, ramshackle, refurbished ruin”.14 And furthermore, why hadn’t Father protected the House of God – surely
that was understood to be a duty of the Kohen haGadōl!’
After further discussion over the evening meal, Zechariah asked Azariah to make his apologies, but since it was
so close to Passover, he would not come to Jerusalem for the elevation of Jehoazar bar Ezer as Kohen haGadōl, but
would pay his respects the following week.
That night, whilst Azariah slept peacefully on the rooftop of Zechariah’s home, panic set in amongst the ignorant
and superstitious because a lunar eclipse took place.15 There was wild talk that it was a sign of Adonai’s displeasure as
Herod had had the agitators burnt alive for their vandalism of the House of God. Others saw this as an ominous portent;
events were to prove these diviners and astrologers right.
It was looking to be an eventful time. The family left for Jerusalem on the third day of the week, the twelfth of
Nisan, so they could congratulate the new Kohen haGadōl in the evening, then commiserate with Matthew, Judith, and
the family for their loss of status. The next two days they prepared as usual for Passover and the seven days of Unleav-
ened Bread, followed by First Fruits – the Waving of the Sheaf. The sabbath after that, a normal sabbath, signalled the
commencement of the Eighth Division of Abijah taking over from the Seventh Division of Hakkoz, and so Zechariah
once again led his division in ministering before Adonai – covering the period from the first of Iyyar to the eighth.
On the ninth of Iyyar, as Zechariah and his family were getting ready to leave, Jerusalem was paralysed with the
news that Herod, now so ill that he was delirious, had just had his eldest son, Antipater executed. He had, at the same
time, issued a decree summoning all men of substance, such as businessmen and merchants, priests and rabbis, notable
Pharisees and Sadducees of the High Sanhedrin, scribes, and the principal men of the nation to attend him, on pain of
immediate death if they ignored this summons. To reinforce this, a cohort of soldiers swarmed around the streets, enter-
ing houses, and bringing out any prosperous-looking man. Zechariah kissed his family and went out to join the growing
crowds of anxious men.
They were all herded into the hippodrome – a place he had never visited since he despised Herod’s foreign inno-
vations and had no fascination with chariot racing – where the assembly was swelling with new arrivals throughout the
day. He sought out his fellow priests as they fearfully awaited Herod’s next decree, which fear increased when someone
spotted archers positioning themselves in various arches, groins, and other vantage points. That evening all of the en-
trances were sealed.
For five terrifying days and nights, the huge crowd of men waited with trepidation in the hippodrome. Food and
water were passed through the barriers, and one corner of the edifice was designated as a latrine, which became increas-
ingly odorous in the warm spring weather. And they continued to wait, positive they were going to be slaughtered:
Pharisees praying alongside Sadducees, ideological differences forgotten in the face of certain death, whilst a group of
rabbis were reciting the Torah together, rocking in anguish.
Suddenly the barriers were removed, and Salome, the king’s sister, and her husband Alexas, personally assured
those closest to them, who passed on the news, that Herod was indeed dead, and as a gesture of magnanimity decided
to free everyone. He had, so it was said, recognised Archelaus, his eldest son by Malthace, as King.

⸎⸎⸎

It later transpired that Salome has acted upon her own initiative, unwilling to carry out her brother’s order to
massacre the men so that when he died, the country really would mourn! Also, Archelaus was to be the king of Judah,
Samaria and Edom, whilst his full brother Antipas was to rule Galilee and jointly rule Peraea with Herod’s brother
Pheroras; Philippus, the son of Herod by Cleopatra of Jerusalem, was to rule over several smaller northern territories
including Ituraea and Trachonitis and Salome was to be awarded the revenues of Jamnia, Ashdod and Phasaelis. All his
other relatives, and these were numerous, were also to receive lump sums and annuities. There was one proviso, how-
ever, in that all of these bequests had to be ratified by Augustus himself.
Herod the Great had ten wives, although only fifteen children, and sixteen grandchildren; curiously his family
was destined to die out completely within about half a dozen generations. Furthermore, history would show that although
his name would indeed be remembered for millennia, it would not be because of his extensive building programme or
because he was Great!
He married his first wife, Doris, when he was the tetrarch of Galilee; she was an Edomite – the Edomites were
the descendants of Esau, also called Edom, the older son of Isaac and Rebecca, and the brother of Jacob, the Patriarch
of Israel. They had been forcibly converted to the faith of the Jews about a century earlier by King John Hyrcanus, who
had all males circumcised, so were ostensibly Jews, although devout Jews doubted the reality of their “conversion”. She
had borne Herod one son, Antipater (now dead by execution). Antipater had fathered two children, a boy, and a girl, by
the daughter of King Antigonus, Herod’s erstwhile foe.
 Prepare the Way

Herod’s second wife, the royal princess Mariamne, his favourite wife – although she was subsequently executed
for supposed treason – had borne him three sons: Alexander, Aristobulus, and a third who had died in infancy; and two
daughters: Cypris – named after Herod’s mother and Salampsio. Alexander married Glaphyra, daughter of King Arche-
laus of Cappadocia, who bore him Alexander the Younger, and Tigranes, who were to become kings of Armenia. Aris-
tobulus married his first cousin Berenice, daughter of Herod’s sister Salome: she bore him Mariamne and Herodias, and
three sons, Agrippa (later known as King Herod Agrippa I), Herod (later King of Chalcis) and Aristobulus, who married
Jotape, the deaf daughter of Sampsigeramos, King of Emesa.
His third wife, also called Mariamne, was the daughter, as has been related, of the former Kohen haGadōl Simeon
bar Ezer. She bore him Herod the Younger, who married his niece Herodias – daughter of his half-brother Aristobulus –
who in turn bore this Herod, Salome. When Herod the Younger was disinherited, Herodias divorced this uncle and
married her divorced half-brother Antipas.
Wives four and five were wives in name only. Their previously arranged marriages had fallen through, so Herod
had married them, but never consummated the marriages to avoid the charge of incest – whilst hypocritically overseeing
other incestuous marriages amongst his offspring! History has forgotten the names of these women, destined to die
virgins…
The Samaritan, Malthace, was his sixth wife – she bore him two sons, Archelaus and Antipas (later known as
Herod Antipas), and a daughter Olympias. Neither of the sons fathered any children, but Olympias, who was married to
her first cousin, Joseph – son of Herod’s younger brother also called Joseph – bore a daughter, Mariamne, who later
married her cousin Herod of Chalcis.
The seventh wife, called Cleopatra of Jerusalem – to distinguish her from her famous namesake, bore Philippus
and a second Herod the Younger. Neither of them fathered any children.
Pallas was the eighth, she bore a son, Phasael, named for his uncle; Phaidra, the ninth, bore him a daughter,
Roxana, and Elpis the tenth, likewise bore him a daughter, Salome.

⸎⸎⸎

It was a time of trial and tribulation, although young John was only subliminally aware of his parents’ concerns
and uncertainties; he continued to grow stronger in both body and spirit; his hair was left uncut, as befit a Nazirite, and
he was likewise kept away from grapes and raisins lest he inadvertently eat them. Zechariah kept his modest supply of
wine on a high shelf and Elizabeth and Beulah carefully watched what they cooked.
Fearing what the future held, the couple guarded their precious son from the evils of the age…
 Chapter
‘What then will this child become?’ (Luke : )

Soon after the funeral of Herod the Great, a delegation went to Archelaus and insisted that he avenge the deaths
of Judah bar Zarephah and Matthew bar Margalōth, and replace Kohen haGadōl Jehoazar bar Ezer with someone of
appropriate purity. Archelaus flew into a rage at their impudence and informed them that the deaths were deserved as
they had – in his eyes – desecrated the House of God, and that he had no intention of choosing a new Kohen haGadōl.

⸎⸎⸎

When Pentecost came, there was an almost tangible air of simmering resentment and hostility which seemed to
eddy through the crowds of worshippers. Much to Zechariah’s horror, he distinctly heard soft hissing when Kohen
haGadōl Jehoazar performed the prescribed sacrifice of two young bulls, one ram, seven male yearling lambs and a billy
goat for atonement. He, himself, was unhappy with the choice of Jehoazar – especially since the Passover sacrifice –
but sometimes one had to look past the person and look to the office; and to disrespect that could only bring the dis-
pleasure of Adonai upon the Land.
He went home in a sombre mood, convinced that the evils of this past season were not over. The people needed a
firm king who understood their sensibilities, but Archelaus was not that king. He was reputed to be extremely cruel,
intolerant, lacking in empathy, narcissistic and very stubborn – qualities not that attractive in anyone, let alone the ruler
of a nation!
Several months passed, summer came and went. Zechariah and his household packed up and went to Jerusalem
for the High Days, from the Day of Remembrance to the Fast of the Day of Atonements. The Eighth Division was
presiding over the last few days of the Feast of Tabernacles that year; the cycle started on the sabbath, eleven days after
the Day of Atonements and two days before the end of the Feast of Tabernacles. With Zechariah, and the priests and
Levites of his division, and the Temple servants assisting, the Kohen haGadōl sacrificed the thirteen young bulls, two
rams and fourteen male yearling lambs as burnt offerings, as well as the usual male goat as a sin offering.
More animals, all male and in perfect condition, were sacrificed over the eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles
than at any other time of year: a total of seventy-one young bulls, fifteen rams, one hundred and five yearling lambs and
eight goats were sacrificed to Adonai as burn offerings, and the carcases stayed on the altar until the following morning,
when the ashes and bones were removed. This was in addition to the daily sacrifice, presided over by the head of the
serving division, of two male yearling lambs – one in the evening and one in the morning, the New Moon sacrifices
which were always required during the Feast,1 as well as, of course, the daily sacrifice of a male goat for Adonai’s
blessing of the Imperator Augustus. Furthermore, grain offerings of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and drink offerings
of wine or beer, accompanied each sacrifice, so the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles could be a real burden in
times of hardship.
On the first sabbath, Zechariah joined with the Kohen haGadōl and the other chief priests in dancing around the
altar, waving the palm frond and the citron, and chanting the psalm most associated with the joy of the Feast of Taber-
nacles.

‘Hallelū Yah!
Give thanks to Adonai for he is good!
Give thanks, for his love endures forever!’

And the priests waved the branches and danced and sang with all their might:

‘O Yah is my strength and my song;

He is become my salvation!’

And they sang and cavorted with joy as they came to the verses which excited all the pilgrims:

‘Open to me the gates of righteousness –

I will enter them and give thanks to Yah;
This is the gate of Adonai
through which the righteous may enter.
I’ll give you thanks for you heard me –
you have become my salvation!
The stone the builders rejected
became the top of the corner;
And Adonai has done all this,
it is marvellous in our eyes!
 Prepare the Way

So, this is the day Adonai has made –

We will rejoice! We will be glad in it.
Please, Adonai, deliver us!2
Please, Adonai, please prosper us!
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of Adonai;
From the House of Adonai, we give our blessings…
Adonai is the God of light
So, celebrate the festal sacrifice –
bound with cords to the horns of the altar;
You are my God – I give you thanks
my God – I exalt you!
Give thanks to Adonai for he is good!
Give thanks, for his love endures forever!’3

The House of God was awash with groups of priests singing verses to each other, some directly addressing Adonai,
others singing of his blessings, all revelling in the joy of the celebration.
All during this festival, Zechariah and his fellow priests stayed in leafy bowers inside the House of God, while
across the city and wherever Jews were living, tabernacles appeared in every garden and courtyard, or even indoors in
some places. It was an exhausting festival for Zechariah and he was grateful that it would probably be the last Feast of
Tabernacles he would personally be involved in, since he did not think he would be able to last the pace when the Eighth
Division next officiated at the Feast of Tabernacles in six years’ time, all assuming he was even still alive by then.

⸎⸎⸎

A few days before John’s fourth birthday, Zechariah had to travel to Bethany to attend the funeral of a cousin and
to officiate over the distribution of the estate between the sons, but all he could think about was that Reb Nehemiah had
told him just before he left that John, who attended his junior yeshivah three mornings a week, had progressed remark-
ably well for so young a child, and had a pleasant surprise for him.
He arrived home in the late afternoon of the first day of the week, hobbled through the gate, pausing briefly, as
was his custom, to touch the mezuzah, kissed Elizabeth on the cheek and picked up his son to greet him, noting wryly
that that would not be possible much longer. The little family settled down after Zechariah had washed his hands and
face; Beulah tenderly washed his feet, and stayed when Elizabeth indicated that she should not leave straight away.
‘John, my son, she said, ‘you’ve something to tell Abba, don’t you?’ Her barely suppressed smile flickered about
her face, as the little lad drew himself up to his full height and straightened his shoulders.
‘Yes, Imma, he said, frowning a little. He pulled in his stomach as though he were a soldier on parade and then
recited perhaps the most significant verse from the Torah. ‘Shema῾ Yisra’el! ᾽Adonay ᾽Elohaynū, ᾽Adonay ’eḥad.’ He
paused, then took another breath. ‘We-’ahaveta ’et ᾽Adonay ᾽Elohayka bekal levaveka, ūbekal nafesheka, ūbekal me᾽odeka!’4
Like most Jewish families in the Land, the family normally spoke Aramaic, whilst Hebrew was reserved for
worship and Torah readings – indeed almost the entire canon of the Torah and the Prophets are written in Hebrew, as are
most of the Writings.5 So, hearing his infant son reciting the sacred language was especially moving for the old priest.
‘And do you know what that means, my son?’ Zechariah asked, with growing pride.
‘Yes, Abba,’ the child replied, daring to grin now that he had successfully managed the hardest part. ‘Hear, O
Israel! Adonai is our God, Adonai is One. And…’ he paused, his brow furrowed in thought, ‘and you shall love Adonai
your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole strength!’
Zechariah thought his heart would burst with pride as John finished speaking. ‘And when do you say these words,
my boy?’
‘You say this, Abba, when you get up in the morning and when you go to sleep. And,’ he paused, pointing to the
mezuzah on the gatepost, ‘you remember it when you come in and go out.’ He lowered his arm and whispered dramat-
ically, ‘And you pray you get to say it before you die.’
Little did anyone there realise how soon the last occasion would take place…
‘Come to me, my son, you have learnt your lessons very well,’ Zechariah said, with tears of joy on his cheeks, as
he hugged the boy. ‘You have made us all very proud. Live by what you have learnt. And add this also to your learning:
“Love your neighbour as yourself.”’6
‘Is that also in the Torah, Abba?’ the little boy asked eagerly. ‘Should I learn that in Hebrew?’
 Prepare the Way

‘It is from the Book of the Priests,7 the third fifth of the Torah,’ Zechariah answered, ‘but it’s sufficient you know
it in Aramaic at present. However, you must learn it in your heart. To be a good Jew, one of the chosen people of God,
you must love Adonai with every fibre of your being and love other people as you love yourself.
‘Furthermore, my son, your life has already been set aside for Adonai: you are a nazirite, but for an outward sign,
your hair will never be cut, unless you become inadvertently unclean; and you are never to partake of ale, date wine or
grape wine, nor grapes, raisins or even vine-leaves.
‘Some mighty prophets of old became nazirites for a short time and performed great deeds, whilst others were
lifelong nazirites, such as Samson, Samuel and the mightiest of all, Elijah. Adonai separately told your Imma and me
your name before you were born, John – he intends to have mercy on our people through you…’ He looked at his son
who was gazing wide-eyed at him, ‘Well, we’ll talk again when you’re older. I’m very proud indeed of your progress in
the yeshivah – I know you’ll continue to do exceedingly well.
‘Now I believe your Imma and Beulah have prepared a birthday treat for you, so let’s eat!’

⸎⸎⸎

Shortly after John’s fourth birthday in that momentous year following the death of King Herod, Elizabeth, who
had never really fully recovered from the trauma of giving birth, became very weak, and was soon confined to her bed.
Zechariah spent hours in prayer at her bedside, but she grew no better.
At Hanukkah the whole family stayed at home, and just as she always lit the sabbath lamp, she lit the family’s
menorah each day, her wan face glowing in the increasing lamplight as she reclined supported by a number of goose
feather-filled cushions like some Parthian potentate. She clung onto her life tenaciously throughout that winter and even
managed to make the customary gifts of clothes for Beulah and Hippomanes that Purim. The eunuch wept with gratitude,
recognising the effort and selfless love that went into the making of the clothes, and the whole household vied to find
ways to show how much Elizabeth was valued.
John was spending less time at the yeshivah, preferring to keep his mother company and to read to her. Because
of Zechariah’s standing in the community, he had obtained a precious old Torah scroll on loan from the Sheep Gate
synagogue in Jerusalem. When such scrolls came to the end of their useful life, having been copied with the greatest
rigor, accuracy, and care, they were never simply discarded, but were given full funeral rites and reverentially buried.
This scroll, The Book of Creation,8 was still kept in a faded, embroidered cover and was to be returned for burial when
Elizabeth died, which was expected to happen in the not-too-distant future.
Each morning and evening, John and his father would immerse themselves in the family purification-bath, pull
on robes made from undyed wool, lace up their sandals, and go to where Elizabeth lay. Zechariah had obtained a modest
lectern, so his son would say the Shema and he would say the blessing, then they would take it in turns to read from the
scroll which they slowly unrolled on the lectern. It was John’s special prayer, unvoiced, that his mother would not die
until he had completed this labour of love.
And labour it was, as the little lad carefully read each Hebrew word, taking care to pause at the end of each line,
so that his father, who was watching, guiding and correcting, could play the role of meturgemen and translate each
portion into Aramaic for the benefit of both mother and child. Some portions Zechariah deemed either too difficult or
too holy for his son to read, so he read those himself, with John watching closely to learn. Then again some areas of the
scroll were rubbed with age, as several generations of devoted scribes had traced fingers along the lines, pointing to the
words to keep track of their position, so as to avoid inadvertently repeating words or whole lines, or omitting words or
lines, so Zechariah would have to help his son decipher the word – often from memory; elsewhere he would correct the
boy’s pronunciation of unfamiliar words, but by and large, John managed with a far greater level of success than many
other young men twice his age. Reb Nehemiah, who kept enquiring after his prize scholar, had taught him very well.
In Second Adar, the extra month added every three years to bring the lunisolar year back in line with the solar
year, the Eighth Division was ministering from the twelfth to the nineteenth, so Zechariah had to go to Jerusalem – the
first time he had left Elizabeth since Elul, when he had taken the family’s offerings of olive oil and firewood to the
House of God. He left with a heavy heart and found it difficult to concentrate on his service as he officiated over the
sacrifices and Sanctuary rites. He rushed home, feeling guilty for driving his mule so hard – for Jews, almost uniquely
at the time, normally took good care of their livestock, in accordance with the Torah. He was frightened that his beloved
wife of nearly thirty-seven years, might have fallen asleep and gone to Sheol whilst he was away.
But she was still clinging determinedly on to life, when he got back. Three days later, John read to her about the
blessings of the patriarch Jacob over his twelve sons, his subsequent death and burial, and the death and embalming of
Joseph in Egypt, and so finished the scroll of the Book of Creation. When Zechariah had completed the Aramaic, the
 Prepare the Way

two recited the Ḥazaq, the words always read spoken when reaching the end of a book of the Torah: ‘Be strong, be
strong, and let us strengthen one another.’9
But Elizabeth had no strength left and started to whisper, ‘Shema῾ Yisra’el! ᾽Adonay ᾽Elohaynū, ᾽Adonay ’eḥad.
W -’ahaveta ’et ᾽Adonay ᾽Elohayka bekal levaveka, ūbekal nafesheka…’, her voice faded and her husband and son, tears
e

streaming down their cheeks, completed the verse ‘…ūbekal me᾽odeka!’ ‘…with all my might.’
Zechariah leant forward and kissed her one last time, and John, sobbing loudly, threw his arms around her des-
perately thin body.
Beulah, who had been sitting in the corner of the room, preparing the evening meal, came forward, weeping
noisily. ‘Let me help you prepare the mistress’s body, Mar,’ she whispered. ‘I also loved her.’
And so. the family wept together, joined by friends and neighbours who came when Hippomanes went to the gate
and loudly announced to all that Elizabeth, the beloved wife of the chief priest Zechariah, had passed away.
Within a couple of hours, a large crowd of mourners had assembled – Elizabeth and Zechariah were well-loved
in their community; and flautists soon were playing a dirge. Zechariah, John, Beulah, and Hippomanes came into the
courtyard, robes torn and ashes strewn in their hair. Four young men, the sons of neighbours, came out of the house
carrying a bier on which the body of Elizabeth was laid, washed, anointed with spices and aromatics, and dressed in
grave clothes, a faint smile still fixed on Elizabeth’s pallid features, as yet uncovered.
The funeral procession made its way slowly through the streets of Bethlehem. Many people, on learning who it
was, joined them as they drew nearer to the tombs on the outskirts of the town. As was the custom, her face now covered,
her body was laid in the family vault, where it would lay until only the bones were left. Then the bones would be
collected and put into a limestone ossuary and placed with other ossuaries containing the bones of their ancestors, at the
back of the tomb, often in a separate chamber, although the latter custom had started barely fifties years previously.
The household returned home. They would be unclean for seven days, although fortunately this particular re-
striction made no difference to Hippomanes, who being a foreigner, was permanently unclean, so he went each day, as
was his wont, to the market to buy, barter and haggle for fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, and fish. Apart from missing
worshipping in the gathering-house on the sabbath, the period of uncleanness did not unduly inconvenience Zechariah
and John, who spent much of the time simply sitting alongside each other on the couch under the date palm.
Since John was a nazirite, Zechariah shaved the boy’s head on the seventh day, as the hair, according to the Torah,
was polluted by death. Zechariah had not had the heart to make John stay out of the room, when his mother was dying,
but now sacrifices would have to be made to atone for this violation of the nazirite vow. The following day, Zechariah
travelled to Jerusalem, where he made an offering of two doves – one for a sin offering, one for a burnt offering – and
a male yearling lamb as a guilt offering on his son’s behalf, and then he burnt the child’s hair upon the altar.
Having carried out this melancholy task, Zechariah hastened back to Bethlehem, arriving shortly after nightfall.
He watched as his mule made its way through the dusty streets, little golden pools of light shimmering from windows
and on roof-tops as the air was mild enough to sleep on the roof. He listened, as his faithful steed clip-clopped, to the
gentle murmur of weary voices carried on the night breeze.
By the time he got home, John had already been sent to bed by Beulah, and was fast asleep. Zechariah kissed him
gently on his clean-shaven head and went to have his supper in the courtyard, under the stars.

⸎⸎⸎

Less than two weeks later, the household got ready to leave for Jerusalem for Passover and Unleavened Bread.
The donkeys were loaded and soon were ambling along the dusty road, but whereas the party would usually have been
singing or telling stories, they were silent, lost in reverie. For the first time John, young as he was, had come face to face
with mortality. He furtively glanced at his companions, wondering who would be next.
Hippomanes wheezed as he hauled his substantial bulk around; he had been gaining weight ever since he was
castrated and by now weighed as much as two men. He often complained of back pain, and his hair was as grey as a
cloud during a thunderstorm. He was too big to ride any of the household donkeys and mules, so had to walk, which set
the pace for the little group and they soon found themselves towards the rear of the caravan of pilgrims from the town.
It made little difference, they were in no hurry, as they had a permanent arrangement to stay with cousin Matthew,
whereas some of the pilgrims were hurrying to obtain good accommodation.
Beulah, too, was old – although John’s view of old age was the same as that held by all children – but he recog-
nised that she was at least as old as his Abba. Her greying hair was covered by her travelling scarf, her soft brown eyes
were slightly cloudy and she often complained of failing eyesight and headaches.
 Prepare the Way

As for his Abba, well, his iron-grey hair had gone nearly as white as the clouds scudding above them since Imma
had died, and his bearded face was deeply lined. John was suddenly afraid for his father and he whispered the Berakhōt
Koheniym under his breath.
‘Adonai shall bless you and keep you; Adonai makes his face to shine upon you and is gracious to you; Adonai
turns his face to you and gives you shalom.’10 He wondered whether it was sufficient to say it in Aramaic, so screwing
his face up in concentration, carefully said it in Hebrew: ‘Yebarekeka ᾽Adonay, weyishemereka; ya᾽er ᾽Adonay panayv
᾽eleyka, wi-yiḥunneka yissa᾽ ᾽Adonay panayv ᾽eleyka, weyasem leka shalom.’

⸎⸎⸎

On the following morning, the preparation day, a group of the followers of Judah bar Zarephah and Matthew
Margalōth gathered in the House of God and began to agitate for justice for their late mentors, murdered for obeying
the Torah. Archelaus soon heard about this and, fearing a revolt, sent in the First Cohort of the Roman Legion which
was stationed in Jerusalem. However, even although there were hundreds of soldiers, so great had the mob grown that
they overcame the men who had little space to manoeuvre in the Temple, and stoned them, killing many and wounding
others, including the first centurion, who fled. The crowd then continued sacrificing their lambs for the Passover seder,
simply dragging the bodies of the slain soldiers out of their way, until they were piled like faggots of wood in between
the huge columns.
Zechariah had been near the gate when this happened and had watched in horror the appalling spectacle as he
crouched fearfully with the carcase of his lamb near the great bronze Treasury. He was astonished that Jehoazar contin-
ued presiding as though nothing had happened, and he left the House of God dejected at the savagery he had witnessed.
He had just reached the tents of those pilgrims who had nowhere to stay in Jerusalem during the Feast, when a
squadron of cavalrymen arrived and positioned themselves between the tents and the Temple, effectively preventing
anyone from entering or leaving the temple complex.
Then the whole legion arrived and, passing closely by the spot where Zechariah was standing, marched up the
steps and entered the edifice. Then the air was filled with terrible shrieks of terror and pain. An unbearable half hour or
so later, the soldiers came back down the steps, some ostentatiously wiping the blood off their swords and spears so the
pilgrims in the tents could receive the message loudly and clearly, whilst others carried wounded and dead soldiers back
to the Praetorium.
Zechariah had his Passover lamb, so had no need to go back into the House of God, nor did he have any desire to
enter that defiled and polluted place, but continued watching as a few blood-spattered pilgrims gradually filtered out of
the gates and down the steps. Was the blood that of Passover lambs, or was it human? He did not stop to find out, but
scurried away as fast as his rheumatic legs would permit.
When he arrived in his street, he was bemused to see that a sign had been erected requiring everyone to stay at
home, by order of King Archelaus – a difficult order to enforce on normal days and well-nigh impossible to obey at feast
time. He shrugged and went to Matthew’s home as usual, the lamb carcase draped across his shoulders.

⸎⸎⸎

Archelaus then arrogantly decided that that was the end of the matter and, just a few days later, during the Feast
of Unleavened Bread, left the country to be, as he fondly imagined, confirmed king by Imperator Augustus. He was
accompanied by his mother Malthace, his aunt Salome (who, as it so happened, bore no love for her nephew), and
various friends and kinsmen. He left his half-brother Philippus in charge of the country.
When Archelaus arrived at Caesarea, prior to his departure for Rome, he met up with Sabinus, Augustus’ steward
for Syrian affairs, and Publius Quinctilius Varus, general of the legions, who assured him they would watch over the
land whilst he was away, but as soon as Archelaus and Varus were out of the way, Sabinus travelled down to Jerusalem,
ostensibly to audit the royal treasures. His high-handed attitude caused numerous disturbances.
Shortly after this, Archelaus’ full brother Antipas also sailed for Rome, along with various supporters who were
dismayed with the idea of having Archelaus rule over them.
The brothers duly came before Augustus, who was unhappy with the way Archelaus had issued commands to the
legion in Jerusalem to tackle the agitators in the Temple – commands which had directly led to the needless deaths of
so many soldiers – as Archelaus actually had not had the necessary authority at the time to act so violently in the name
of Rome. Several months were to pass whilst Augustus pondered whether to ratify Herod’s legacies or not, and whether
he should make appropriate alterations to demonstrate the power and authority of Rome.
 Prepare the Way

During this period, Malthace, the mother of Archelaus, Antipas and Olympias, contracted a fever and died. At
almost the same time, letters arrived from Varus informing Augustus and the brothers, that the Jews were rebelling –
although omitting the inconvenient fact that the revolt was initially caused by Sabinus, who was deliberating angering
the nation by his seizure of Herod’s property and by his ransacking of the palaces and other buildings, in his search for
riches. Indeed, so successful had Sabinus been in stirring up the people he despised, that by Pentecost – only five weeks
after Archelaus, Antipas, and their entourage had sailed for Rome, tens of thousands of men from Galilee, Edom, Peraea
and even Samaria, had come together, not only to celebrate the feast, but to deal with Sabinus.
To this end, they seized the hippodrome, the eastern section of the House of God, and the western quarters of
Jerusalem, where the palace was situated. Varus went to the rescue of Sabinus and there was a terrible slaughter on both
sides, resolved only when Sabinus desecrated the Colonnade of Solomon (although the columns themselves were un-
touched), by setting fire to the furniture and structures between the columns.
The wood, full of pitch and wax, burnt fiercely and the near total destruction of this area also brought down part
of the roof on which many rebels had been standing. The subsequent repairs were to take many years, as all costs had
to met out of the Treasury rather than the seemingly bottomless royal purse, and Sabinus had profited to the tune of four
hundred talents, seized from the Treasury, which was therefore seriously depleted. The House of God took a very long
time to recuperate from this double loss. Priceless records of censuses and genealogies, as well as those of the Temple
taxes were also lost in the conflagration.
This was, however, not the only disturbance, as two thousand of Herod’s old guard fought against the Romans in
Judah, whilst the brigand Judah bar Hezekiah led an assault against the palace at Sepphoris in Galilee and made off with
a substantial armoury of weapons; he was to be a thorn in the side of the Romans for nearly nine years. Then there was
Simeon, a former slave of Herod’s, and certain shepherd Athronges, who both separately and independently of each
other, raised armies of supporters and proclaimed themselves king, only to be ruthlessly suppressed by the armies of the
new Praefectus of Syria, Publius Quinctilius Varus, assisted by the legions he was fated one day to lose.11
By the time these and dozens of minor insurrections had been quelled, villages across the nation had been burnt
down and thousands had been crucified. Then Varus sent Philippus, with whom he was on very good terms, to Rome,
both as a messenger and also to assist Archelaus, as a joint Jewish-Samaritan embassy had arrived to argue against the
appointment of Archelaus as king. It was obvious to Augustus that he had to make a decision very swiftly, or else the
entire region might be consumed by revolts, so in the end he ratified Herod’s will, but denied Archelaus the title of King,
making him instead Ethnarch12 of Judaea, Samaria and Idumea; Antipas became Tetrarch13 of Galilee, and joint-ruler
with his ailing uncle Pheroras – who was to die year later – of the country across the Jordan known as Peraea; Philippus
also was made tetrarch of a group of smaller territories to the north and east of Galilee: Ituraea, Trachonitis, Batanaea,
Auranitis and part of Abilene; and Salome was awarded, along with her late husband’s bequests, a royal palace in Ash-
kelon. The Greek cities of Gadara, Hippos, Skythopolis, Pella, Dios, Sebaste, Marissa, Azotus, Jamnia and Arethusa,
collectively known as the Dekapolis, were ceded, along with Gaza, to the Province of Syria (or Aram, as it was known
to the Jews).
And so, the new rulers hurried back to their territories, although Archelaus was angered and discontent with his
title and felt both diminished and humiliated in his family’s eyes…

⸎⸎⸎

Zechariah had studiously avoided Jerusalem during the tumultuous time, missing the Pentecost celebration for
the first time in his adult life; by the time he was due to minister in the House of God in early Elul, the summer of strife
was pretty well over, much to his relief. He sadly surveyed the devastation of the ruined Colonnade of Solomon – the
main Treasury had been patched up, but several groups of Temple servants were clambering around the rubble, carefully
lifting smaller chunks, and looking for the blobs of gold which had melted off the wood when it had burnt.
A purification ceremony had been held after the Passover massacre, but Zechariah could still see with his mind’s
eye, the corpses piled up and the Kohen haGadōl continuing to preside over the carnage, and found it impossible to
dismiss the image of horror, pollution, and desecration.
On Zechariah’s third day of ministry, the Kohen haGadōl Jehoazar was summoned to the palace by the newly-
returned Ethnarch, Archelaus. He came back, somewhat bemused and called together the Knesset of the Chief Priests.
‘I’ve been waiting for this day ever since King Herod forced me into this position for which I was never intended.
Indeed, I know that many of you – even though you are too well-mannered to express it aloud – regard me as permanently
unclean owing to my Samaritan wife, whom, as it so happens, I love very much.
 Prepare the Way

‘Archelaus is exercising his prerogative, no doubt simply because he can, and has asked for my resignation,
effective immediately. It may surprise you, however, that he has elevated my brother Eleazar in my place. He obviously
doesn’t want to cause too much upset and has realised that by and large our family is acceptable for the role.’
Zechariah smiled wryly, remembering a conversation he had had with his nephew Azariah about eighteen months
earlier, when Jehoazar had been made Kohen haGadōl, but also wished he had lived in those days when the future Kohen
haGadōl was always the son of the current Kohen haGadōl, and would be so for life…

⸎⸎⸎

Archelaus commenced the rebuilding of Jericho and the royal palace there; he planted a magnificent orchard of
date palms, and diverted the stream which used to supply the village of Naarah, so that they could be amply watered.
Needless to say, this dismayed the villagers, who dug a few dry wells and eventually gave up and drifted away from the
little town. He also built a town and called it Archelaïs, after himself.
He had been married for several years to Mariamne, the eldest daughter of his half-brother Aristobulus and his
second cousin Berenice, but he now divorced her on the pretext that she had borne him no children, and forced his
attentions upon Glaphyra, his half-brother Alexander’s widow. This transgressed the Torah, as she had borne her late
husband three children and so was not available for a levirate marriage.14 She had remarried, but subsequently divorced
her second husband, the elderly King Juba of Numidia, and returned to Cappadocia to live with her father King Arche-
laus.
But Archelaus, the Ethnarch, who had been named after the King, had persisted and reluctantly she married him;
she was dead of melancholy within the year…
When Kohen haGadōl Eleazar rebuked the Ethnarch for so despising the Torah of his fathers, Archelaus sacked
him, and elevated Jeshua bar Sia. Eleazar had only been Kohen haGadōl for just over a year and had been replaced by
a mere Temple servant! Wary of Archelaus’ reprisals, the priests began to gauge just how the nation felt about the Eth-
narch. Then came startling news from Jehoazar – the Samaritans, said his wife, also hated Archelaus with a passion,
despite his Samaritan mother, and would rather be governed directly by a Roman Procurator than by this intolerably
cruel tyrant!

⸎⸎⸎

Zechariah was struggling in these eventful days – were it only his rheumatism he could have gotten by, but he
was also getting severe chest pains and suffering more frequently with a shortness of breath. He was not really concerned
for himself, as he knew that his soul would rest in Sheol to wait for the terrible and wonderful Day of Adonai, the Day
of Judgement the prophets spoke of, and then he would be reunited with Elizabeth, with his parents and those who had
gone before him. As a matter of fact, he rather looked forward to the release from pain. But as for John, by now nearly
nine years old – to whom could he entrust the care of a child nazirite?
Eventually he settled upon a plan and called Beulah in to see him.
‘Beulah,’ he began, ‘as you will have realised, I’ve probably not got much longer to live…’ he raised his hand to
stop her as she was about to remonstrate with him; ‘…that’s a fact, woman, and we must plan accordingly. I’ve written
a will, which is why Reb Nehemiah was here yesterday, in which I have made several provisions. Firstly, I have provided
a good sum of money for you to return to your sister and brother-in-law’s home and to live in comfort all the remaining
days of your life. I’ve manumitted Hippomanes – which I should’ve done years ago – and likewise settled enough money
on him to see him through his old age as he has no-one else, unless, of course your family can take him in.
‘The house and contents will be held in trust for John by Matthew, and Azariah will be coming to live here when
he gets married in the Spring. He will pay a modest rent until John is of age to decide what he wants to do.
‘As you know, I’ve been very worried as to who will bring John up, and have decided to entrust his care to those
who will guard his ritual purity. Beulah, you have been a good and faithful servant to both Elizabeth and myself, so I
ask that when my funeral is over, you take John to Sekhakhah and hand him over to the Essenes elders at Community
of the Sons of Light.15
‘Give them the letter that I’ve put with my will – they’ll accept him. Oh, yes – you’ll need to avoid the main
village. Just stand about two stadia from the entrance and someone will come to you.
‘One last thing, Beulah. I’ve explained this to John and need to tell you too – under no circumstances may he
touch me once I have died, because if he does, he’ll become unclean and so unacceptable to the Essenes. It’ll be hard
for him, but for his sake, please hold him back.’
 Prepare the Way

Beulah left the old priest and, wiping her eyes, returned to her kitchen chores, restraining her sobbing lest John
come in from the courtyard and wonder why she was weeping…

⸎⸎⸎

Three weeks later Zechariah died peacefully in his sleep.

Wandering around as though in a dream, John watched as his darling Abba was laid to rest, whilst Beulah and his
aunt Judith lovingly gathered the bones of his mother and placed them in an ossuary on which the words Elizabeth,
beloved of Zechariah had been scratched in the soft limestone.
Zechariah’s body was then laid upon the same ledge on which the body of his wife had been laid, and the entrance
of the tomb was sealed with a large stone. The tomb had not recently been whitewashed to prevent anyone from acci-
dently touching it and becoming unclean and neither had the other tombs in the cemetery, so John had had to take
particular care when attending his father’s funeral lest he inadvertently touch a grave.
A week later Beulah and John, accompanied by Azariah and two of his brothers, travelled along the searingly hot
and dusty road to the northern end of the Salt Sea, to the isolated community of the Essenes at Sekhakhah, surrounded
by rocky wilderness, although there was a nearby oasis, where white-robed individuals were toiling in fields. They spoke
for a while to several, all dressed in the ubiquitous white robes, then an elderly, almost skeletal man. Totally bald, and
also dressed in a white robe, he took John away and asked him a series of probing questions. A couple of hours later he
returned.
‘We’ll take him in,’ he said, ‘We foresee that Adonai has great plans for the lad.’
Then Beulah hugged John for the last time, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears, and he took his leave of Azariah
and his brothers, and they left. He now had lost all the family he had ever known and was never again to set foot in his
home town of Bethlehem.
 Chapter
‘All the sons of light are destined for light.’ ( Q , - The Testament of Aram)

The Community of the Sons of Light, usually simply called the ‘Community’ (a word which also meant witness
or testimony), had been founded at Sekhakhah1 when the Maccabee brothers had seized the sacred role of Kohen haGadōl
2
for themselves in the Seleucid year and so, as a faction of the Jews saw it, robbed the rightful heirs, the descendants
of Zadok – the Kohen haGadōl under King Solomon – of that honour. It was a time of war as the Maccabees fought not
only the Seleucid Kings, but also the Egyptians under the Ptolemies, and the Arabians under the dynasty of Aretas.3 A
time of religious upheaval, which also saw the formation of both the Sadducees (the ‘Righteous’) and the Pharisees (the
‘Separated’), but whereas, however, these sects remained deeply involved in the politics of the time, the Essenes, for
the main part, withdrew either to communities such as Sekhakhah, or else became hermits.
The Community was already more than a century old when it was badly damaged in the terrible earthquake that
had ravaged Judah in the sixth year of Herod the Great’s reign – around the same time the Romans were fighting the
Battle of Actium,4 the culmination of the Roman Civil War. This was when some ten thousand people across the country
perished in the ruins of their homes, but apart from a narrow fissure in the ground running across part of the settlement,
the damage to Sekhakhah had long been repaired.
The brilliant blue Salt Sea – also variously called the Sea of the Plain or Lacus Asphaltites (the Bitumen Sea)5,
dominated the views to the east and south of Sekhakhah. The southern end, furthest from the Community, was said to
be the location of Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed by fire and sulphur in the distant past, by Adonai who was outraged
at the evils perpetrated by the two cities. The Salt Sea was a sepulchral place where eldritch wind-sculpted pillars of salt
poked above the lifeless waters and dotted the shores in places as though creeping onto the sandy beaches, and occasional
blobs of bitumen bobbed around on the strangely uninviting waves. Some days, a foetid, sulphurous miasma hung about
the lake like some phantasmagorical effluvium from the very mouth of Hades. The shores were composed either of
pebbles, or a rich, black mud, prized for its therapeutic qualities – indeed Queen Cleopatra had, in her day, regularly
imported quantities of the mud for cosmetic purposes, and the Community often traded the mud to customers around
the Empire.
Over a dozen rivers drained into the basin of the lake, the largest being the permanent River Jordan, which emptied
its waters at the northern end. As the lake lay far below the surrounding landscape, no water could escape except by
evaporation in the torrid temperatures, which meant that the burden of salts that the rivers had leached on their journeys
to the lake was left behind, leaving the water bitter tasting and impossible to drink. So salty were its waters that those
sufficiently incautious as to attempt to swim there, at least found that they could not sink, let alone drown, but magically
floated about like chaff in the sea.
To the west of the settlement were rugged cliffs and rocky outcrops riddled with caves, both man-made and wind-
blasted – and some eroded by rainwater when the climate was wetter. The Community used these caves as storehouses
– some known to the Community as a whole, others known only to selected initiates, where dozens of pottery jars were
stored. These jars contained mainly precious duplicate copies, not only of the scrolls of the Torah and Prophets, but also
many writings, including some peculiar to the Essenes6 who had penned them.
Along the northern boundary, a few stadia from Sekhakhah, flowed the River Kidron, alongside the main path
to the Community’s lands, all the way from Jerusalem. Slightly to the north was the Sekhakhah Wadi, a seasonal stream
but dry most of the time. In the distance one could make out the mouth River Jordan, ending its journey of over a
thousand stadia, from the slopes of Mount Hermon, passing through the dancing sands of Lake Huleh and the sweet
waters of the Sea of Kinnereth in Galilee.
Although the settlement lay in a rain-shadow and so seldom received any rainfall, the main Community had a
deep well and also stored much of the water from the wadi in massive cisterns. The Community also grew a remarkable
cornucopia of fruit vegetables and herbs, watered by the spring at Ein Pasaq, a few stadia to the south, which fortunately
was perennial and had never failed during the establishment of the Community. They also kept modest flocks of sheep
and goats a little further away, where they could graze in the Negev, and although the land was too poor to support cattle,
they bartered for those as they had need, with other groups of Essenes in Judah.
A particularly valuable source of income was the bitumen which was gathered from the shores of the lake; the
sale of this useful commodity had considerably contributed to the Community’s wealth.
It was a strange little town, laid out in such a way so as to symbolically represent the camp of the Israelites when
they wandered in the wilderness with Moses. It had various stone-built structures, but was inhabited only by the male
initiates of the Community. A few stadia distant was a larger village built entirely of adobe or wood and was considered
to be an impermanent settlement. Known as Beth Malkah, the ‘House of the Queen’, this was inhabited by women,
including the wives of initiates, married couples, children, and those men who were either lay-workers, temporarily
unclean or were waiting to become initiates. All were considered unclean and indeed the village was often called Beth
Tamea, the House of the Unclean.
Of the three major sects of the Jews at this time, the Essenes were probably the most zealous for the Torah. (There
were other sects that rose up a little later – the Zealots, who appeared in the reign of Archelaus, as followers of Judah of
Gamala, and the Limmūddiym beDerek,7 who would not emerge for another thirty-five years or so.) Initiates had to
 Prepare the Way

undergo three rigorous years of waiting, testing, purification, and obedience, before they were permitted to become
junior members of the Essenes, when they deeded their property, apart from land, for the benefit of the whole Commu-
nity and all Essenes throughout the Land.
Whereas the Pharisees believed that Adonai had a hand in some things, but that humankind was responsible for,
and controlled, others, the Essenes were convinced that fate – which they defined as the will of Adonai – governed
everything and that nothing happened but had already been predestined. The Sadducees, however, along with their
political arm, the Herodians, believed that all good and evil proceeded from the hand of humanity – apart, of course,
from the weather, earthquakes and the like, which were naturally ascribed to the whim and will of Adonai, and that there
was no such thing as fate or predestination.
Both the Essenes and the Pharisees believed in angels, which they saw as spirit beings continually being created
by Adonai from wind and fire, and returned by him to that state when the task for which they had been created – usually
that of a messenger – was completed. The archangels, however, primarily Michael – who guarded Israel, Gabriel, Uriel
and Raphael, whose appointed tasks were in themselves eternal in nature, were likewise eternal. The Sadducees, how-
ever, believed that these ethereal beings did not exist, and that angels were simply men used by God as messengers.
The Essenes and Pharisees likewise had strong beliefs in the resurrection of the dead, judgement of souls and
eternal life for the righteous, but damnation for the wicked in either an eternal prison of darkness or else torture by
eternal fires, although this latter view was not universally held; but whereas the Pharisees favoured the notion of bodily
resurrection, the Essenes believed in a spiritual afterlife. These doctrines were, however, utterly rejected by the Saddu-
cees – indeed dismissed as speculative and ludicrous fantasy, since the Torah had nothing to say about an afterlife. They
believed that each human has only one life, and that the soul dies with the body.
The three sects also differed considerably in their attitudes towards the Temple. The Sadducees were intently
focussed on the House of God and the cycle of feasts and sacrifices, and few strayed far from Jerusalem as they met
most days in the House of God, including the sabbath. Indeed, so important was the daily ritual to the Sadducees, that
when the Temple was destroyed some seventy years later, the sect of the Sadducees disappeared as well.
The Pharisees attended the Temple on mandatory feasts, fasts and festivals; most of the priests of the divisions
were adherents of the sect, but otherwise they centred their lives on the synagogues which were everywhere the Jews
were. The Greek word sunagogē or ‘gathering together’, which was used by the Jews of Alexandria and those of the
Diaspora, had become such a pervasive name for these meeting-houses, or houses of prayer, that even non-Hellenised
Jews used the word. These sunagogai were the hearts of their communities, and children were welcome there. Since
apart from when babies were dedicated to Adonai, children were not permitted in the House of God, so children were
exposed to Pharisaic doctrine from an early age, which meant that the Sadducees had been gradually diminishing in
number for many years before the fall of the House of God. The sunagogē or synagogue was for most Jews, the first
contact they had with the Torah, the Prophets, and Psalms, as well as the Mishnah, the traditions of the elders.
Unsurprisingly the Pharisees enjoyed a widespread popularity with the people; whereas, apart from Feast times,
most people seldom, if ever, came into contact with the Sadducees, and their philosophy therefore touched very few
people outside of Jerusalem. Even fewer came across the reclusive Essenes, apart from those who had reason to travel
between communities, and few found their doctrines compelling. To many who had across them, the Essenes were
zealous, fanatical extremists, who had taken the principles of the Pharisees too far, even although the two sects had co-
evolved. For example, the Pharisees required only that one should wash one’s face, hands and feet when returning home
or visiting, whereas the Essenes insisted that daily living made one unclean, and so, not only passed through the waters
of a purification-bath, but even put on a clean, white robe first before eating!
The Pharisees were content, too, that sacrifices should be performed only in the House of God, but the Essenes
of Sekhakhah contended that the Temple (a name they preferred to use, rather than the sacred name House of God) was
polluted because the blood of the sons of Zadok did not flow through the veins of the Kohen haGadōl, who was in their
eyes, therefore, not authorised by Adonai to conduct the sacrifices. As a result of this, they abstained entirely from
animal sacrifice, and certain communities even withheld their tithes from the Temple, preferring rather to bury their
money in secret locations until the time should come that a true son of Zadok should once again officiate as Kohen
haGadōl.
The Essenes were also renowned as soothsayers and the interpreters of signs and dreams, and had on occasion
even been consulted by King Herod himself – who admired the sage Menahem. When Herod was young, this sage
predicted that he would one day become king and reign for at least thirty years. One of their earliest prophets, Judah,
had foretold that King Aristobulus I would have his brother Antigonus murdered on a particular day, in a particular
place, which came to pass and so gave the Essenes a reputation for prophetic accuracy.
They were also specialists in the arcane art of brontology – a form of divination which attempted to predict the
future according to when and where the sound of thunder was heard, as well as the direction from whence it came.
 Prepare the Way

Expert brontologers even claimed to understand the very words of the thunder, interpreting them as the voice of Adonai.
The Essenes also studied astrology and wrote several treatises on the zodiac and perfected a -day solar calendar, so
that every day always fell on the same day of the week (with the inconvenient surplus of four days included in a periodic
leap-month.
The Essenes were divided into two sub-sects: the Polistai – a Greek word, as the Essenes did themselves not
distinguish between the members – who lived in communities such as Sekhakhah, or in enclaves within towns, and the
Herēmoi – likewise a Greek word, who lived singly in caves. The latter did not marry, but prized celibacy above all
other virtues, whereas the Polistai themselves fell into two groups: those at Sekhakhah proper (that is ‘in the Camp’) by
and large remained celibate like the Herēmoi, whereas those who lived in groups around the ‘Camp’ and in towns did
indeed take wives purely for the purposes of procreation, which after all was a Torah command, but otherwise lived like
brother and sister – very often the women would live in separate homes, to be visited by their husbands only when the
couple wished to conceive. Other Polistai would live according to the Torah as man and wife, but endeavoured not to
enjoy the act of procreation, but because they were classed as ceremonially unclean, had restricted access to the ‘Camp’.
The Polistai, such as those at Sekhakhah, gave all they owned to the community upon becoming initiates – apart
from land which they deeded to relatives, since all land was required to be kept within the tribe. Each person then
received from the Mevaqqer (the Overseer or Guardian of the Community) and the stewards everything they needed.
No-one had more than anyone else, whether the leader or the lowliest worker – all held earthly possessions in contempt
and gave generously to those in need with whom they came in contact, maintaining that the only treasure worth clinging
to, was that accrued in the heavens.8

⸎⸎⸎

And so, it was into this community which the young John was thrust. The day may have seemed much like any
other, but it was branded into his memory: the sky was a pallid blue, as though the colour had been leached from it by
the searing sun. The lake was a darker blue, but the sluggish waters seemed to be more repellent that they had any right
to be, and several salt-stacks seemed to lurch from the waters towards him. He wondered which pillar was Lot’s wife,
whose curiosity and disobedience had been punished when, whilst fleeing Sodom with her husband and daughters, she
had turned around to watch the destruction of the city with fire and brimstone, and so was turned into a pillar of salt.9
Little whitewashed buildings peppered the area, sparkling in the desert sun as the light caught the crystals of sea-
spray driven into the walls by periodic dust storms. The centre of the settlement was dominated by the rectory and the
imposing Beth Kthav,10 but his elderly guide pointed out the low wall and told him firmly that under no circumstances
was he ever to cross into that inner section, the Maḥneh ‘Camp’, until he was personally escorted there – certainly not
before he was twenty or thereabouts.
Instead he was directed to follow the old man, and they walked along a path which led towards the Wadi
Sekhakhah. At this time of the year, just two weeks past the Feast of Tabernacles, the wadi was reduced to a mere trickle,
and John jumped over it with ease. His companion crossed rather more sedately, stepping on a raised flat stone in the
middle of the rivulet and the two continued up the other bank. After a short walk, they arrived at a collection of white-
washed, square adobe houses, arranged around courtyards. Some of the houses were built of wood, which surprised the
boy, since apart from a little thorny scrub, the area was quite devoid of trees.
They arrived at a small group of adobe houses, sparkling in the sunshine like the stone buildings at Sekhakhah,
and the old man indicated to John that he should knock on the gate. Moments later, a round-faced, plump woman with
glossy black hair, rosy cheeks and a strained smile bustled to the gate and then stopped dead in astonishment, her mouth
dropping open in her surprise.
‘Master!’ she spluttered, hastily adjusting her veil. ‘The Beth Malkah is deeply honoured by your presence! Well,
I never would’ve expected to find of all people, the Ruler Simeon himself at my gate! Indeed…’
‘I apologise for the intrusion, Sister,’ Simeon said, smoothly interrupting the effusive welcome, ‘but I have
brought you young John bar Zechariah here for fostering. Please place him with Brother Jeshua and Sister Rebecca, as
he is a life-long nazirite.’ And, with a curt ‘Shalom!’ the leader of the Community briefly inclined his head towards both
the woman and the child, turned around and walked stiffly away.
John later learned that he had been granted an extraordinary concession, since Simeon was the Ruler, the ‘Prince’
of the Knesset of Elders which governed the Community – a man revered and respected, not only by the Essenes, but
even royalty and had on occasion been consulted by Archelaus himself.
‘Well, young nazirite,’ the woman said, looking down at the young lad, ‘we must find you the right house straight
away. Where did you use to live?’
 Prepare the Way

‘Bethlehem, Auntie,’ he answered, as she led him through the communal courtyard towards one of the doorways
which opened on to it. ‘My abba was the chief priest there.’
‘Well, you’ll find things very different here,’ she replied, as they stopped outside a door.
‘What should I call you, Auntie?’ John squinted up at her as the sun shone fiercely through the branches of a
tangled acacia in the corner of the courtyard.
‘Well, I’m not your aunt, young man,’ she said frostily. We don’t call people uncle and aunt unless we really are
related. No, call me Sister Susannah – all ladies are Sister and all men are Brother11 - and don’t speak to an adult unless
they speak to you first. That way you’ll stay out of trouble. Is that understood?’
‘Yes, Sister,’ he said, frowning. He had always been used to speaking freely in his family circle, but that evidently
was not the case here in his new life. He decided, pretty quickly that he was going to stay out of ‘Well Susannah’s’ way
as much as possible.
‘Well Susannah’ tapped quickly on the door, as though she were half-expecting a venomous snake to rear up and
strike her. After a short pause, she raised her hand to knock again just as the door swung open to reveal a tall woman,
with dark, rust-red hair tumbling about her shoulders, greenish eyes and a smile which lit her whole face.
‘Shalom Sister. I thought I heard a knock but I had to put baby Joachim to bed.’ She gestured towards John. ‘And
who is this young man? Is he to join us?’
‘Shalom, Sister Rebecca,’ Susannah replied, ‘Well, yes, as you see, this is John…’ she paused, looking quizzically
at the boy.
‘Bar Zechariah of Bethlehem,’ he supplied.
‘Oh yes, and he was brought by the Ruler himself! I was astonished to see him here I can tell you! I answered the
knock on the gate without my veil too – how embarrassing! Anyway, what did he say…? Oh, and he knew my name,
too!’ (John looked askance at her bare-faced lie, but ‘Well Susannah’ did not notice his frown. Rebecca, however, did.)
‘Well, I never… a terrible memory – ah, yes. The Ruler wants you and Brother Jeshua to foster him and ensure he’s
trained in our ways. How old are you, boy?’
‘I’ll be nine in two weeks, Sister.’
‘Well, anyway Sister Rebecca, he’s a lifelong nazirite, so of course your husband has considerable experience…’
Rebecca looked him up and down, then much to his surprise, winked at him. ‘Of course, Sister Susannah. Brother
Jeshua is definitely the most suitable, since he has two brothers who are nazirites. Can’t see any problems since we
naturally avoid intoxicating liquors anyway, lest we fall into lewd behaviour when drinking such stuff, and of course we
observe the laws on cleanness…’
A baby started crying within, so she took John by the hand and nodded at Susannah. ‘Thank you, Sister Susannah,
shalom,’ she said and took him indoors, closing the door behind them.
It was cool indoors and John found himself relaxing for the first time since arriving. Rebecca gestured towards a
couch and, as he tentatively sat down on the edge of it, she went to the crib in the corner of the room.
‘Help yourself to some goats’ milk, John,’ she said, taking the baby from the crib and comforting him. ‘You must
be thirsty.’
She sat down on a low couch next to the crib and, adjusting her robe, partially exposed a breast; the baby greedily
latched on to the proffered nipple and began to feed.
John turned scarlet with embarrassment and carefully studied his cup of milk, suddenly very aware that a baby
goat should have been drinking it in much the same way as this lady was feeding her baby.
Rebecca noted his obvious discomfort and smothered a chuckle. ‘John, John,’ she said, shaking with suppressed
mirth. ‘Have you never seen a mother feed her baby?’
‘No Sister.’ He muttered still studiously inspecting the contents of his cup.
‘Hmm.’ Rebecca gazed fondly at her infant, who was busily and noisily sucking. ‘It’s the most natural thing in
the world. Mind you, once you’ve celebrated your bar mitzvah, you’ll be a man, and then you’ll go to live with the other
bachelors. Then you’ll not see a mother nurse her child again until you marry and have children of your own, although
if you choose to become an initiate, you’ll probably abstain from that privilege. Until then, you’re part of a family – our
family, unless, of course, you’d rather be fostered by a different family?’
‘Oh, no Sister!’ John made himself look at his new mother. ‘I think I’ll be very happy with you. I… I just was…’
his voice tapered off, uncertain how to express how he felt.
‘Don’t worry, little brother,’ Rebecca smiled warmly at him. ‘I understand. Now, whilst I’m busy here, please go
through that door and check that the fire is still burning well. Add a little more wood if necessary. There is a large pot
on the grating – please add a jugful of water and give the stew a good stir. Got that all?’
 Prepare the Way

‘Yes, Sister,’ John said, happy to be useful, but also happy to leave the room. He knew he would have to become
accustomed to seeing Rebecca feed her baby, but as he had never, until that moment, ever seen any part of a woman
other than her head, hands and feet, he was, not unnaturally, a little flustered.
He jumped up, careful to replace the cup on a nearby table, and trotted into the next room. Whereas the first room
was fully enclosed and used for the family sleeping quarters and general living room, this room was only partially
covered by a roof, as was common in the village. The semi-roof was there to provide protection from the fierce sun,
since rain was so rare as to be something of a novelty when it did come, it was usually no more than a minor inconven-
ience, especially since the ground would then become a carpet of flowers.
Next to this semi-enclosed room was the pūrdah, a small house with a wooden door and a screened window;
whilst the courtyard, surrounded by a wall over four cubits high, an essential part of every house, greenly welcomed
him into its leafy embrace, inviting his exploration. But that would have to wait as he had a duty to perform.
The fire was burning next to a clay oven and although it was situated just within the roofed section, the smoke
and heat escaped easily into the air. The kitchen occupied about half of the covered area, and several shelves lined the
inner wall, full of mysterious pots and jars, amphorae of different sizes, and several little phials made from precious
glass and filled with exotic spices occupied pride of place near the doorway. A wooden bench and storage boxes sepa-
rated the kitchen from the bathing area which was dominated by what was presumably a purification-bath, although it
was concealed under a cloth-covered frame. Several large storage jars stood alongside the bench and John found water
in the first jar he looked in.
The stew looked and smelt wonderful. He had not been eating very well, since his abba died, but suddenly his
appetite returned and his mouth filled with saliva at his anticipation.
‘It looks really tasty, Sister Rebecca!’ he said as he ran back into the cool of the living room. Then he stopped and
put his hand to his mouth, chagrined at having so quickly forgotten about not speaking first.
‘Whatever’s the matter, John?’ Rebecca asked, surprised at his reaction – had he already forgotten that she would
have still been feeding the baby?
‘I… I’m sorry, Sister Rebecca,’ he muttered, ‘I know I may only speak when a grown-up speaks to me. I’d for-
gotten. Please forgive me.’
‘Hold on, whoa! I don’t know what you’re talking about, John, but in this family, anyone can speak when they
want to, although preferably not all at the same time!’
‘But Sister Susannah said…’ John started, but Rebecca interrupted.
‘Sister Susannah is a bitter woman whose husband will no longer sleep with her; she has borne him no children,
and now will never bear any children, so she hates all children! Don’t listen to her. Obey her, of course, just like any
other adult, but take no notice of her advice. So, you think my goat stew looks good, eh? Wait ’til you taste it!’
Soon afterwards Brother Jeshua came in from the fields he was tending by Ein Pasaq. He was a respected expert
on the cultivation of a wide range of vegetables, and this was now his service to the Community. John took to him
straight away; with his curly black, ruddy cheeks and twinkling eyes, he seemed very different from the austere Ruler
Simeon.
After introductions, Jeshua sat down on a couch so as to look face to face with his new son. ‘Now there are
somethings we do here which are very different from how you’d have lived with your parents, John, but I’m sure you’ll
get used to them quickly. But first we need to bathe and change for dinner.’
He stood up, went to a cupboard, and took out some white garments. Leaving Rebecca in the living room, they
went to the bathing area.
‘As the son of a chief priest, you’ll be familiar with a purification-bath?’
‘Yes, Brother Jeshua. We had our own one.’
‘Good. Now before we eat at noon and again at sunset, we wash, then submerge ourselves in the purification-
bath. Always make sure you’ve washed your feet, face, and hands before getting into the purification-bath, lest you soil
the water and it has to be drained. Water is very precious to the Community. After we emerge from the purification-bath,
we dry ourselves and put on white robes. The brothers then meet for prayers, after which they enter the Rectory; families
also pray together first, but stay at home to eat. It is most important that we’re clean before we pray and eat. Got it so
far?’
‘I think so, Brother,’ John answered, a little hesitantly.
‘Good lad. Now whilst you’re a child, and until you celebrate your coming of age,’ Jeshua continued, carefully
removing the cloth cover from the purification-bath, ‘you may also eat a breakfast of bread and curds, suitable for a
growing child, but as an adult, we fast each day until the noon meal.’ He positioned the cover on a frame, so as to
separate the purification-bath from the cooking area.
 Prepare the Way

He then washed his face, hands, and feet in a small bowl of water, taking care to pour the used water into a second
amphora. Having performed this task, he invited John to do the same. Ablutions complete, Jeshua turned to John. ‘As
you are a child, your nakedness offends no-one, but it’s still preferable for you to bathe in the purification-bath by
yourself. When you become an adult, you’ll be very careful never to expose yourself in any way before another, except
in the dark for purposes of conceiving a child in the sanctity of marriage. Remember to go down into the purification-
bath until your head is under the water, then get out and dry yourself. I have provided a white robe and a cord with
which to tie it – it should fit. When you are ready, call out and come into the living room, so that I, too, may bathe.’
Jeshua left the room, and John hastily stripped off his travel-stained robe and loincloth. He was determined not
to keep Jeshua waiting! The water was cool and a little scary as the purification-bath was wider than the narrow tank to
which he had been accustomed; by the fourth step his chin was just above the water, so he squatted forthwith so as to
submerge himself completely. He stayed briefly in that position, then stood up and climbed the three steps back up to
the floor. Jeshua had left a rough linen towel for him to dry himself, then he wrapped a clean loin-cloth around his hips
and pulled on the white robe, which was only a little too large for him. Tying the rough cord, he called out, and went
into the living room. He was surprised to see that Rebecca and the baby were nowhere to be seen, but Jeshua nodded at
him and went behind the screen.
He came back and sat on the couch alongside the boy. ‘Remember always to fold your clothes,’ he said, smiling
to indicate no offence had been caused. ‘After the meal this evening,’ he continued, ‘I’ll show you where we go to
relieve ourselves. You’ll have noticed the little wooden hut you passed on the way here…’ John had wondered who lived
in such a tiny house, ‘…that is a latrine purely for your water; make sure the flag is down before entering and always
push it up when you’re inside! The tanner’s assistant collects the urine each evening. We’ll give you a small spade so
that when you need to empty your bowels, you can first dig a hole – it doesn’t need to be very deep, perhaps a span or
so – and then you must crouch over the hole being very careful to cover your feet with your robe, and so cover your
whole body.12 When you’ve finished, stand up slowly then fill the hole. Don’t stamp on the earth, so that others can see
the ground has been disturbed and can therefore avoid it. Afterwards, because your excrement has defiled you, you’re
unclean until you’ve washed yourself.
‘Now I realise this is probably different to what you’re used to – I expect you used a latrine like most townsfolk
– but it’s very important that you follow these instructions. Is that clear?’ He looked at his young charge and smiled
kindly.
‘Yes, Brother Jeshua, I think so,’ John replied, looking down at the ground in embarrassment (again! Twice in one
day!), at such a frank speech.
‘Good, let us go into the courtyard, and allow Sister Rebecca to come out for her ablutions. Then we will pray.
This robe’s for meals only; once we’ve prayed and eaten, you’ll take it off, fold it neatly’ he said with not a little
emphasis, but softened with a smile, ‘and put our own robes back on. We’re very frugal in this community, as are all the
holy ones, and we wear our clothes until they’re no longer fit to be patched, or are too small for us, then we keep the
old clothes for cleaning rags or bandages. HaShem has given us everything we need,’ he continued, as Rebecca passed
them into the bathing area, handing the baby to Jeshua. ‘Good food, good homes and the love of haShem, and we hate
wasting his bounty.’
‘Women may not become Initiates’, Jeshua said, cuddling his little son, ‘but they’re otherwise deeply respected
as mothers and sisters. Oh yes,’ Jeshua remarked, ‘I do not suppose Sister Rebecca mentioned it, but the room next to
the kitchen and purification-bath is purely for her use during her times of ritual impurity, so you mustn’t enter it, as it’ll
make you unclean. Should you ever have to enter, perhaps in an emergency, you must use the purification-bath before
you come into contact with anyone else.’
He looked at his young apprentice and gently shook his head. ‘So much to remember, eh? Don’t worry, Sister
Rebecca and I will be here to help you, and when you turn ten, you’ll begin your training for your bar mitzvah and later,
when you turn twenty, your initiation into the Community will commence.’
It was dusk when Rebecca returned, also clad in white, but with a hood. They knelt, covering their heads, and
prayed to haShem, rocking gently to the rhythms of the prayers, starting, and finishing with the Shema. Then Jeshua
gave thanks for the food and Rebecca finally served up the goat stew – the aroma of which had been tantalising John
for what seemed hours – along with freshly baked flat bread, and cups of water for the adults, but a cup of goats’ milk
for the boy.
‘We never ask for second helpings here, and learn to be content with a sufficient portion.’ Rebecca said. ‘The
more we eat, the less there’ll be for those who do not have enough. In all things we must remember the Poor.’13
After dinner, Jeshua again gave thanks to haShem for his provision, and they sat convivially around the table for
a little longer, before cleaning up the dishes and tidying the dining area.
 Prepare the Way

John went to sleep that night with difficulty, his mind in turmoil as he tried to remember all that he had been told.
And such an odd way to relief oneself! Several people, each carrying a small spade, quietly walking to an area near
some cliffs in the dark, with only the waning crescent moon to light the way, and stars twinkling like flecks of mica in
sunlight. Not a word was spoken; when Jeshua found a suitable spot, he gestured to John and then walked a little distance
away, silhouetted against the stars. Then they returned in silence, washed themselves, after which Jeshua had prayed for
the blessings of haShem over the family before they settled down for the night.
And so ended John’s first day in the Community of the Sons of Light.
 Chapter
‘Here I am…’ (Genesis : , Isaiah : )

John quickly got used to the rhythms of the peaceful community by the Salt Sea; the whole village following the
same daily routine, broken only by the observations of the prescribed feasts and fasts. His mornings consisted of prac-
tising his writing, after a breakfast of bread, curds, and goats’ milk, and assisting Rebecca with a few household chores.
The Community mainly used the so-called square Assyrian script – particularly when writing the sacred texts in
Hebrew, although they occasionally used an older, cursive script – especially when copying the Torah of the Priests.1
They also wrote numerous works in Aramaic and expected their more experienced members to be fluent in Greek as
well. John who could read the Hebrew of the Torah, but spoke Aramaic, now had to learn how to read and write in both
languages in either of the two scripts, and would in due course have to learn the several codes employed by the Essenes
for secret documents. He practised for hours on end, writing on discards of goatskin, and when they were covered,
learned how to scrape the writing carefully off them, so that they could be reused, until they were transparent and too
thin to use any longer.
The Community preferred to use goatskin rather than papyrus, as the Torah had to be inscribed on scrolls anyway,
which could not be made of papyrus as they were too long. Traditionally, the Prophets were also written on goatskin
scrolls – the scroll of Isaiah was an extraordinary seventeen cubits long – about as long as five men lying head to feet
on the ground! – all in one piece, each trimmed goatskin carefully stitched to the next.2
The tanner, who lived downwind of the Beth Malkah, cleaned the goat-hides he obtained from the shokhet, tanned
them in rotten urine collected from the latrines, both at Sekhakhah and Beth Malkah, a valuable if unclean service, then
soaked the hides in the plentiful saltwater of the Salt Sea. He then soaked the hides in a solution made from the brains
of the goats, and then again in the dung from the community’s valuable chickens. Once he had cleaned and dried the
now tanned hides, he delivered them to the Beth Kthav to be worked further and carefully trimmed, ready to be used by
the scribes.
Some lesser, unimportant works were sometimes written on papyrus, and brief notes, lists, and accounts were
often scratched on ostraca, or, more rarely, small pieces of wood. Greek writings were usually written on papyrus,
imported from Egypt.
John watched with great interest as the vegetable ink was blended and mixed so as to reach the desired consistency
– too thin, and it would not adhere to the sharpened reed pens, too thick, and it would cause undesirable blots. He looked
forward to that distant future when he would be permitted to enter the Beth Kthav, as he had been raised to respect and
love the written word, even although very few Jews ever normally wrote more than a few words at any one time – of
course, most men could read.
The Community possessed a few works written in Greek – in particular some portions of the Torah from the
translation known as the Hebdomekonta,3 but only a few of the scribes were fluent writers, since Greek was the language
of the unclean foreigners. Indeed, were it not for the substantial colony of Hellenised Jews in Alexandria, Greek would
have been completely ignored by the Essenes.
John never had much to do with the world of the Hellenised Jews, but had he done so, he would have discovered
that in contrast to his compatriots, most Greek-speakers wrote their language with some proficiency, whether it was a
letter to a loved one in a distant city, or an account of credit and debt. There were fewer Greek scribes; not only could
most men write, but many free-born women could as well. Even some slaves could write, and literate slaves became
secretaries, teachers, and doctors – some even rose to positions of great authority.
The Jews, who could read very well indeed, had an instinctive aversion to using writing for mundane matters,
since they were in awe of the sacred texts, and traditions told of Moses himself passing on the art of writing as given by
the Creator – indeed the first set of the Commandments were written by the very finger of God!
At the fifth hour,4 Jeshua would return; they would take in turns to bathe in the cold water of the purification-
bath, dress in white, pray and eat – usually bread and a dish of mutton or vegetable stew (but never was there more than
one type of food on the dish itself). After the meal, they would praise the Almighty, put their work robes back on, and
John would accompany Jeshua to the fields where they would work until the sun was low in the sky, when they would
return home, bathe again, put on their robes of purity, pray and eat.
After the meal, Jeshua would again give thanks and read from the Torah. He and Rebecca would also teach the
young lad the customs and beliefs of the Sons of Light.
And so, each day was like the previous day, marked only by the sabbath, when the Community would gather in
the house of prayer for an hour or so at sundown and again the following morning, followed by a day of rest and
meditation.
John had thought that his family had been strict about observing the sabbath, but the Community was far stricter
and infringements could result in expulsion from the Camp for up to seven years! Jeshua was not even permitted to pick
up and hold his son on the sabbath – only women were allowed to care for children on the day of rest – and the Com-
munity taught, for example, that if an animal fell into a well, it could not be pulled out until sunset heralded the end the
sabbath.
 Prepare the Way

A generous exception was made, however, in that it was permitted to assist a person who had fallen in a well –
although the strictest, most austere members of the sect felt that even that might be construed as labour, and so were
unhappy at even such a concession. One had to wonder whether such zealous members would still feel the same way,
were such a fate to befall them, and they fell into an uncovered cistern or well on the eve of the sabbath!
No food preparation or cooking was permissible on the sabbath, and no-one kept foreign slaves, so Rebecca would
prepare the sabbath meal and have it on the table by sunset, when she would light that sabbath lamp, and they would eat
slightly larger portions than usual. The sabbath lunch the next noon was usually comprised of bread, goats’ cheese,
curds, perhaps a little cold mutton, and seasonal greens, olives and dates, and had likewise been prepared on the sixth
day and was kept, covered by a cloth to keep away the ubiquitous flies, on the same table, although sometimes a pot of
stew was kept warm in the clay oven.

⸎⸎⸎

Thus, the years trickled by. When he was ten, John commenced his training as an initiate of the Essenes Commu-
nity in earnest, as Jeshua had promised. He spent long hours memorising lengthy sectarian tracts and scrolls from the
Torah, Prophets and Psalms. He also learnt how to interpret scripture in the light of current events, using a system
developed by the Essenes: that of pesheriym or interpretative, prophetic commentaries, although others were to copy
this method to a greater or lesser degree.5
So involved was he, and so secluded, that he was only dimly aware of the drama unfolding less than a day’s
journey away in Jerusalem, as Ethnarch Archelaus continued his cruel reign over Judah and Samaria, sending in the
troops to confiscate harvests on the pretext of tax arrears, and executing supposed dissents. It seems he fondly believed
that he was to rule with an iron fist, angered as he was that his people had sent a joint embassy before he had been
enthroned, requesting that he not be made king, although since he was in awe of the saintly Simeon, Ruler of the Essenes,
the Community was left alone.
Jeshua who met with the Mevaqqer on a regular basis, returned one day to relate the message that Ruler Simeon
had given Archelaus.
‘Ruler Simeon told the Ethnarch a story from Melekiym,6 how when Rehoboam, son of the great King Solomon,
became king, he wanted to be greater than his illustrious father, just as Archelaus wants to outshine his father, universally
now known, not just as Herod, but as Herod the Great. So, like Rehoboam, instead of serving the people as he was
advised to by his elders, he decided to treat his subjects with the utmost cruelty, so that they all would fear him. Now
Rehoboam declared that just as his father had made a heavy yoke for his people, he would add to it; just as Solomon
had beaten them with whips, so he, Rehoboam, would beat them with scorpions! But just as Rehoboam subsequently
lost most of his kingdom, so too would Archelaus lose his.’
Shortly afterwards the Community heard that a second delegation of Jews and Samaritans had been sent to Rome,
sinking their differences in a common hatred for Archelaus, to demand that the Imperator Augustus Caesar depose him
and to have Rome govern the Provincia directly. Again, Archelaus sent for Ruler Simeon: he had had a dream, he said,
where nine large, full ears of wheat were devoured by oxen. His personal Magi, all the way from Babylon, had provided
so many contradictory interpretations, that he could believe none of them, but Simeon would tell the truth, which he did.
He told the Ethnarch that if he had read the story of Joseph and the dreams of Pharaoh in the Torah, he would
have understood the dream. The nine years of wheat, the old sage explained, denoted the full number of the years of his
reign, then, just as oxen plough the ground and change it, so would the Land experience a change of rule, and he would
be consumed by Rome.7
Five days after this, Archelaus was summoned to Rome to face trial and subsequent exile to Gallia. As his wife
Glaphyra had died a little earlier, he left for Vienna8 a broken and lonely man, his personal wealth having been confis-
cated and deposited in the treasury of Augustus.

⸎⸎⸎

Shortly before Archelaus went to Rome, John celebrated his bar mitzvah.9 Although his twelfth birthday was in
Marcheshvan, the Community decided to wait for a propitious day nearer the end of the year, before celebrating the
solemn yet joyful ceremony, so it finally took place in the ninth and last year of Archelaus – about the Kalends of Martius
in the thirty-seventh year of Augustus. An expert in divination had identified the tenth of Adar – which, as always in the
solar calendar of the Essenes, fell on the third day of the week, as appropriate, since the day was influenced by the
zodiacal sign of Ariya the Lion, which likewise had influenced the day on which he had been born. Lion by birth, lion
by nature.
 Prepare the Way

John, dressed in a new, white robe, girded by a freshly woven rope belt, and wearing new sandals and a finely
woven prayer-shawl, walked a little self-consciously to the front of the house of prayer, trying to look serious, but unable
to suppress a slight smile from lighting his face.
There were very few children in the Community of the Sons of Light, so a bar mitzvah was a rare occasion and
the house of prayer was full. John was astonished and humbled to see the Ruler himself sitting in the front, next to the
Mevaqqer and the whole sanhedrin of twenty-three elders, and quietly vowed to do his very best, so as not to let Jeshua
and Rebecca down. He looked up quickly at the screened section on the left unclean side of the hall – especially erected
for the occasion – and knew that Rebecca would be watching him with pride, with four-year old Joachim at her side and
baby Deborah snuggled close by, then glanced furtively to the right where he could see Jeshua stiffly erect with pride,
eyes twinkling at him.
Then everyone stood up and fell silent as the cantor sang from the Psalms:

‘I to the hills will lift mine eyes,

From whence doth come mine aid.
Mine help it cometh from HaShem,
Whom heav’n and earth hath made.

‘He will not let thy foot be moved,

And never shall He sleep;
He never sleeps and resteth not,
Whom Israel doth keep.

‘Thy keeper is the good HaShem,

Thy shade upon thy night;
The sun shall not blaze down on thee,
Nor shall the moon at night.

‘From evil shall HaShem thee keep,

And shalt preserve thy soul;
Thy comings in and goings out,
He’ll watch and keep thee whole.’10

The congregation sang ‘Amen, amen,’ and sat down for the Torah reading, which privilege on this special day,
fell to John. As he carefully unwound the precious scroll, his eyes blurred with sudden tears as he realised (not for the
first time), that he would be reading from The Book of Creation11 and was reminded of his daily readings to his dying
mother. He quickly blinked his eyes clear of tears, then found his place, the story of the Binding of Isaac.
Now the elderly Abraham had submitted to the devastating command of HaShem, that he was to offer up his
beloved son as a burnt offering, so he took the boy to Mount Moriah, where the sacrifice was to take place. And so, they
ascended the mountain and there Abraham built an altar of unhewn stones – the template of all future altars – upon
which he carefully arranged the wood he had brought with him.
Abraham then bound his precious son Isaac – whom traditions indicated was twelve years old at the time – and
placed him upon the altar. Breathing in deeply, he picked up the flint blade and was about to kill the boy, when an angel
of HaShem called out to him from the sky:
‘Abraham! Abraham!’
‘Here I am,’ he answered.
‘Don’t kill the boy,’ he was told and he was praised for his faithfulness and utter devotion to HaShem, that he
would offer his most precious possession, his only beloved son. Now Abraham actually had an older son, Ishmael, but
this son was by Hagar, his wife’s Egyptian handmaid, so was not truly the son of the Covenant, although his descendants
would also become a mighty people.
When Abraham looked around him, he saw a ram, providentially caught by its horns in a thicket, so he released
his son and sacrificed the ram in his stead, burning its carcase with the fire he had brought in a pot.12 Then the angel of
HaShem spoke again, swearing that Abraham’s descendants would become as numerous as the stars in the skies and the
grains of sand on the seashore. So, Abraham called the place Adonai Yireh, ‘HaShem Will Provide’, then returned with
his son to his home in Beer Sheba.
 Prepare the Way

As he read, three lines at a time, the meturgemen translating each portion into Aramaic, John was conscious for
the first time of the vast expanse of history between the days of the pastoral Abraham and the restless Land of that
present day. When he had finished the reading he sat down, relieved that he had read all lines without hesitation or
stumbling.
Then the officiating priest stood up, went to the lectern, and began to expound the reading, concentrating on
ha῾Aqeydah, the ‘Binding of Isaac’, explaining that Isaac had not been acceptable to HaShem until he had been redeemed
with a sacrificial offering, but once that had been made, he became his own man. John wondered why Isaac had to be
half-scared to death to become a man, but was unsure if he was permitted even mentally to disagree with a priest’s
analysis.
The priest also spoke of Mount Moriah – that it was the flat peak upon which King Solomon had built the Temple,
and the place of the Second House of God, rebuilt by Ezra and Nehemiah, and of the present Temple, rebuilt by Herod,
and the future House of God described by Ezekiel. Then he read from a very large scroll, which was unfamiliar to John…
‘that all the congregation of the children shall come there, nor a child until the day he has fulfilled the Rule…’ He looked
up at John, ‘… and has paid for himself a ransom to HaShem, half a shekel, and eternal rule, a memorial wherever they
dwell.’13
He continued to describe this future Temple in tedious detail, droning on and on and on…
‘And now for the haftorah reading, taken from Isaiah.’14 The priest said, reverting to his normal speaking tone,
startling John who was dozing slightly. He furtively glanced around, but fortunately nobody seemed to have noticed –
it was a serious offence to fall asleep during a meeting, warranting expulsion from the Community for thirty days!
A tall youth, who occasionally worked alongside him in the fields, stood up and walked to the front, whilst two
acolytes carefully carried a huge scroll, nearly as large as the one from which the priest had read, and brought it to the
lectern, retrieving the former. The young man, whose name John could not for the life of him remember, gingerly un-
rolled the scroll and, screwing up his face with the effort of reading, began to read a very familiar passage.
‘In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw Adonai sitting upon a throne – high and lifted up, and the train of his
robe filled the Sanctuary. Above him were the seraphim; each had six wings: one pair to cover his face, one pair to cover
his feet and one pair for flying. And one cried to another, “Holy, holy, holy, is Adonai Lord of Hosts! The whole Land
is full His Glory!” And the very doorposts trembled at the sound of his voice, and the House was filled with smoke.
‘Then I said, “᾽Ōy, I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of
unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the King, Adonai Lord of Hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, bearing a
burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth saying, “Behold, this has touched
your lips and your sin is cleansed.” Then I heard the voice of Adonai saying, “Whom shall I send; who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here I am – send me!” …’15
The tall youth continued, stumbling and stuttering, as he concentrated, but John found himself pondering Isaiah’s,
‘Here I am,’ echoing Abraham’s words, and sensing that somehow these words were personal. He remembered his abba
telling him of the prophetic words from Isaiah, concerning the one who was to prepare the way for HaShem in the
wilderness, the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah. John bowed his head and whispered, ‘Here I am.’
‘And now it is my pleasure to call out a young man who needs no introduction – a young man who in the three
or so years he has lived among us, has shown remarkable character, a zeal for HaShem that would shame some of our
elders and, as we saw earlier, great expertise in reading Torah. John bar Zechariah, please come forward!’
John had looked up when the Ruler started to speak and, flushed with embarrassment and pride, got up, astonished
that the Ruler Simeon himself had condescended to conduct this part of the ceremony.
‘I’ve watched your progress with great interest, young John,’ the Ruler began, ‘and you have encouraged me.
Brother Jeshua has long been most impressed with your zeal and capacity for learning, your grace and humility, and
your eagerness to do well. Sister Rebecca is likewise impressed with your humanity, your love and respect for others.
‘Your understanding of Torah is reflected in the way you read this morning. Normally we’d only have someone
of your age read no more than six lines from the Torah, but we were confident that you could carry out the whole reading.
We weren’t disappointed.
‘John bar Zechariah,’ the Ruler continued, raising his voice slightly to ensure everyone could hear properly, ‘do
you swear to live by the rules and precepts of the Community of the Sons of Light?’
‘Yes, Master, I do so swear.’
‘Do you have the half-shekel in payment for your ransom?’
John took the coin from a fold in his white robe. Jeshua had given him the coin that morning for this purpose,
remarking that this money came from the lease of his former home in Bethlehem, so was truly his to spend as he wished,
but would be asked from him, as his Temple tax. He handed it to the Ruler. ‘Yes, Master, here it is.’
 Prepare the Way

‘Your ransom is paid; you may enter the Temple in shalom. Now, do you swear to live according to the precepts
of the Torah, to live a pure and clean life; to avoid all unclean things and to separate yourself for a life of holiness?’
‘I do so swear, Master.’
‘Do you swear to abhor Belial and the works of Mastemah?’16
‘Yes, I do so swear.’
‘Then “your soul shall deliver you from all Evil, and the dread of your enemies shall not come near you. HaShem
will cause you to inherit and fill your days with Goodness, and in abundance of shalom you shall delight in Him. You
shall inherit Glory”.’17
The saintly old man paused, looked at John, then at the congregation. ‘May I take this opportunity to remind my
brethren that when we make a promise, when we make an oath, we swear by the Covenant which binds us – we do not
swear by HaShem, nor by His altar, His Temple, His footstool nor His throne.’ He looked back at John, raised his right
hand, and said the benediction – a benediction peculiar to the Essenes.

‘“Blessed is he who walks with a pure heart and who does not slander with his tongue.
‘“Blessed are they who hold fast to the laws of Wisdom and do not hold to the Way of Evil.
‘“Blessed are they who rejoice in her18 and don’t overflow with the Way of Folly.
‘“Blessed are they who ask for her with clean hands and do not seek her with a deceitful heart.
‘“Blessed is the man who grasps hold of Wisdom and walks in the Torah of the Most High and directs his heart
to her Way.’”19

The congregation, who had stood when Simeon had raised his hand, uttered ‘Amen, amen’ in agreement and sat
down again.
‘John, my son, you are no longer a child, free to live as a child lives; you must put away childish things as you’re
now a man, with the responsibilities of a man and must live as men live. From now on, you’re to live with the unmarried
men and become an Initiate of the Community of the Sons of Light. “May you be blessed for ever and ever”,’ the Ruler
said, putting his hand on the young man’s head and concluding with the Essenes version of the Priestly Blessing: ‘“May
God Most High bless you. May He shine His Face towards you and open to you His good treasure which is in Heaven.”’20
Once again, the congregation said in unison, ‘Amen, amen’, and John bowed to the Ruler and went to his new
seat with the bachelors.
Then the cantor led the assembly in an Essene hymn of thanksgiving:

‘O my soul will bless Adonai

’cause of ev’rything He has done!
For He has heard orphan’s cry
He saved the soul of the Poor One.
He hasn’t looked down on the Meek,
Forgotten the pain of the Weak.

‘He opened His eyes to the Weak

And opened their eyes to His Way;
In His mercy has soothed the Meek,
Now they hear what He has to say.
So, He has circumcised their Hearts –
And saved them through what He imparts.’21

John let the words of the now familiar hymn wash over him; he was now officially one of the ‘Poor’, the ‘Meek’
and the ‘Weak’: ‘Poor’ because the King of kings owned everything, so really (in His eyes), mankind owned nothing
and had nothing to offer; ‘Meek’, because what right did feeble man have to be proud in the presence of God Most
High? And ‘Weak’, because man was powerless in the face of the Almighty.
He felt a pang of sadness as he looked over to the screen which hid Rebecca, Joachim, and baby Deborah – no
longer was he to live with his adopted family, although he would endeavour to visit whenever propriety permitted.
When his beloved abba died, he thought he would never recover – he had felt empty, desolate, with an ache where
his heart should have been. When he had travelled from Bethlehem to Sekhakhah, Beulah – dear faithful Beulah, he’d
barely thought of her these past three and a half years! Beulah had said to him that in time he would regain his joy and
be able to think of his elderly parents with a happy smile, secure in the love they bore him, and the indescribable joy his
 Prepare the Way

birth and life had brought them. She said he would find a new happiness in a place that welcomed studious and hard-
working children such as himself.
She had been right, and he wished he could have told her, but she was part of his old life, and he had no idea how
to contact her, anyway. So, he asked HaShem to watch over her, muttering the Priestly Prayer under his breath as he
made his way out of the house of prayer to what had been his home since his arrival in Sekhakhah, to celebrate one last
evening meal with his adopted family, and to collect his few belongings.
The family was a little subdued as they sat around the living room, eating mutton stew and crusty bread. John was
now a man, which made this a special day, but he was leaving them, which made this a sad day.
Rebecca hugged him warmly one last time – he would no longer be permitted familiar contact with females until
such time he was married (should that be his wish), and whereas most young women of the Community married between
the ages of twelve and fifteen, most men of the Community – assuming they chose not to remain celibate – married after
they had turned twenty, as they needed to establish a regular income, or service to the Community, and to have a house,
which was usually build by themselves with the help of their friends. He ruffled little Joachim’s hair and kissed baby
Deborah on her forehead.
Carrying his work robes and his few possessions, he went with Jeshua to the House of the Bachelors, the bachelor
quarters, when night fell, where he would stay until he either married or qualified for the Inner Sanctum, whichever
came first.
The House of the Bachelors was essentially a dormitory, where up to thirty men of varying ages ate, slept, bathed,
and prayed. There were six baths of purification – each screened to prevent impropriety – and a kitchen presided over
by an elderly couple who lived in an adjoining house.
John’s couch was by the door leading to the courtyard containing the baths of purification and one of his daily
chores turned out to be that of keeping the baths clean and fetching water when needed from the cistern. Next to his
couch were two shelves to hold his meagre possessions, and a small table with a clay lamp.
Yet he was content. He had meaningful work – labouring in the fields in the mornings, studying the scriptures in
the afternoons, household chores in the evenings – and knew that when the time came he would be a valuable asset to
the Community itself; and that one day he would go into the wilderness in fulfilment of the prophecy to prepare the way
for the Messiah of Israel.
But whilst he was buried away in the inhospitable remoteness of Sekhakhah, an eventful year was unfolding
across the realm of the Jews, as a result of Rome’s taking greater control…
 Chapter
‘Now Cyrenius…came into Syria…to have the supreme power over the Jews’ (AJ
XVIII.i. )

So, Archelaus lost his kingdom, just as Ruler Simeon had foretold, and Coponius, a member of the Equites, arrived
as Praefectus, to administer to the new Provincia of Judaea – which was comprised of Judah and Samaria, and quite
disregarded the great rivalry between the two factions.
[And thus was the beginning of the end – a nation which had endured in one form or another for perhaps fifteen
hundred years, would be enslaved for a final time and dispersed in less than sixty; would regroup and face total and
absolute dissolution in less than a further seventy years, from which Israel would take some eighteen hundred years to
re-emerge as a highly contentious nation in a highly contested region. But that, of course, is quite another story.]
When Praefectus Coponius arrived, he decided against making Hierosolyma – as the Romans called Jerusalem –
the principal city of the new provincia, as it felt too alien. The bustling streets were filled with curiously draped figures,
often muttering incomprehensible incantations, but perhaps it was the food restrictions placed on the markets that
clinched it for the Praefectus, who like his food.
The local markets sold only certain meats: mutton, goat, beef, and venison, but no pork, rabbit, or other meats;
some poultry: duck, chicken and goose, and some other birds as well, but again nothing like the huge range of fowl sold
in Rome! And only fish with scales – ignoring Neptune’s fabulous bounty of prawns, langoustines, lobsters, crabs, sea
urchins, shellfish, and the like. And absolutely no garum! That delicious sauce made from fermented fish guts was
forbidden as unclean. There was an adequate supply of eggs, cheeses, butter, curds, and milk, although still no match
for Rome, whilst the choice of fruit and vegetables left, to Romans eyes, much to be desired. A Jew would have been
surprised at this attitude and regarded this bounty as Adonai’s blessing – dates, grapes, sultanas and raisins, olives,
peaches, carobs, pomegranates, apples, figs, and walnuts; melons, cucumbers, and gherkins; peas, lentils, and several
varieties of beans; lettuce, cabbage, and a variety of leafy greens – including vines leaves, all in their seasons.
There was, of course, plenty of olive oil, wine, beer and fermented milk; honeycomb and mountains of freshly
baked bread – flat and yeasted, baked from wheat, emmer, barley, and millet; fragrant piles and phials of myrrh, nard,
henna, saffron, precious cinnamon and cassia, aloes and frankincense – in oils and unguents, lotions and potions, in pills
and in spills of dried papyrus; and cumin, dill, thyme, rosemary, rue, savory, and parsley. There were even charms and
amulets to fend off the evil eye, here in the heart of the worship of the nation’s invisible, exclusive deity.
Furthermore, the omnipresent coppery tang of animal blood, the ammoniacal whiff of urine and the stench of
dung, combined with the pall of smoke from the perpetual altar fires and the reek of burnt hair and bones from the
Temple of the Jews was pervasive, seeping into every garment. But those smells paled into insignificance when the
winds blew across the middens of the Valley of Hinnom, where the city’s waste was dumped: a nightmare of the unburied
decomposing corpses of executed felons – and not a few paupers, too – worried by dogs and vultures, and occasionally
attracting larger predators such as wolves, bears and even lions. A vision of Tartarus with smouldering fires and leprous
figures scrabbling about in the filth; chanting priests – doubly-draped to avoid accidental impurity – watching as Temple
servants carefully wheeled barrows of charred bones and coagulated blood to designated dumping grounds…
Already Gey᾽ Henna᾽ (as the Aramaic-speaking Jews called the valley) was being equated with the Greek under-
world of Hades, and many of the Jews had redefined the silent, shadowy world of the dead, Sheol, as a place of pain,
torment, and fire.
Notwithstanding the unfamiliar sights and smells, it must be noted that the Praefectus and his entourage were not
averse to animal sacrifice per se, for all of the gods enjoyed animals as offerings, and animal entrails were one of the
means by which the future could be divined, but the sophisticated Romans were deeply suspicious of the secretive god
of the Jews, who preferred whole burnt sacrifices. When the Greeks and Romans sacrificed to the gods, generally speak-
ing only the entrails were burnt – the rest of the animal would quickly make its way to the meat market – a practice
which horrified the Jews who offered the entire animal (less, perhaps, the priest’s portion) to Iao or Iaöē1 - as the Romans
who had come across the ineffable Name, understood it to be pronounced, although since most devout Jews never uttered
the Name, it was difficult to be more precise, and most Romans could not care less, anyway.
No, Hierosolyma would not suffice as the principle city of the Provincia. Indeed, the only city that would be
suitable in this benighted region, was Caesarea, built by King Herod in just twelve years. It was populated primarily by
Greeks and Syrians – the Jewish contingent was, fortunately, as Coponius saw it, in the minority, mainly because most
Jews had an aversion to matters maritime. It had an extraordinary harbour, guarded by a gigantic mole, the Prokumatia,
the ‘First Breaker of Waves’, suitable for the Romans fleets; a decent amphitheatre, a temple dedicated jointly to Rome
and Julius Caesar, a spacious forum and formidable civic buildings, as well as a sewage system modelled on that of
Rome.2 The palace, seldom used by Archelaus, would be most suitable for a governor, and the praetorium would com-
fortably accommodate two legions with their camp followers.
From Caesarea, Praefectus Gnaeus Coponius would maintain the Pax Romana – the ‘Peace of Rome’ – over the
turbulent Jews. Of course, he would have to report to the Praefectus of Syria, Senator Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, but
he could congratulate himself on obtaining this exalted position, he, a mere Eques! Born a free man, a plebeian, he had
applied himself in the army, and had distinguished himself at the Battle of Actium, where he had quelled an uprising of
 Prepare the Way

Egyptian officials from Queen Cleopatra’s palace in Alexandria, after the queen had killed herself. His financial rewards
from the aftermath of that final conflict of the Romans’ Civil War (was it really thirty-seven years ago? The gods had
been kind to him!), when Octavianus Caesar became Augustus Caesar, Princeps inter pares,3 had enabled him to buy
into the Equestrian Order, although, of course, he could never progress any further, since he could never aspire to be
sponsored as a senator – and could never, therefore, aspire to be a patrician. Nevertheless, he was most pleased with his
achievements and his legacies for his children.
At the first opportunity, he invited Senator Quirinius to come down from Antiochia in northern Syria, to evaluate
the situation. The senator arrived a couple of weeks later, with sweeping plans covering virtually every aspect of the
governance of the province, which secretly displeased the Praefectus, who wanted to make his mark, not somebody
else’s.
Senator Quirinius was a languid sort of fellow – oozing arrogant self-possession, every slightest fold in his im-
peccable senatorial toga carefully and immaculately arranged to the best effect; his florid features indicating that he
probably drank more unwatered wine than was good for him. He had come well-prepared and his secretaries had made
copious notes.
‘As you’ll be aware, Coponius,’ he said after the preliminary niceties had been observed, and the two men had
been settled in a quiet spot in the palatial gardens, under a spreading cedar. ‘I’ve had a few years to study this wretched
region, as well as knowing the late King Herod personally – what an extraordinary man! People around the Empire bless
his name, whilst his family perpetually plotted against him, or at any rate, were accused of treason… The execution of
his son Antipater was no loss, but both Alexander and Aristobulus were splendid fellows and would’ve made fine kings
– had their father not had them killed, of course! Antipas is a decent man, as is Philippus, but Archelaus was a disaster
and did nothing useful for the land the Imperator entrusted to him.
‘At any rate, Coponius, my good man,’ he continued in the same patronising sort of way, ‘the roads are a disgrace
– especially those leading from Hierosolyma to the coastal towns, and I’ve drawn up a list of towns which urgently need
improvements to their water supplies and sanitation arrangements which you’ll need to pass on to your Chief Engineer,’
he said, impatiently clicking his fingers at one of his clerks, who leapt up and handed a lengthy scroll to the Praefectus.
‘And, of course, we’ll need to finance the legions and government – I’ve no doubt you’ll need to improve your
own cashflow whilst you’re here!’
Coponius nodded, gritting his teeth at the implied slur, but managing a strained smile.
‘So, first things first,’ Quirinius continued, oblivious of Coponius’ feelings (or at least giving that impression!).
‘We need to replenish the treasury in the usual way. Since the departed, unlamented Ethnarch hasn’t left us any details
of the population of Judaea that we can use, we’ll need to hold a census, just as though this were a recently occupied
territory.’
‘I thought we had the details of a census.’ Coponius said hesitantly. ‘Wasn’t there a census for the Temple or
something a few years ago?’
‘Oh yes, my good fellow, but absolutely worthless! The Jews have the weirdest idea of what a census should
encompass! Septimus here…’ he said, gesturing towards a clerk who scrambled to attention, ‘reads their chicken-
scratchings. Can you remember, Septimus, what sort of thing we found?’
‘I’ve one of their census-scrolls here, Dominus,’ the clerk replied, flicking through the contents of a leather bag.
‘Ah, here’s one from the census in the fifteenth year of Simon, son of Boëthus,4 hmm… I suppose about the twenty-
fourth year of our beloved Imperator Augustus.’
He cleared his throat noisily, as he unrolled the scroll, looking for something suitable to translate. ‘“Of the tribe
of Efraïm: , males over twenty. Nechemias son of Lazarus and his five sons; Iesus son of Zaccaïas and his eight
sons, fourteen grandsons (of which only three are over twenty); Safatias son of Nechum…’5
“Yes, yes!’ interrupted Quirinius, ‘We get the picture.’ He turned back to Coponius, ‘So you see, Coponius, the
so-called census lists only tell us who belongs to which gens or whatever they call themselves, but not where they live,
who lives with them and, most importantly, how much they’re worth!’

⸎⸎⸎

So Praefectus Coponius sent out the legions into every city, village, and hamlet, although quite a few isolated
escaped Roman scrutiny. Sekhakhah was of those few overlooked at that time, and most Essenes were blissfully unaware
at first of the growing outrage.
The Jews were no strangers to taxation – it was built into their very faith. Firstly, there was the Temple tax: a half-
shekel or equivalent, payable each year by all males over twenty.6 For many centuries now, those living much more than
a day’s walk from Jerusalem were accustomed to paying this tax to a local ḥalefan – in every town one could see the
 Prepare the Way

ḥalefan sitting in his booth in the market-place, checking his records. Most ḥalefanim were, by and large, honest men,
Levites working for the Temple. At irregular intervals, the Levites held a census, by which all males over the age of
twenty and younger than sixty would be required to travel to their tribal ancestral towns to register, so that the Temple
tax could be more accurately assessed.
Secondly, over and above the Temple tax, which most Jews considered rather to be a redemptive gift belonging
to Adonai (even if it was mandatory), was the ma῾aser: one tenth of one’s annual income or produce, to be given to the
Levites for the sustenance of the priests, Levites and the upkeep and servicing of the Temple.7 It paid, too, both for the
daily sacrifices made on behalf of the people to appease the wrath of the Almighty, the daily sacrifice made on behalf
of the Imperator, and the festal sacrifices, including those of the New Moons.8 By this time, the tithe was usually paid
in coinage, acquired often by selling the required tenth, and as often as not, was also paid to the ḥalefan, rather than risk
the journey to Jerusalem – let the ḥalefanim brave the robbers and bandits who preyed on the unwary and the vulnerable:
at least they could afford a better class of guard!
Other freewill offerings were usually taken directly to the Temple. Festal offerings were gifts over and above the
mandatory Temple tax and tithe; such as a sheaf of barley for the Waving of the Barley-sheaf which followed Unleavened
Bread;9 a freewill offering of wheat at Pentecost;10 and the three lesser Feasts of Nehemiah, the three feasts instigated
by Nehemiah after the Exile: haTiyrōsh (New Wine), haShemeniym (New Oil) and ha῾Eṣiym (Wood – also called Xy-
lophory by the Hellenised Jews)11, which were not mandatory, but were advisable.
Furthermore, each synagogue would need freewill gifts and offerings to build and maintain the buildings and their
furnishings, although the rabban would be expected to support himself with a trade. Other ministers would give freely
of their time, so as not to be a further burden on the community they served.
In addition to all of these claims on a family’s resources, were the required sacrifices for redemption from different
kinds of uncleanness, such as disease – especially diseases of the skin, such as leprosy; impurity caused by coming into
contact with the dead, or other unclean things; childbirth, and, of course, sin – either against Adonai, or against a fellow
Jew. Other actions requiring sacrifice usually involved vows and oaths.
But the Jews also had to contend with secular taxation. In the distant age of the Monarchy, from King David and
Solomon to Zedekiah and the Exile to Babylon, taxation to support the monarchy was usually raised in kind, such as
labour or artifice, livestock or produce. Later conquerors, such as the Kings of Persia, Alexander the Great, the Pharaohs
of Egypt and the Seleucids of Antioch simply forced their Jew subjects to pay random tributes at the whim of the con-
queror, but during the brief century-long quasi-independence of the Maccabees and Hasmonean dynasty, a new method
arose.
The king would have the value of a region assessed and then put out a tender for the collection of taxes from that
region. A nōges or ‘tax-farmer’ would pay the king the assessed value, less his cut, and then set himself up in that region,
to ‘recover’ what he had paid the king, plus a little extra – depending on what he thought he could get away with! Very
quickly, such tax-farmers became the most despised members of the community, as most were venal and rapacious men,
often extorting several times their due, preying on widows and orphans alike.

⸎⸎⸎

When the legions returned to Caesarea, they gave detailed accounts of their findings to the praetorian bean-coun-
ters, who then calculated how much each household could pay in taxes. The Roman method was most direct, being
interested only in who lived where, whether they owned other properties (or, indeed, the building where they lived),
what was their occupation and how much they earned each year, whilst ignoring the multitude of religious expenses
each adult male was expected to pay. No-one was exempt, all had to pay, whether priest, farmer, or Roman citizen.
So, the Praefectus invited the tax-farmers of the former regime, and invited them to tender for the lucrative priv-
ilege of collecting the new taxes; they themselves were prepared to accept no less than eighty per cent of the assessed
value, happy for the collectors to gather close to the actual figure. A successful tax-farmer could expect to turn a profit
of at least ten per cent – greedier collectors (and many were) would often falsify the figures so as to squeeze even more
out of their ‘clients’.
It seems that Senator Quirinius had little faith in the gubernatorial skills of Praefectus Coponius, as he continued
to be more directly involved in governing the province of Judaea than was strictly necessary or appropriate. Disappointed
with Jeshua bar Sia᾽s performance as Kohen haGadōl – a euphemism for his pique at the High Priest’s lack of coopera-
tion – he deposed him and appointed the Sadducee, Ananias bar Seth in his stead. Ananias managed to cling on to the
position for eight years, and was honoured in seeing five of his six sons succeed him over a period of years, as well as
his son-in-law, the notorious Joseph bar Qayafa᾽, better known known to history by the Hellenised form of his name,
Caiaphas.
 Prepare the Way

The freshly commissioned tax-farmers went out, each to his designated region in Judaea (including Samaria).
Within days waves of unrest rippled across the territories. Judah bar Hezekiah, the son of a bandit from Gamala in the
neighbouring tetrarchy of Philippus, was deeply involved in the unrest, stirring up men from all walks of life against the
injustice of a foreign tax on top of all they normally paid, and what about the treasure appropriated by Augustus when
he deposed Archelaus? Judah rapidly acquired a large following, who became known as the Zealots, because of their
zealotry towards the Torah and hatred towards the foreigners. They were to persist, gaining in strength, until the end of
the first War and the fall of Masada on the Kalends of Aprilis in the fifth year of Vespasianus,12 when the last outpost of
around nine hundred and sixty men, women and children committed suicide rather than end up as slaves of Rome.
The census rebellion was quelled with the utmost severity and with normal Roman efficiency. The bodies of
Judah’s followers decorated the main roads: corpses clung to crosses from Jerusalem along the ancient King’s Highway,
to Jericho and Archelaïs to Alexandrion; from Jerusalem along the road to Amasa, Emmaus, Modeïn, Lod, Yoppa, Ap-
ollonia, Antipatris and along the Sea Road through the Arabah of Sharon to Caesarea.13
Crucifixion was a form of execution that had been around for several centuries – originally victims were simply
nailed to planks, but Rome had refined this to a procedure whereby bandits, rebels, murderers and other treasonous or
felonious undesirables were initially attached with outstretched arms to a plank, usually simply by having their arms
lashed to the wood, but sometimes by being nailed, using standard thick, square iron nails, although rope made from
spartum14 from Hispania was far more economical – as it could easily be re-used – and death was also slower when just
rope was used and therefore afforded more entertainment. Normal procedure then demanded that the condemned felon
be marched to the place of crucifixion, carrying his own cross-piece, where he would be hoisted upon a stake15 – usually
a pale, or palisade stake as was used for fencing around Roman military encampments. The legions always carried pales,
with them for temporary camps, so this made them particularly suitable.
Sometimes the felon’s legs would be nailed to the stake, but more often the legs were left to hang freely, whilst a
small peg was hammered into the stake level with the ankles of the condemned. Since dangling from the wrists puts
immense pressure on the ribcage, which in turn results in slow suffocation, by balancing on the peg, the felon could
gulp in air and so prolong his life – sometimes for two or even three days.16 Those who were scourged prior to crucifixion
often did not last long, particularly if they were also nailed up.
Furthermore, crucifixion was not only a punishment until death came. The Romans believed that burial rites were
vital to permit the deceased entry to the Underworld, as did most people at the time, and that if a body was denied burial,
the deceased would be condemned to wander as a lamia, a lemur, a ghost, for all eternity. So corpses were left on the
crosses until, ravaged by crows, kites, eagles and vultures, the decomposed remains eventually ended up in a heap at the
foot of the cross, to be scavenged by dogs and wild beasts, and dispersed by the elements, or at best, to be shovelled
onto barrows and disposed of on middens. Normally too, the crosses were guarded to prevent distraught relatives from
stealing the corpse to give it a proper burial, but that was not always feasible, although the punishment for removing a
body without permission, was to be nailed in the place of the executed felon, which was often deemed a sufficient
deterrent.
And so, the vultures and ravens gorged themselves for several weeks leading up to Passover; it was a subdued
assemblage of pilgrims that surged along these roads for that feast…
Amongst those pilgrims thronging the road to Jerusalem was a lad just days away from his twelfth birthday,
having recently celebrated his bar mitzvah prior to Unleavened Bread, and so now permitted to enter the Temple. The
gruesome forest that sprang up, as it were, when his family reached Alexandrion, would haunt Jeshua bar Joseph for the
rest of his life; he was from then on always aware of the burden of the cross and convinced that one day, he too would
meet his end hanging on a palisade stake.
That same Passover was to remembered also for another very serious incident – one that was to reignite the
centuries-old dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans: the Passover of the Samaritan desecration. Whilst the feast
was being celebrated, priests, as was customary, opened the gates of the Temple just after midnight. Soon after, a group
of Samaritan protesters – who had been agitating for the restoration of their own temple on Mount Gerizim – sneaked
into the House of God and were seen leaving a pile of corpses, no doubt filched from stakes outside Jerusalem, in
between the columns of the Colonnade of Solomon. Had they not been spotted at the time, it was believed they would
have taken the corpses into the Courts and, it was conjectured, into the Holy Place itself!
From that time on, Samaritans were excluded from the Temple, and guards were put in place to ensure the exclu-
sion was enforced. This incident considerably increased the enmity between the two peoples.

⸎⸎⸎
 Prepare the Way

Soon after the Samaritan desecration, Coponius returned to Rome, and Marcus Ambivius succeeded him. Am-
bivius was not a young man and wished to make no waves, but intended to make sufficient for his retirement on his
farm in Umbria. During his prefecture, about six months after his arrival, Salome, the sister of Herod the Great, died,
leaving the revenues of Jamnia, Phasaelis and Archelaïs to Julia, daughter of Augustus.
Salome and her four brothers, Phasael, Herod, Joseph and Pheroras, were the children of Antipater, an Edomite,
the son of Antipater and a general of Idumaea, and Cypris, a niece of Aretas, King of Arabia. Salome had been married
aged twelve to her uncle Joseph (her father’s brother) and bore him Antipater who subsequently married his first cousin
Cypris, the daughter of his uncle Herod the Great and the first Mariamne). When her uncle/husband Joseph was executed
at her brother’s behest, she was barely twenty and soon married the Edomite Custobar, to whom she bore two daughters,
one of whom, Berenice, married her first cousin Aristobulus (son of her uncle Herod the Great and the first Mariamne).
Berenice bore him three sons: Agrippa (later King Herod Agrippa I), Herod (later King of Chalcis) and Aristobulus; and
two daughters: Mariamne and a woman who was to be responsible for the death of John ‘the Baptist’ – Herodias.
In due course, Salome found that Custobar was plotting against her brother, so she divorced him – contrary to
Jewish law which did not permit a woman to divorce her husband – although he was subsequently executed not long
afterwards. She remained a free woman for several years when Sullaeos, a courtier of Obodas III, King of Arabia, met
her and they fell in love. They would have married, except that Sullaeos refused to be circumcised and embrace the
Jewish faith, claiming that if he agreed to that, he would be stoned to death by his countrymen!
When Sullaios backed down, her brother, Herod, married her off to Alexas, one of his best friends and she was
left in a loveless marriage until his death ten years later.
Three years after the death of Salome, Praefectus Marcus Ambivius retired after a peaceful and uneventful tenure,
and was succeeded by Annaeus Rufus, an illustrious eques from Hispania, known for his fiery red hair and irascible
temper, who governed Judaea for nearly five years until the death of Imperator Augustus Caesar. Rufus governed with
ruthless efficiency, and his exacting scrutiny of provincial revenues was the despair of the clerks as he kept uncovering
interesting ‘honoraria’ and back-handers. As a Stoic he was unbribable, as some officials discovered to their cost. His
gens was to produce other noteworthy scions, namely the Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca (one day to be the
tutor to the future Imperator Nero), Lucius Iunius Annaeus Gallio (one day to be a proconsul of Achaia)17 and the great
epic poet, Marcus Annaeus Lucanus.
So, Augustus Caesar died three days before the Kalends of September in the year ab urbe condita,18 having
reigned for forty-five years since his victory at the Battle of Actium, or fifty-seven years counting from the assassination
of his uncle and adoptive father, Gaius Julius Caesar. He was succeeded by his stepson and adopted heir, Tiberius Julius
Caesar, who soon replaced the distinguished but provincial Annaeus Rufus with one of his cronies, the patrician Valerius
Gratus.
Praefectus took an instant disliking to Kohen haGadōl Ananias bar Seth, and replaced him with a non-priestly
appointee, Ishmael bar Pyavy. Gratus, however, soon regretted this impulsive decision, but Ananias refused to take the
position back as he was enjoying the continued respect for having been Kohen haGadōl, but was loath to take back the
irksome responsibility of the job, so Gratus elevated Ananias’s eldest son Eleazar to the position instead. After a year or
so, Gratus had an argument with Eleazar, so gave the high priesthood to another non-priestly priest, Simeon bar Ca-
mithus, but again, after only about a year, he sacked the weak and indecisive Simeon, and elevated Ananias’s son-in-
law, Joseph bar Caiaphas instead. This politically astute, wily negotiator and fervent Sadducee clung onto this position
for twelve years.
In his third year as praefectus, Gratus drastically increased the tax burden of the province, but the Jews sent
petitions to Imperator Tiberius, who graciously granted a partial reduction which helped ease tensions.19
After unwarrantedly meddling in religious affairs that really were none of his business – and were, no doubt,
intended merely to prove that he could do whatever he wanted – Valerius Gratus returned to Rome, having been Prae-
fectus of Judaea for eleven years.

⸎⸎⸎

Meanwhile, the year before Augustus died, when Annaeus Rufus was still Praefectus, and Ananias bar Seth was
still Kohen haGadōl, John turned twenty.
His eight years in the bachelor quarters had changed the gentle, loving intelligent child into a fiercely independent
and somewhat intolerant, yet purposeful lion of a man. His hair, last shaved off when his mother died all those years
previously, flowed across his shoulders and down his back like a black mane, and his bushy beard was encroaching upon
his broad chest. His olive skin was deeply tanned from working in the fields, yet his brown eyes sparkled within the
 Prepare the Way

incipient wrinkles forming around them. A life of serious study had made him solemn and he seldom laughed out loud,
or even cracked a grin.
His zeal for the Torah was unrelenting and his desire for the purity and holiness of haShem was all-consuming.
John pored over the Torah scrolls, the scrolls of the Prophets – especially the scroll of Isaiah – and over the Psalms, as
well as the works of the Essenes. Manual labour and study, prayer and worship occupied most of his day; purity, holiness,
and cleanness became his obsession, and he lived life according to the Safar haMashal ha ῾Edah – the Book of the
Community Rule, obeying the teachings even although he did not always agree with them.
And now, at last, he could enter the Covenant of Grace. Normally, the initiate seeking enlightenment was required
to wait three years. The first so that he could be instructed in all of the rules of the Community, but was not permitted
to eat the clean meal of the brethren. During the second year, he was examined as to his understanding of the Torah and
witnesses were called to support his observance of the Torah; he was, at this stage, permitted to eat the clean meal of
the Elect, but not to drink the clean drink. He was also encouraged to hand over his belongings and income, apart from
his land, which according to the Law was always to be kept within the tribe, to be held in trust by the Mevaqqer, the
Guardian or Overseer. In the third year, if he was accepted, he would be invited to imbibe of the clean drink of the
Community, and to become one of the Brethren. His property then would be merged with that of the Community. Alt-
hough many who joined had little or nothing, quite a few did, and the Community became exceedingly wealthy. Even-
tually the wealth was distributed and hidden in an ingenious and cunning selection of hiding places.20
John, however, had been living as one of the Sons of Light since his bar mitzvah, and was well-known to all of
the brethren of the Community, so the day following his twentieth birthday, after fasting, prayer, and immersion, he
stepped over the low wall surrounding the Camp of the Sons of Light for the first time, drank of the clean drink of the
Community and at last became a Son of Light in reality.
He would no longer toil in the fields tending the crops or watching over the flocks of goats and sheep, as he would
spend his days in studying, debate, prayer, worship, and meditation. His afternoons would be spent as a scribe in the
Beth Kthav, sitting on a high stool at the long limestone benches, painstakingly copying scrolls, or taking dictation from
a more highly ranked brother.
He also only wore his work-robe when he was engaged in scribal work in the afternoon, and wore the white robes
of an Initiate the rest of the day. He had only the one regret, that as a Son of the Light, he would only see Jeshua and
Rebecca and their children Joachim – now nearly old enough to celebrate his bar mitzvah – and Deborah (now eight
years and his betrothed), at the house of prayer on the sabbath. No longer could he visit after worship and share sabbath
food with his family.
No longer would he see Rebecca and Deborah face to face, as women of all ages, both virgin and married, were
veiled in the house of prayer – and, indeed, outside of the home – so as not to distract men from their devotion to
haShem. His betrothal had been arranged a few months earlier by Jeshua and Rebecca, as they knew he would be a good
husband one day, and they wanted an Essene man who would love their only daughter.
He would next see Deborah’s face when she became his wife, and if he wished to remain one of the Camp, he
would only be able to meet with her thereafter for the purely for the purposes of procreation, although John had already
decided that he would rather live as his parents had, as he felt that the Essenes manner did not honour haShem. Of
course, he said nothing of this at the time.

⸎⸎⸎

Now that he was an Initiate, John was privileged, indeed mandated, to attend the annual Renewal of the Covenant,
which took place at Pentecost – the fifteenth day of Sivan which was always the first day of the week on the Essene
calendar.
The priests and Levites21 entered, blessing God for his salvation and faithfulness. John, entering with the other
Initiates, echoed ‘Amen, amen!’ in affirmation. As a priest by birth, he would be among the officiants next time round.
Then the priests recited the blessings of God as recorded in the Book of Devariym,22 and the Levites likewise recited
the curses of God, and the rebellions and sins under the dominion of Belial.
‘We have strayed! We have disobeyed! We and our fathers before us have sinned and acted wickedly in walking
counter to the precepts of truth and righteousness. And God has judged us and our fathers also, but he has bestowed his
bountiful mercy on us from everlasting to everlasting.’ John chanted dutifully with the other men – this ritual was
perhaps the most holy of all, after the prescribed feasts and fasts, yet only the Essenes celebrated it.
Then the priests blessed the congregation. ‘May he bless you will all good, and preserve you from all evil! May
he lighten your heart with life giving wisdom, and grant you eternal knowledge! May he raise his merciful face towards
you for everlasting bliss!’
 Prepare the Way

Then the Levites cursed the Sons of Belial – all those outside the Covenant. ‘Be cursed because of all your guilty
wickedness! May he deliver you up for torture at the hands of the vengeful Avengers! May he visit you with destruction
by the hand of all the Wreakers of Revenge! Be cursed without mercy because of the darkness of your deeds! Be damned
in the shadowy place of everlasting fire! May God not heed when you call on him, nor pardon you by blotting out your
sin! May he raise His angry face towards you for vengeance! May there be no shalom for you in the mouth of those who
hold fast to the Fathers!’
‘Amen, amen!’ the congregation responded.
‘Cursed be the man who enters this Covenant whilst walking among the idols of heart, who sets up before himself
his stumbling-block of sin, so that he may backslide! Who, when hearing the words of this Covenant, blesses himself in
his heart, saying, “Shalom be with me, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart”, whereas his spirit – parched
for lack of truth yet watered with lies – shall be destroyed without pardon! The wrath of God, and his zeal for his
precepts, shall consume him in everlasting destruction! All the curses of the Covenant shall cling to him, and God will
set him apart for evil. He shall be cut off from the midst of all the Sons of Light, and, because he has turned aside from
God on account of his idols and his stumbling-block of sin, his lot shall be among those who are cursed forever!’
‘Amen, amen!’ the Sons of the Covenant responded, and the brief, but vital ritual was over for another year.

⸎⸎⸎

And in this manner the days passed, each day like the preceding one, each sabbath spent with the brethren in the
Refectory like the previous one, and New Moons and feasts, fasts and festivals, celebrated at the allotted time.
Then, about three months before John’s twenty-first birthday, the Mevaqqer addressed the company after they
had eaten the sabbath midday meal.
‘I have momentous news,’ he said, his deep voice resonating in the cool chamber. ‘The Imperator of the Kittim,
the self-titled Augustus, is dead. His adopted son Tiberius is now the new Imperator. This is unlikely to be good news,
since everything we know about Tiberius is quite dreadful, but as long as he leaves us along, his accession hopefully
will not affect us. At least they managed a peaceful changeover this time!’
An atypical surge of comments swept through the Refectory at this statement, and one old greybeard said that he
remembered the wars when Augustus fought against Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra. Everyone fell silent and all eyes
on Brother Hezekiah, who as the most senior man present (the Ruler was in his sickbed), was according to Essene
etiquette, the first speaker.
‘When I was eighteen, Herod – he wasn’t the Great in those days! He’d been recently betrothed to Princess
Mariamne and was struggling against her uncle King Antigonus, who was backed by Persia.23 Antigonus had disfigured
his uncle Hyrcanus, by biting his ears off,24 which of course, disqualified the man from holding the post of Kohen
haGadōl – a wicked act! Antigonus may’ve had the blood of the Hasmoneans flowing through his veins, but his greed
for power had blinded him.
‘At any rate, when I was eighteen, Herod announced that he needed troops, so I joined up in Ptolemaïs and we
marched through Galilee and Samaria. I saw my first action at Yoppa – a short, sharp, decisive battle – miraculously I
escaped serious injury; it was there that I killed my first man. Some nights when I can’t sleep, I can still see his shocked
eyes staring up at me, as his lifeblood spurts out of the hole my sword made in his chest…
‘Then we made a bee-line for Masada and all the while the army was growing. We found out later that the Persians
had been promised a thousand talents and no less than five hundred well-born Jewish virgins, and Antigonus had already
supposedly sent the maidens off to Persia!
‘It turned out that first we had to rescue some people, including Herod’s betrothed Princess Mariamne and his
mother Cypris, from a small force surrounding the mountain fortress of Masada. At any rate, we slaughtered every last
man of the besiegers, and also took the nearby fortress of Rhesa, then set off for Jerusalem. By now I was growing more
skilful as a soldier and had learned to love killing.
‘Now, at first we could do nothing against Jerusalem,’ he continued, making himself comfortable, ‘but we soon
discovered that Antigonus had arranged with the Roman general Silo – who along with General Ventidius of the legions
of Aram, had been persuaded by Marcus Antonius to support Herod – he’d been bribed to divert our attention from
Antigonus’ supplies of wheat, wine, oil, cattle and other provisions which had been stored in Jericho. So, Herod selected
ten cohorts of soldiers – five Roman under Ventidius and five Jewish, and sent us to Jericho to liberate the supplies.
‘Jericho was empty when we arrived – it seems the inhabitants had been tipped off, and didn’t want to be involved
in a war they didn’t care about, and had fled into the hills. As winter was approaching, the Roman cohorts were sent
back to their winter quarters around Judah, Galilee and Samaria, and Herod returned with most of the supplies to the
armies around Jerusalem, and left a garrison – including me – at Jericho.
 Prepare the Way

‘He didn’t want to hang around, so he sent out a force of two thousand foot-soldiers and four hundred cavalrymen
under his brother Joseph’s command, against Edom, which had nominally been under the rule of Antigonus, but the
people enthusiastically flocked to the half-Edomite Joseph. Herod also took various other smaller cities such as Seppho-
ris – it was snowing at the time, but it was worthwhile because it was well-provisioned. He successfully took Arbel and
cleared out many caves of bandits throughout Galilee. He also rebuilt Alexandrion, which had been devasted in an earlier
battle.’
Brother Hezekiah paused and sipped a little water. The brethren watched him closely, captivated by his story, all
the more since many of them had not been born when Herod came into power, or had been too young to understand at
the time.
‘I heard,’ the old man continued, ‘of one nasty incident whilst he was clearing out the caves in eastern Galilee.
One old bandit was trapped in a cave with his wife and seven children. Rather than yield and be sold as slaves, he killed
each child, one at a time, then his wife, throwing their dead bodies over the cliff’s edge, then after shouting imprecations
at Herod, threw himself over the cliff…
‘After this, Herod took a sizable force, including those of us from Jericho, and we went to support Antonius, who
was fighting the Persians at Samosata, near the waters of the mighty River Euphrates, joining up with a number of
soldiers at Antioch first. Two days’ march from Samosata we were ambushed by the Persian barbarians25 in a narrow
pass. The fighting was fierce and a number of our men were maimed or killed, but Herod led us through and turned the
tables on our enemy. We slaughtered many and enslaved the rest, capturing their baggage, mules, and horses.
‘When we arrived at the plain near Samosata, Antonius arranged for a number of cohorts to stand as a guard of
honour, saluting our valour and, as I then learnt, Herod, in particular, who’d been declared King of the Jews about a year
previously in Rome by Antonius and Octavianus Caesar. Caesar wasn’t Augustus in those days, although he’d been
adopted as heir by his uncle Julius Caesar only about four years before that worthy was murdered by Gaius Cassius
Longinus and er… Marcus Junius Brutus.’
The apparent ease with which Brother Hezekiah said these alien names greatly impressed his audience.
‘Very few people these days know that Herod had originally backed Cassius during the Civil War, who when he
came to Aram had promised to make him king of Judah, but when Cassius and Brutus were defeated and killed at the
battle of Philippi in Macedonia by Antonius and Caesar, Herod sent a hefty bribe to Antonius and backed him instead.
Antonius made Herod Tetrarch of Galilee out of gratitude.
‘Funny, really,’ the old priest mused, his eyes twinkling in merriment, ‘but when Antonius was defeated by Caesar
at the battle of Actium, Herod then managed to convince Caesar that he’d been backing him all the while!
‘Anyway, Antonius embraced Herod as a brother and our forces were merged as we pressed on and took the
fortress at Samosata. Antonius gave his command to General Sosius, ordered him to assist Herod, and left for Egypt,
where his wife Cleopatra and children were waiting for him.
‘Meanwhile, Antigonus had defeated Herod’s brother Joseph; when he’d located his body, he cut off the head and
placed it on a stake. Then parts of Judah and Galilee reverted yet again to Antigonus.
‘So, Herod and his large army marched back from the Euphrates, with our Roman allies – strange to think that
the Kittim were our friends at that time – and picked up more allies from Lebanon. We then returned briefly to Ptolemaïs
for the generals to discuss their strategies and to collect supplies.
‘We left Ptolemaïs and stealthily entered Galilee – not quietly enough, though, as we were met by a small army
of Antigonus’ supporters; but we soon slaughtered most of the contingent anyway and the remnant fled to a nearby city.
We couldn’t do much about it as there was a violent storm, so we had to withdraw. But when Antonius’ second legion
arrived, the garrison deserted the town the next night.
‘Then we marched on to Jericho where we met with six thousand of the enemy under Commander Pappos…
Hmmm, no, just before we engaged with Pappos, we sacked and burnt down four or five towns – I misremember which
– and killed about two thousand of Antigonus’ supporters – then we faced Pappos! What a fight that was: we slaughtered
them until we were exhausted, chased them over the rooftops, pulled down houses to expose deserters and cowards, and
killed every last one of them! I tell you truly, never have such immense mounds of dead men ever been seen – the Land
drank deeply of their defiled blood!’
The old Essene paused again to gather his thoughts. He drank a little water, straightened his back with a slight
grimace of discomfort, and continued.
‘Herod found the corpse of Pappos (well, as it so happens, that dubious honour fell to me, and he gave me a bag
full of gold pieces for my troubles!) and he cut the head off and sent it as a consolation to his younger brother Pheroras,
who was still grieving over their brother Joseph, as he’d learnt that it was Pappos who’d ordered Joseph’s beheading.
‘Three years after he’d been made king at Rome, Herod brought us to Jerusalem; winter was over and the month
of war, which the Romans call Martius – about mid-Nisan – had started. We worked like slaves to build three great
 Prepare the Way

bulwarks, as we prepared to besiege the Holy City. We erected towers, cutting down the trees that surrounded the city
in those days, and built siege engines.
‘Meanwhile Herod went off to Shechem to marry his betrothed, Princess Mariamne, daughter of Alexander, the
brother of Antigonus and the son of Aristobulus II. Alexander had by then, been beheaded by the Roman general Scipio.
Her mother was Alexandra, the daughter of the former King and Kohen haGadōl, Hyrcanus II, and incidentally the
brother of Aristobulus II – Herod, I think, copied the Hasmoneans, when it came to arranging family marriages!
‘After the wedding he returned, along with Sosius and his legions, and now a massive army was surrounding
Jerusalem – all in all eleven legions: about , men, plus an additional six thousand cavalrymen and thousands of
Aramaic auxiliaries. Antigonus had formally been declared an enemy of Rome, due to his dealings with the Persians,
by decree of the Senate and People of Rome, which is why we’d gained the additional legions.
‘The great siege engines battered the walls and the city; some bold men slipped out of the city and managed to
set fire to a few of our catapults, but the other machines kept up a relentless barrage. Antigonus’ men built new walls,
and also tunnelled under the old walls – their tunnels sometimes met our tunnels, and then there were vicious subterra-
nean battles, as well as smaller skirmishes as units sallied forth from gaps in the crumbling walls.
‘Our enemies were hard-pressed, for it was a Sabbath year, and food was far from plentiful – indeed, during the
siege a delegation was sent to Herod begging him to let them collect beasts for the daily sacrifices to haShem, which
Herod permitted, expecting surrender to be imminent. When that expected surrender didn’t materialise, Herod flew into
a rage and we went for an all-out assault upon the city.
th
‘And so, Jerusalem fell in the fourth year of the Olympiad,26 in Tishri, just days before the Feast. When some
of the cloisters around the Temple – the old one, that is, of course – got burnt down, Herod falsely, as we later learnt,
spread the rumour that Antigonus had commanded the destruction of the Temple, and that really spurred us on.
‘Once again we killed, and killed, and killed.’ The aged narrator’s voice trembled in remembered shame. ‘Men,
women, even children and infants suckling at the breast; poor and rich, priest and unclean. As far as we were concerned,
all who dwelt in Jerusalem supported the evil tyrant Antigonus, the man who’d disfigured his uncle who was then Kohen
haGadōl, and must die…’
The story-teller paused and looked around at his brethren, as a tear trickled down a wizened cheek. ‘That was
over fifty years ago, but I still wake some nights with the terrified shrieks of one young maiden ringing in my ears, as
she watched me butcher her mother and infant brother before her eyes, stopping only when I cut her throat…
‘I have long believed that there isn’t enough water in all of the baths of purification of the sons of Israel, to cleanse
even my little finger of all the innocent blood I shed on that vile day! Other days I fought well-armed soldiers, and my
scars’re badges of honour, won fighting a righteous conflict against an evil usurper – but that day of slaughter was quite
simply murder. We pretended at the time it was an act of ḥerem, and Herod even ordered us to bring all the silver, gold,
and jewels we could find to him; we thought that he was intending to destroy the treasure and dedicate the cleansing of
Jerusalem to haShem. Had he done so, I suppose we could in some way have expiated that guiltless blood, but instead
he gave it to our Roman allies to pay their salaries.
‘Jerusalem was once again in Jewish hands, sacked by Jewish soldiers assisted by foreigners – did this honour
haShem? I think not. Well, Antigonus was dragged to the feet of Commander Sosius, who mocked him, calling him
Antigonē, as though he were really a woman,27 although he certainly didn’t treat him like a lady as he wrapped the
former king in chains to take back to Rome, where he was subsequently beheaded at Antonius’ behest.
‘So, Herod was now King of Judah. Well, not just Judah, of course, but also Samaria, Galilee, Edom, and a bunch
of smaller states. His brother Pheroras was made Tetrarch of the land to the east of the Jordan, which we now call Peraea.
‘I won’t bore you all with Herod’s exploits in those early years under the Kohen haGadōl Ananel and the youngest
ever Kohen haGadōl Aristobulus, murdered after a year; or of Herod’s feud with Cleopatra who sympathised with Aris-
tobulus’ mother Alexandra, and caused no end of difficulties between Herod and Antonius.
‘Mind you, in those days, Cleopatra wasn’t yet actually queen of Egypt – I don’t know the details, but I know
she’d poisoned one of her husband-brothers Ptolemy the whatever, who was the Pharaoh, although he was barely fifteen,
and I think she only made sole queen after she had had her sister Arsinoë murdered, when she went on pilgrimage to the
Temple of Artemis at Ephesos.
‘Of course, Antonius was besotted with this scheming and wicked queen – he divorced his Roman wife, a decent
matron of an honourable family, and married Cleopatra. She had previously borne his late friend Julius Caesar a son,
Caesarion, and she subsequently bore Antonius a son and a daughter. Antonius now had overall control of the lands of
the eastern Great Sea, from Byzantium at the mouth of the Black Sea in Asia, Aram, Arabia, Egypt, and Libya, and
indeed all except those territories ruled by Herod and Pheroras. Cleopatra likewise now became de facto ruler of Anto-
nius’ extended domain – and that really infuriated Caesar.
 Prepare the Way

‘When Antonius conquered Armenia and sent the king and his children and courtiers to Egypt instead of Rome,
it was the final straw, and Octavianus Caesar prepared for war against Antonius.
‘I was by then a farmer near Alexandrion, when Herod himself made war upon Arabia. It seems the king had for
some time neglected to pay the tribute he owed to Herod, so he had to be punished. I left my wife and three sons and
joined Herod’s army – the pay was far better than that which could be earned by farming!
‘Herod, I believe, offered his army first to Antonius, but haShem smiled upon us as Antonius thanked him, but
declined Herod’s assistance, insisting he deal with Arabia’s intransigence first. At the time I was very disappointed,
since I rather fancied fighting for Antonius in Egypt – would’ve liked to have seen the pyramids too! But haShem had
different plans and I didn’t go, and as it so happened Augustus later had no argument with Herod or the Jews. Ironic, I
suppose, since Cleopatra liked the idea of Jews and Arabians fighting against each other, so that we were both weakened,
and that would have made it easier for her armies to come and conquer us both somewhat easier, but, of course, it didn’t
work out that way for her!
‘So, we marched against Arabia and thrashed them at Lod near the coast, then we heard the Arabians had massed
at Cana, which they had taken. One of Cleopatra’s generals led the Arabians there – that woman so hated Herod that she
ended up by weakening her own army – serve her right!
‘The fighting at Cana was fierce – I nearly lost my leg there, but haShem was good to me and my wife devotedly
nursed me and saved my leg, so I could still serve haShem as a complete man.
‘Herod eventually won, but our army was indeed much weaker after that victory.’
Old Hezekiah paused and looked around at the faces intently hanging onto every word, but noting the lengthening
shadows as sunset was nearly upon the settlement, resolved to hasten his tale. Taking a sip of water, he continued.
‘Meantime Caesar was amassing a navy just off the coast of Greece, not far from Actium, and Antonius set out to
confront him. However, Caesar had also landed a force not far from Alexandria; while the sea-battle was raging, the
land troops overcame Cleopatra’s and took Alexandria, the queen, and her court.
‘When Antonius heard that his queen had been captured, he thought that she was dead and fell on his sword.
Within a few hours the fleet had surrendered. But as we all know, the queen was still very much alive – but she didn’t
fancy being marched in a triumph clad only in a few chains – albeit golden ones – for the mob to jeer, so she got one of
her maids to fetch her a basket of figs in which a venomous viper was concealed, and plunged her hand into the basket,
making the snake bite her. Some insist she dramatically clasped the vicious beast to her bosom, but why bother? The
bite on her hand was sufficient to kill her… or so they say. Perhaps she took poison, we’ll never know the truth.’
The old story-teller carefully got to his feet, wincing at his joint pains.
‘This happened in Herod’s seventh regnal year,28 which the Kittim call the th
Olympiad; the year one of the
worst earthquakes ever to hit Judah took place. I’ll never forget that terrible ’quake, and to this day believe that it was
the judgement of the Almighty upon the sons of Israel. I lost my darling wife and my three sons in that earthquake; I’d
been so proud of my stone-built house and it crushed them as they slept.
‘The ’quake did, however, bring me closer to haShem as it brought me here, where I helped in rebuilding the
community where I’ve lived ever since, and where soon I’ll die.
‘Octavianus Caesar became Augustus, sole ruler of the Empire, and Herod started rebuilding the country.’29
 Chapter
‘A voice shouting: “In the Wilderness…”’ (Isaiah : )

A year after Joseph bar Caiaphas was elevated to the dignity of Kohen haGadōl, Valerius Gratus having then been
Praefectus for five years, a group of Galileans arrived at Sekhakhah seeking to join the Community.
It was John’s privilege, as a newly elected official, to interview them, learn about their aspirations and expecta-
tions, their knowledge of the Torah and their devotion to haShem. He also needed to probe their backgrounds and family
histories, which is when he discovered that one of them, Jeshua bar Joseph, was distantly related to himself. The kinship
was through their mothers in that John’s mother Elizabeth was Jeshua’s maternal grandmother’s cousin.
Jeshua was six months his junior, having been born at Passover in Herod’s thirtieth regnal year. He came from
the town of Capernaum, where he was a joiner and builder’s carpenter, and had worked for several years previously in
the foreign city of Sepphoris near Gennesaret, which was itself close by the little hamlet where he had been raised. His
knowledge of the Torah was extensive and no-one could challenge his zeal for haShem, but his habitual use of the name
Adonai was offensive to the over-sensitive ears of the Essenes.
They tended to avoid the name except when substituting it for the ineffable, unmentionable holy Name YHWH –
a name so holy that an Essene who, even inadvertently, spoke it aloud, would forever be excluded from the Community!
But so uncomfortable were some of the brethren that there were those who would only say the initial letters ‘alef and
dalet’ rather than say Adonai. In normal speech, haShem ‘the Name’, was to be preferred; ‘God’ was to be avoided (once
again ‘alef and dalet’ were substituted, although the Most High and, when the occasion demanded, the Almighty, were
both acceptable in moderation.1
Jeshua listened attentively as John explained the peculiarities of the Essenes aversion to speaking aloud the name
Adonai (except when reading sacred texts) and other names.
‘I often think of Ad…HaShem,’ he said stumbling slightly, as he rapidly corrected himself, ‘as my Father in the
heavens, as we’re all sons of God. Is this acceptable to the brethren of the Essenes?’
‘I don’t see why not,’ John answered thoughtfully. ‘After all, we often refer to the sons of Israel as the sons of
haShem: “You have created us for your glory and made us your children… You have named Israel ‘My son, my first-
born’…”’2 He hesitated, muttering softly for a few moments, then continued. ‘“For you are a Father to all the sons of
your truth…”3 And then again, the Scroll of the Temple clearly states that we “are the sons of Adonai our God”!’4
Jeshua looked sharply at John. ‘The “Scroll of the Temple”? I’ve never heard of that scroll! It’s not part of the
Torah, Prophets or Psalms!’
John smiled at his cousin. ‘Here at the Community, we do not study just the received sacred scriptures, but we
produce many fine writings worthy of study in their own right. But more of that later. What gave you that idea of haShem
as our Father? I mean, I know I have come across it somewhere in the Prophets, but can’t quite place it.’
Jeshua replied, ‘It is written by the Prophet Isaiah that “You, O Adonai, are our Father, our Saviour from old is
your Name.”5 And again, “O Adonai, you are our Father.”6 Jeremiah says too, “And you shall call me Father and shall
not turn away from me.”’7
‘Hmm…’ John pondered upon what his cousin had quoted. ‘I like those – especially from the Prophet Isaiah, who
was the greatest prophet of all after Moses and David.’
‘I suppose he was,’ Jeshua said slowly, ‘Umm, is this just your belief, or is it an Essene doctrine?’
‘Oh, most Essenes would agree – for us, of course, the Torah has absolute authority; but of the Prophets, Isaiah
was without a shadow of doubt, the prophet against whom all other prophets are to be measured! We also encourage
study of certain parts of Ezekiel, such as the Chariot visions8 and the portions which describe the new Temple sections;
and the Twelve Prophets are covered in numerous commentaries…’
The conversation continued for several hours as the two men compared doctrines. John had a wide-ranging un-
derstanding of the texts of the Essenes and their preferences when it came to the study of the recognised scriptures as
well as the Torah, whereas Jeshua had immersed himself not only in the Torah, but also Isaiah and the Psalms, and had
an unquenchable thirst for anything to do with the things of haShem, and was on a personal mission to teach people to
obey the spirit of the Torah, rather than just the letter.
Although he had reservations about the structure of the Essene Community – Jeshua felt it was too rigid and
lacked the compassion he felt for his fellow Jews – he nonetheless had come to learn, and would later weigh what he
had learnt. He did not actually intend to become a full Initiate, hoping that he would have access to the writings, espe-
cially the scriptures which were not always available to him at the synagogue back home. He said nothing of his inten-
tions, knowing full well that most applicants were turned down regardless, but hoped that he could in the meantime be
able to take full advantage of this opportunity.

⸎⸎⸎

Six months after Jeshua had joined the enquirers, a group of men arrived at John’s little office in the building of
the Mevaqqer.
 Prepare the Way

‘We must see Brother Eleazar’ one said – a tall swarthy individual with a permanent scowl. John could not for
the life of him recall his name, perhaps because he was a rather unlikeable, self-righteous individual.
‘I’m sorry, Brother’ he replied courteously, ‘but the Mevaqqer is not present; he’s gone to discuss the bitumen
trade with two merchants from Alexandria, so won’t be available for petitions today. May I be of service to you?’
‘We’d rather’ve seen Brother Eleazar,’ he replied stuffily. ‘But I suppose you’ll suffice. Kindly present this to him
as soon as he returns. It’s very serious and requires prompt action.’ He turned away abruptly, nodded to his companions
and they left the office without even a ‘Shalom’, ignoring John as though he were of no consequence.
‘This’ turned out to be a document, itemising complaints against several prominent members of the Sanhedrin.
John bar Ariy did indeed have a very quick temper, but to accuse him of having the pride of a lion9 seemed rather harsh
coming from that pompous, self-important, officious, rude individual! Ananias Notos: well, how in the name of all that
was holy had he ever been elected in the first place? Everyone knew that he had men’s troubles – a euphemism for
nocturnal emissions – not necessarily involuntary! It was common knowledge that he was seldom clean long enough
even to share in the pure meal of the Community… And as for Ananias bar Simeon, well, enough said…!10

⸎⸎⸎

The months trickled by as John began to make preparations for his impending marriage to Deborah. He had not
seen her since she was eight, when the betrothal was arranged, so he had no idea what to expect, which was perfectly
normal for the time, but he naturally hoped she would be as comely as he remembered her mother to be.
A group of his friends from the Bachelor Quarters helped him build a modest house not far from the home of
Jeshua and Rebecca. He had long since deeded all he owned to the Essenes, apart from his ancestral home and a patch
of land in Bethlehem, which he had transferred to his cousin Azariah, so as to keep the priestly lands in the family in
accordance with the inheritance laws in the Torah. He was, therefore, entitled to request whatever he needed from the
Mevaqqer, although it was not very much.
At last the day dawned. It was the twenty-sixth day of Tishri, which as always in the Essenes calendar, was the
first day of the week, in the second year of Joseph bar Caiaphas as Kohen haGadōl; the Eighth Division of Abijah (John’s
appointed division) was ministering, and it was less than four weeks before his twenty-seventh birthday. The zodiacal
sign governing this auspicious day was Moznaim, the Scales11 - a sign which signified that marriage had two sides, and
a good marriage was one which maintained a level balance, so the day was deemed propitious for marriage.
His bride was fifteen years old, which was common at the time – indeed, so determined were some fathers to
ensure their daughters’ virginity at marriage, that they often married them off within a few days of their coming of age!
A daughter’s virginity was of paramount importance when arranging her marriage, as a maiden was lost when her
virginity was lost to a man other than her husband on the night of her wedding. Were a maiden to be raped in a town –
regardless of her age, she having no authority to give her consent – and no-one heard her cries for help, it was assumed
that she could not have screamed loudly enough, if indeed, at all, and therefore she had colluded in fornication, and she,
along with the rapist, would be subject to execution by stoning. Had she been raped in the countryside she would,
however, escape execution, but not the man, as it would be assumed that nobody could have been near enough to hear
her screaming for help. But she was then forever unmarriageable and would be a burden to her father, and thereafter, to
her brothers or other male relatives for the rest of her life.
The only exception to this harsh rule, although not necessarily beneficial to the maiden, was that should a man
force a maiden who was not betrothed to another, and not related to him, he could be made to pay fifty shekels as bride-
price, to the father and be required to marry the young woman – never to divorce her regardless of the circumstances,
unless either one committed adultery which again was punishable by death by stoning.
Sekhakhah and its environs were relatively safe for women, as the men seldom ventured alone into the Beth
Malkah, and besides were so deeply aware of ceremonial purity that no woman was ever molested in any way, so John
had never witnessed a stoning whilst he was living in the Community. Furthermore, he knew that Jeshua and Rebecca
would have jealously guarded their daughter’s virginity.
He allowed himself a little smile as he briefly though of the consummation that night, and how, after they were
joined as husband and wife, he would pass on the sheet upon which they had celebrated their union, to Rebecca and the
other women who would have spent the night in vigil outside the marital home. They in turn would inspect the sheet,
note the blood spilt upon it and declare the marriage valid.12
What if Deborah did not bleed? It could mean that she had lost her maidenhead to another man, but more likely
that she had broken it some other way, such as by riding astride a mule instead of the demurer side-saddle. (Or was that
not a thing?). This subject had arisen one day whilst the men were working in the fields, and was given much thoughtful
consideration, although most of the men knew very little about women and their ways. After all, imagine denouncing a
 Prepare the Way

pure, godly maiden to perpetual disgrace, when she had innocently lost her maidenhead in some long-forgotten incident!
The men had ultimately concluded that unless he were convinced of premarital infidelity, the man should cut himself
secretly and spill a few drops of blood in the middle of the nuptial sheet, and so preserve both propriety and honour.
John made for the House of the Bachelors where he had been living up until he had turned twenty, where his
brethren were waiting. He had already purified himself in the purification-bath, taking even more care that usual, and
had put on a new, pure white robe, a linen sash in place of his customary piece of cord, new sandals, and a more capacious
headscarf than he normally used.
The brothers gathered around him and draped a veil over his face. He would not remove that veil until he was
alone with his new wife. They then sat him on a stool and picked him up. Then they slowly made their way to the house
of prayer where Deborah was waiting, veiled more heavily than usual, robed in radiant white and wearing numerous
golden chains and bangles. She, too, was seated on a raised stool, and was carried by her father, brother (at nineteen,
only one year away himself from becoming a full Initiate of the Community), and two other male kinsmen – Rebecca’s
brother and nephew.
The two parties processed alongside each other into the gathering house and went to the front, where the bearers
carefully set the seated couple upon a woven white rug.
The old priest who had presided over John’s bar mitzvah – and had, he recalled with amusement, put him to sleep
as he droned on interminably about the Temple – had been dead for nearly ten years by this time, and the saintly Ruler
Simeon had died four years previously, so the officials were quite different – even the Mevaqqer at the time had been
Mevaqqer Eleazar’s predecessor. Apart from priests, all officials retired when they turned sixty, since the Community
believed that the faculties declined sharply at this age, although the office of Ruler was usually granted to some aged
elder other than a priest, who could have stayed on longer if, like Simeon, he could prove his mind was alert and not
hidebound.
The priest, as usual, began by praising haShem and giving him the glory: ‘Praise the God of gods of wonder, and
exalt him, the King of glory in the house of the God of knowledge! The cherubim prostrate themselves before him, and
bless his Name! And as they rise, a whispered divine voice is heard and then there is a roar of praise!
‘When they lower their wings, there is a whispered divine voice and the cherubim bless the chariot-throne above
the sapphire sky and they praise the majesty of the sapphire sky beneath the seat of glory…’13
He paused and briefly inspected the couple, then addressed the congregation. ‘Although today is not a sabbath,
we’re nonetheless celebrating the holy sacrifice of marriage, so this sabbath sacrifice is proper.
‘Today, we’re privileged to witness the marriage of John bar Zechariah and Deborah bat Jeshua – which reminds
us that “God created Adam in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.”
And then again it is written in the Torah, “So a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be united with his wife
and they shall be one bone.”14
‘It is likewise written in the Damascus Scroll that “if they live in camps according to the rule of the Land, as it
was from ancient times, marrying according to the custom of the Torah and begetting children, they shall walk according
to the Torah and according to the statute concerning binding vows, according to the rule of the Torah which says ‘Be-
tween a man and his wife, and between a father and his son.’”’15
He paused and nodded to the cantor who led the congregation in a rendition of a popular psalm from the Book of
the Psalms.

‘Commit thy way to Adonai

And trust in him to do just this;
He’ll make thy cause bright like the sky,
Thy righteousness like the noon sun.

‘Be silent before Adonai

Wait patiently and do not fret
When wicked men win, do not sigh
When they carry out wicked plans.

‘Relent from anger and from rage turn,

Do not be angry, it leads to sin;
For those who for our Adonai yearn
Only they will possess the Land.
 Prepare the Way

‘Soon the wicked will be no more –

I’ll seek yet they will not be found.
Who’ll possess the Land but the Poor?
The Meek will enjoy perfect peace.’16

As the congregation sat down, the priest unrolled a scroll and began to read. John’s attention wandered at first, as
he sneaked a sideways glimpse of his bride.
‘“Relent from anger and from rage turn…”’17 the priest read, ‘“Don’t be angry, it leads to evil, for the wicked
shall be cut off. This interpreted concerns all those who return to the Torah, to those who don’t refuse to turn away from
their evil. For all those who are stubborn in turning away from their sin shall be cut off.”’
John recognised the text – the Pesher on the Psalms, or, to be precise, On the Thirty-seventh psalm, which they
had just sung.
‘“But for those who yearn for Adonai shall possess the Land. This is interpreted as the congregation of his Elect
who do his will.
‘“Soon the wicked will be no more – I’ll seek yet they’ll not be found. This is interpreted as concerning all the
wicked. At the end of the forty years they shall be blotted out and no evil man shall be found in the Land.
‘“The Meek will possess the Land and enjoy perfect peace. This interpreted concerns the congregation of the Poor
who shall accept the season of repentance and who shall be delivered from all the snares of Belial. Afterwards all who
possess the Land shall delight and prosper on exquisite food…”’
The priest continued, but John had lost interest; so many priests had monotonous voices, almost as though a
boring voice was a mandatory perquisite for the post! His mind kept returning to imagining Deborah’s face. What he
really wanted to do was to lean over and take hold of her hand, as she had to be terribly nervous, but that would scandalise
the conservative congregation as it was contrary to all of the teachings of the Essenes. This was an area where he
disagreed with those teachings, as he had fond memories of his beloved abba holding the hand of his equally beloved
imma, and his abba was, after all, a chief priest and well-versed in the Torah. How could different people read the same
word of haShem and understand it so differently?!
At last the boring old greybeard finished with his droning and the cantor again led the congregation in the chanting
of one of the Hōdayōt, one as it so happened, of John’s favourite thanksgiving hymns, so he suspected the cantor had
ensured it would be sung on his special day.

‘I thank you, O Adonai

And nothing exists but by your will;
None can consider Your deep secrets,
None can contemplate your mysteries.

‘What then is a man who is but earth,

That is moulded from clay, then returns to dust?
What is he that You give him understanding?
And reveal to him the counsel of your truth?

‘I am but clay and dust –

What can I do unless you desire it?
What can I make, unless you wish it?
What strength do I have if you don’t keep me upright?

‘And how shall I understand

Except by the spirit you’ve placed in me?
Except you open my mouth, what can I say?
And how can I answer if you don’t teach me?

‘Behold! You are the Prince of God!

Behold! You are the King of kings!
Lord of all spirits
King of all creatures –
Nothing is done without you;
 Prepare the Way

Nothing is known without you!

‘Besides you there is nothing,

And nothing can compare with your might;
In the presence of your glory, I’m nothing
And your might is a price beyond compare.

‘Who among your great and marvellous creation,

Can stand in the presence of your glory?
Not he who is but clay and dust!
Your creation is your glory, your glory alone!’18

Then the rabban came forward, along with the bearer of the Book of Creation,19 and he read the familiar story of
how haShem created man and woman, and the story of Adam and Eve, and how Eve was created to be Adam’s compan-
ion, his helpmeet and again read the line ‘and they shall be one bone’.
The scroll-bearer carefully rolled up the precious scroll and sat down.20
‘Do you, Jeshua bar Jacob, give your daughter, Deborah, to this man, John bar Zechariah, to be his wife for now
and always?’ The presiding rabban said, standing up as he spoke.
‘Yes, I do,’ answered Deborah’s father who had stepped forward for this formality.
‘Do you, John bar Zechariah,’ the rabban intoned solemnly, ‘take this woman, Deborah bat Jeshua to be your wife
in the eyes of Adonai the Almighty, blessed be his Name, in all purity and holiness, from this day on?’
‘Yes, I do,’ he answered, looking straight at his bride’s heavily veiled face. He was suddenly aware that no such
vow was required from Deborah, and that as her husband, he had the authority to nullify any vows she made.
‘Then you, John bar Zechariah and Deborah bat Jeshua are husband and wife according to Essenes tradition and
in accordance with the Law of the Torah.’ He raised his hand over them in his capacity as a priest of the line of Aaron.
‘“May you be blessed forever and ever, and may haShem be praised, and may his holy angels be praised. May God Most
High bless you. May he shine his face towards you and open to you his good treasure which is in the heavens, to bring
down on your Land showers of blessing, dew, rain, early rain and late rain in its season, to give you the fruit of the
produce of grain, wine and oil plentiful. May the Land produce for you fruits of delight. And you shall eat and grow fat.
‘“And there shall be no miscarriage in your Land, and no sickness, blight or mildew shall be seen in its produce.
There shall be no loss of children, nor stumbling in your congregation, and the wild beasts shall withdraw from your
Land. The sword shall not pass through your Land. For God is with you and his holy angels shall be present in your
congregation, and his holy Name shall be invoked upon you.”’21
The old priest came up to the young couple, still veiled as custom demanded, and laid his right hand first on
John’s head, then upon his bride’s. ‘Amen, amen,’ he declared, ‘So be it, truly.’
‘Amen, amen,’ echoed the congregation in affirmation, as the chair-bearers returned and lifted the couple together.
Slowly they paraded them through the house of prayer, as the congregation raised right hands in benediction –
men to their right and women, carefully screened, to their left. Men who were classed as enquirers also sat on the left;
Jeshua bar Joseph smiled encouragingly at John as the couple passed him.
They were carried out of the building to the beat of a muffled drum, and then along the rocky path overlooking
the Salt Sea, as the chair-bearers made their way to the little house John had built for the couple, over by the Beth
Malkah.
⸎⸎⸎

It had taken nearly two months to build the house, with the assistance of friends in his spare time, since the
Community’s time was carefully arranged so as to leave a minimum of spare time. Indeed, the Essenes would have
strongly endorsed the much later aphorism, ‘the Devil finds mischief for idle hands’, although they might well have
phrased it differently – perhaps ‘too much time is the province of Belial, when men are drawn to mischief and evil-
doing’!
Firstly, bricks had been made from clay, collected mainly from the Kidron, straw from the previous barley harvest
and goat-hair, thoroughly mixed, shaped and baked in the sun. Baked too quickly, the bricks would crack, or even shatter,
so the trick was to make the bricks a few hours before sundown, so the bricks would not get too hot, but would dry
slowly in the cool night air, then heat up gradually and bake hard over the course of the following day, ready for use that
next evening.
 Prepare the Way

Quick lime was then mixed with sand and carefully measured quantities of fresh water to make a fine mortar, then
building could commence. The quick lime was made by heating limestone obtained from pits near Beer Sheba, since
heating the white residue that created such weird structures in the Salt Sea tended to produce evil-smelling vapours and
usually left caustic deposits which would burn the skin, although if boiled very carefully with the dregs of the last olive
oil pressings, and laurel berries – when they could get them from ᾿Aram, – would make a good soap. (The fat from the
long-tailed sheep was sacrificed to haShem, although the foreigners routinely used animal fat for soap-making.)
A shallow trough, two bricks deep, was dug in the hard-packed ground, the only foundation needed in that arid
region, measured by stretching a length of cord around the perimeter and consecrated by the brethren and one of the
priests. The only tools needed for the walls were a plumb-line – to ensure the walls were vertical, a trowel to apply the
mortar, a plank to ensure the walls were level, a setsquare to ensure corners were square and a hod in which to carry the
mud bricks.
When the walls had reached the height of four cubits and a span,22 and spaces had been left for the two doorways
and four slit windows, his cousin Jeshua and the Community’s carpenter laid rough-hewn acacia beams across the top
of the walls and then placed pine planks on the beams, fastening them together with wet rawhide strips. A few precious
square iron nails were hammered into each joint to ensure it was secure, after which bitumen was smeared on the exposed
iron heads to protect them from the fiercely corrosive salt-spray that periodically blasted the settlement during sand-
storms or when dust-devils danced briefly over the sea before offloading their salt-laden burden over the buildings.
This done, the roof was covered in barley-straw and a skin of mortar, and the walls were built up around the ends
of the beams to a height of six bricks. Steps were built by the rear entrance of the building to enable the roof to be used
as a sleeping-platform during clement weather. Meanwhile two acacia doors had been made and carefully fitted by
Jeshua – while a courtyard wall was erected which enclosed a lone date palm planted in a courtyard in bygone times by
an earlier resident. It was this palm which caught John’s eye and originally decided him to select the location.
Then the whole building was covered in a plaster made from mud and cow dung, carefully prepared and applied
by brethren who were ceremonially impure at the time. Two days later it was whitewashed with lime. A house of sepa-
ration was planned for Deborah’s monthly courses, but it had been arranged that in the meantime she would go to her
mother’s.
John had furnished his new home with care: the bed, a low platform covered with sheepskins and a soft, goose-
down quilt; four couches to provide for dinner guests as well as for children yet to come, and a table crafted by his
cousin. Some long shelves for possessions, utensils, and clothing, and strategically placed smaller shelves specifically
made for the clay oil lamps the Community favoured completed the inside.
The roof covered part of the courtyard in the same design as that of Jeshua and Rebecca’s home, indeed as that
of most of the adobe houses ‘outside the Camp’, and John had built a clay oven and an open fireplace for roasting meat
and cooking food in pots. A bench completed the food preparation area. To the left of the doorway was a small area
reserved for ablutions and the purification-bath, which John had laboriously dug and lined according to Essene regula-
tions. A linen screen served to cover the purification-bath when not in use, whilst a taller screen separated the ablution
area from the rest of the courtyard. An acacia-wood bench was positioned under the date palm, which completed the
furnishings of the house.
Two days before the wedding, as John was putting some last-minute finishing touches to the house, Jeshua and
Rebecca – appropriately veiled as usual – arrived, as previously arranged, bringing Deborah’s bride-price. As was cus-
tomary, it was mainly comprised of embroidered sheets, cloths, and cushions; several pots and pans, and an assortment
of kitchenware, including several small jars of precious spices and exotic aromatics, dishes, cups, and tableware.
The precious portion of the bride-price was worn by the bride for the whole Community to see and approve. In
general, the Essenes despised worldly wealth – they had little need to riches and had carefully concealed huge amounts
of gold and silver to pay to the Temple, when the true descendant of Zadok should be Kohen haGadōl on a day which
was destined never to come. It was, however, recognised among those ‘outside the Camp’ – as all women inevitably
were – that a woman needed her dowry either to endow her daughters, or else to bequeath to her eldest son for his
daughters. Seldom was a woman’s dowry sold off, except when the family faced dire penury. Deborah’s clothing and
personal effects would be brought around whilst the bride was being carried to the house of prayer.

⸎⸎⸎

And so, John and Deborah were brought to the door of their new home. They stood up together, turned around,
then John clasped Deborah’s hand as the wedding procession came to a halt around them. Blessings upon the couple,
their future lives together, their future sons, their home and household rang out, as Rebecca and nine other women from
the settlement spread blankets on the ground next to the house, to wait, all night if necessary, for the nuptial sheet with
 Prepare the Way

the evidence of Deborah’s virginity. Upon receipt of this they would depart, taking the nuptial sheet with them, which
would be kept by her parents as evidence that their daughter was pure and had known no man carnally until her wedding
night. Were he ever, haShem forbid, to intend to divorce her one day, he could not pretend that it was because she had
not been a virgin when they had married, since the sheet could be produced to prove otherwise.
John and Deborah closed their front door behind them. John removed his light veil – Deborah would have seen
him many times before in the house of prayer – then looked at his bride.
‘Remove your veil, my wife; let me look upon your face’, he said gently to her.
Deborah lifted her veil and lowered it to her shoulders, then shook her mass of deep-brown curly hair free, all the
while shyly looking down at the ground. John leant forward and cupped her chin in his right hand and tilted her face
towards his. Her heart-shaped face was perfectly framed by her hair and she had her mother’s sparkling green eyes. John
fell deeply in love with his wife for the first time as he gazed into her eyes, and although he did not realise it at the time,
and never would have admitted it even to himself, he moved doctrinally away from the Essenes the moment he leant
forward closer and kissed his bride.
Deborah was surprised at this show of affection as Rebecca had warned her that although she trusted John and
loved him like a son, nonetheless the years of intense study might well have changed him. She responded eagerly,
delighted that her mother’s misgivings were in vain, and she had been married to someone who quite evidently loved
her.
She had been somewhat frightened and apprehensive as the date set for her marriage had drawn ever closer. She
had never formally met John – except at her betrothal when she was only eight years old – and he had then seemed
rather formidable and serious, so she had built up a mental image of a strict, unsmiling martinet, who would rigorously
enforce every slightest rule and deny her any of the freedoms to which she had grown accustomed whilst living in the
settlement of the Beth Malkah.
They embraced, acutely aware that such contact was not the approved Essenes way, but each was relieved that
the other was exactly as they had hoped, and the embrace slowly became more intimate as they made their way to bed.
The correct Essene way insisted that intercourse was solely for the purposes of procreation, and both of them had
been carefully instructed that they should privately dress in the special white robes made specifically for this purpose:
robes which covered all but the face and hands, but had a small slit allowing sexual contact, although since virginal
blood had to be spilt on the nuptial sheet, it was permitted on the wedding night for the bride’s robe to be hitched high
enough for the consummation of the union – it was expected that no lamps be lit during this process.
Essenes were not permitted to enjoy sexual intercourse, or, rather, as was common in many societies at the time
– and indeed, for many centuries thereafter – the woman was not expected to enjoy sexual contact, but was simply to
endure the, often brief, ministrations of her mate as part of her marital duties, whereas the man was encouraged to feel
guilty for enjoying himself and would additionally be considered unclean until the following evening, regardless of his
ritual bath of purification after intercourse.
But they put all of their training aside. As virgins, they both had much to learn, John more so than his young bride,
who had been blushingly instructed by her mother, and they soon ended up naked, fumbling, embarrassed, amused, and
finally entwined in each other’s arms.
It was barely sunset when John, decorously clad in his white robe again, opened the front door to hand the nuptial
sheet to Rebecca.
‘You were gentle, weren’t you, John?’ she whispered as she inspected the little splash of blood on the sheet.
‘Of course I was, mother of my wife,’ he whispered back, smiling hugely. ‘You’ve given me a “good treasure
from heaven” and I’ll love and cherish her always.’ Noticing that they were briefly concealed from the other women, he
leant towards her, lifted the corner of her veil slightly and kissed her on the cheek, whispering, ‘You’ve nothing to fear
for your lovely Deborah – I love her already!’
Rebecca raised her eyebrows, astonished at this effusive, non-Essene response as her son-in-law went back into
his house, then walked back to her companions.
‘No vigil tonight, sisters,’ she said joyfully, holding up the nuptial for all to inspect. ‘Tonight we sleep in our own
beds, and keep our husbands warm!’
Listening to the voices outside, John and Deborah lay snuggled in bed together. Whilst John had been talking to
Rebecca, Deborah had replaced the linen bedsheet, so they made love again until they fell asleep, secure in each other’s
arms, in their own bed, in their own home.

⸎⸎⸎
 Prepare the Way

When Deborah conceived, no man could have been happier than John, and, with the Mevaqqer’s blessing, he left
the Camp and moved in with his wife in the settlement of Beth Malkah. Autumn became winter, although the only
difference the Community of the Salt Sea felt was a certain coolness at night, sheltered as they were from the north
winds by the cliffs that slowly released the daytime heat during the night-time hours.
In late Shevat, a Greek merchant visited the settlement. Since none of the Kittim – a term used inclusively of both
Greeks and Romans – or any other foreigners were permitted to approach the low walls of the Community, foreign
merchants were required to stay in the Beth Malkah, or rather to pitch their tents in the vicinity of the settlement.
John was requested to represent the Mevaqqer who was handling a particularly tricky case of expulsion from the
Community. Although he was reluctant to do so, he naturally obeyed the Mevaqqer, suppressing his natural antipathy
for the unclean foreigner with his oiled and pomaded hair, naked, clean-shaven face, and brightly-coloured robes. The
merchant had come to discuss – in fluent Aramaic – the purchase of a substantial amount of therapeutic mud ‘as used
by Queen Cleopatra’.
Firstly, they had to agree a common measure, which the merchant was able to quickly establish, since he had long
traded with the Jews: twenty cors23 was deemed to be sufficient, to be divided into five separate consignments. Settling
on a mutually agreeable price was, however, more demanding, so John invited his guest into his courtyard, by way of
the side-door – so as to avoid contaminating his home – to sit under the date palm, and share a pitcher of watered-down
pomegranate juice and some fruit.
‘Don’t suppose you’ve any grapes, do you my friend?’ the merchant asked, nibbling a date. ‘Judah is renowned
for its luscious grapes.’
‘I’m afraid not, Mar Herakleidēs.’ John replied, stumbling over the unfamiliar name, but determined to get it right.
‘I’m a nazirite, um… well, under a lifetime vow, part of which requires that I avoid grapes and any part of the produce
of a vine.’
‘Even wine?!’ The Greek sounded appalled.
‘Especially wine!’ John grinned widely. ‘And not only no wine, but no intoxicating drink whatsoever.’
Herakleidēs grimaced. ‘You poor fellow! I can’t imagine life without a few drinks to ease the way!’
The bargaining commenced and eventually the two men settled on a mutually satisfactory arrangement, upon
which Deborah, modestly veiled, invited the merchant to share in their meal. Herakleidēs was aware of the Essene
requirement for ritual bathing and for changing into the robes of purity, so noticing John’s slight wince, mischievously
accepted her offer.
‘How kind you are, young mistress,’ he said, ‘so in the name of your God, I thank you, especially since my mouth
has been watering from the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen.’
John was in an awkward quandary. To offer hospitality to other Essenes was both natural and strongly encouraged;
to another Jew was problematic due to the purity rituals, but still permissible – but to one of the Kittim? Yet he could
not withdraw the invitation without humiliating his beloved. That a foreigner would be given cause to feel slighted was
of little importance to him, although the contract just negotiated could be negated, but he loved Deborah… Then again
the Torah specifically commanded that ‘you are to love those who are foreigners’...24
‘Mar, you are indeed most welcome to join us,’ he said rapidly assessing the situation. ‘Please excuse us for a few
moments whilst we make the appropriate arrangements.’
John gently tugged Deborah into the house. ‘We’ll have to forego the purification-bath this evening, but we all
need to be clean, so we’ll wash our faces, hands and feet together. I’ll wash Mar Herakleidēs’ feet and yours, you’ll
wash mine. That way all will be seemly. After the ablutions, we’ll then change into our robes of purity and I’ll pray
briefly for us, then we’ll go and eat.
‘I do wish,’ he added wistfully, ‘that you had consulted with me first!’
‘Sorry, husband,’ she answered contritely, ‘I just thought it was our duty to show hospitality.’
John lifted her veil, which she had retained, and kissed her affectionately. ‘So it is, my beloved, so it is. But to a
foreigner? It should’ve come from me. I shouldn’t have put you in that position.’ He kissed her again and readjusted her
veil, then they returned to the courtyard, filling several jugs of water from the purification-bath.
Deborah collected a washing bowl, then John wet a cloth and passed it to the Greek to wash his face. He then
poured a little water over his guest’s hands. Whilst the merchant was drying his face and hands, John’s removed the
man’s sandals and washed his feet, then dried them on the same towel.
He repeated this service for his wife – if Herakleidēs noticed that Deborah and John used a different cloth and
towel as she demurely turned away to wash her face, he said nothing, impressed as he was to see how this Essene couple
had adapted to extending hospitality to foreigner.
After Deborah had ministered to her husband, the couple excused themselves and went back into the house to
dress in their white robes as was customary – John taking the opportunity to pat his wife’s expanding belly. He then
 Prepare the Way

prayed for haShem’s blessing over them and their forthcoming baby, the food, and their guest, before they returned to
the courtyard; John to the bench, carrying a small table, and Deborah to dish up the food.
Deborah had mastered the goat stew her mother had occasionally made – it reminded John of his first day in the
Community at Sekhakhah, the day he had met Rebecca and Jeshua nearly twenty years previously, and he looked back
at that sad, lonely little orphan he had been. Deborah brought the bowls of stew and hunks of freshly baked bread to the
table, then sat down a little distance away from the men, as custom demanded that outside the family unit, men and
women were to eat separately. This was partly because eating behind a veil was awkward, but mainly because men and
women tended to speak about different subjects, and women could not speak freely before men.25
After they had eaten, they sat quietly watching as the glassy Salt Sea reflected the dying light of the desert sun as
it set behind them, with not the merest breeze to trouble the smooth waters.
Herakleidēs looked up at the date palm, where a single sparse cluster of dates clung desultorily to the crown. ‘This
tree should be cut down as soon as possible to encourage regrowth,’ he said conversationally, taking a sip of the ruby
pomegranate juice.
John stared at him aghast, as he had selected this spot precisely because of the lone date palm. He had certainly
not really thought much about date production, assuming the tree would continue bearing fruit without any help from
him. ‘But…’ he hesitated somewhat nervously, ‘why do we need to “encourage regrowth”? Won’t it just keep on bearing
dates anyway?’
‘Next year maybe another little bunch, the year after that probably none,’ Herakleidēs stated matter-of-factly.
‘When a female date palm gets tired, it must be cut down to leave a stump about so high,’ he said, gesturing to indicate
a height just above his knee, ‘and then burnt until just the central heart of the palm stump is sticking out of the ashes,
sort of like the pointy beak of a heron. Within a month or so, shoots will grow out of the ashes. You must select the
strongest shoot and cut everything else off, down to the ground, then tend that little palm. You’ll get a fantastic crop of
dates after about three years. Oh yes, of course, you don’t need to go through all this fuss with a male palm – it will keep
on producing flowers for many, many years!
‘Here’s something you mightn’t have heard of,’ he continued in his accented Aramaic, ‘but if you know any Greek
at all…’
Deborah shook her head vigorously, whilst John muttered, ‘Can read it a bit.’
‘… you’ll know that the word for date palm in Greek is phoinix, err, phoenix…’
‘Though that was some sort of bird,’ interjected John, anxious not to look too ignorant in front of this foreigner.
‘Same name, and for a very good reason,’ The merchant chuckled, and sipped his juice. ‘Back in the days before
Alexander the Great conquered the world, a Greek explorer and historian, Herodotos, visited Egypt. In those days, date
palms were seldom found in Greece, and Herodotos was unaware of the finer points of date palm cultivation.
‘A priest of Isis was guiding him around an oasis not far from the Delta, when he saw, a little way off in a
smouldering field, small flames flickering around what appeared to Herodotos to be the beaks of large birds thrusting
through the ashes. His guide proclaimed these to be phoenixes – in other words, date palms – but the explorer left,
convinced he had witnessed strange birds being born from fire and ashes, especially when the priest explained that the
phoenixes were being resurrected like the green-skinned god Osiris. And thus, the myth was born, of a wondrous bird,
born in flames from its own ashes.’
‘So there never really was a firebird, then? John asked wistfully.
‘It’s a little sad, isn’t it? I rather like the idea of an eternally renewed bird, that periodically bursts into flame and
is then reborn from its own ashes!’

⸎⸎⸎

John never did get around to burning down his date palm, because about three months later. Around the middle
of Iyyar, Deborah went into premature labour and his life changed forever.
At first she started worrying, saying that the baby was too still, insisting that John feel her belly every few minutes
– could he feel movement? Two days after this she had an unexpected contraction, doubling her up in excruciating pain.
‘Get the midwife please, John,’ she gasped, beads of sweat gathering on her brow.
He needed no urging and ran to Sister Susannah who fulfilled this function in the Community, even although she
herself had never borne any children.
‘Well I never,’ she mumbled as she went to a cupboard in the back of her home to collect a bag, ‘but Deborah’s
not due yet for another moon! No, Brother John, this doesn’t bode at all well!’
 Prepare the Way

When they arrived at the house, she tried to shoo John into the courtyard, but he was adamant that he would be
staying with his wife and hold her hand – tradition or no tradition! The Torah was silent on this situation, so he would
listen to his heart and pray for his wife and unborn child with them, and to Sheol with custom!
Deborah concurred and fiercely squeezed his hand to such a degree he thought he would never regain sensation,
and was astonished at such strength, but quickly was refocussed on the face of his beloved as she screamed in agony.
‘Her body’s not ready for birthing yet,’ Susannah said, wincing in empathy as Deborah screamed again. ‘But the
baby’s trying to crown regardless.’
By this time several women had assembled to offer advice and comfort, but were discomforted at the unheard-of
presence of a man in what was exclusively the domain of women. One older woman – John was unsure who it was
under her veil – admonished him and insisted he leave, but was stunned into silence when John and Deborah cried out
‘No!’ almost in unison.
Two desperate hours passed. Deborah’s body seemed determined to expel the baby, but still all that could be seen
by the midwife was the crown of its head, with a few curls of dark hair plastered to its skull. More worrying was the
trickle of blood oozing from alongside the head…
As time passed, Deborah struggled less, perspiration pouring off her forehead; John’s face was so close to hers
that their tears were mingling as they trickled down her cheeks. He was terrified that he would lose her and had guessed
the baby was probably already dead, but Adonai Almighty, don’t let my darling die!
‘You promised, haShem!’ he cried out, ‘in your word you promised “there shall be no miscarriage in your Land…
no loss of children!”26
Deborah suddenly shrieked in agony and convulsed as the dead baby tore out of her womb with a massive gush
of blood… Then she was still, her lifeless eyes staring soullessly into nowhere, her hand laying loosely in John’s as he
gazed tear-blurred at his dead wife’s soft features.
‘“How beautiful you are, my beloved! Oh, how beautiful!... All beautiful you are, my darling, there is no blemish
in you!’”27 He wept, quoting from Shiyr haShiyriym, the scroll the two had delighted in reading together in bed by the
flickering light of two adjacent oil-lamps.
‘“How delightful is your love… my bride!... Your lips drip sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride…”’28 His voice
broke as he wept and drove Susannah and his well-meaning neighbours out of his house in an uncharacteristic rage,
forbidding them from taking the body to be prepared for burial.
All through the small hours of the night he raged against the Almighty, as he washed the body of his wife, so
small, so fragile and defenceless now, and that of his son, a tiny pathetic scrap, barely two handfuls. Had this child lain
properly in his mother’s womb, he may well have survived and his birth would not have killed her, but the umbilical
cord was wrapped tightly around his neck. Furthermore, he had got a leg trapped in the cord alongside his head, and that
unnatural configuration had torn his mother open.
A competent physician might have been able to deliver the dead baby, but the settlement did not encourage phy-
sicians as most were foreign slaves, so cultural ignorance also contributed to Deborah’s death.
John carefully cleaned up the pools of blood; although a birthing blanket had been placed on the bed at the com-
mencement of labour, Deborah had bled so profusely that her blood had permanently rendered the bed unclean and it
would have to be taken outside and burnt. Once all was visibly clean, with the bodies of mother and child dressed in
white robes, and he had soaked in the purification-bath and put on the robe in which he had been married, he sat by the
bodies and shaved his head. His hair, the outward symbol of his nazirite vow, had become unclean and would have to
be burnt on the altar as had been the case when his mother died, and he carefully gathered it and placed it in a casket.
This done he opened the door.
He was numbly surprised at who was present; even Eleazar the Mevaqqer was patiently waiting. As he came out,
four men of the permanently unclean, went into the house carrying a funeral bier. They came out a few minutes later
with the bodies wrapped in a single shroud, and the melancholy procession made its way to the Essene burial ground.
Although the cliffs around the Community were riddled with caves of varying sizes, the Essenes had no wish to
defile them with human remains, since by their reckoning, if one cave were defiled, all would become unclean, and
many caves were used as safe storage for the special jars containing the precious scrolls of the Community. So, the
founders of the Community had set apart a piece of land, surrounded it with a low, whitewashed wall, to make it clearly
visible even at night, and here the dead of the Essenes were interred. The ground here was a little softer and work on the
grave had been started soon after Susannah and the other women had been evicted from the cottage the previous night.
John led the mourners, his face impassive as he once again was a principal mourner: first his mother, then his
father, now his wife and son. Whatever plans haShem had for him, those plans did not include his having a family…

⸎⸎⸎
 Prepare the Way

The rest of that year passed without John’s being aware of it. Jeshua bar Joseph attempted to comfort his cousin,
but nothing penetrated his fugue. He left his home which the Community subsequently used to house visitors, and
returned to the comfortable, unchallenging monastic monotony of the Camp, little affecting the emptiness in his heart.
Until, that is, one sabbath, when a reading was to restore the purpose of his life…
‘Come my Beloved,’ the cantor sang out as usual, ‘to meet the Bride, Queen Shabbat!’29
Then an introductory psalm was sung… ‘Hold not against us our fathers’ sins, may your mercy come speedily to
meet us, for we’re in desperate need…’30
The Torah sidrah was the section which begins ‘O Adonai God, you have begun to show your servant your great-
ness and your strong hand…’, which includes the Shema and the Ten Words, and ends with the words ‘…You shall
therefore keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances which I command you this day, to do them.’31
As John listened, he suddenly realised what was going to follow, and sure enough the haftorah reading from the
Prophets was the self-same passage which had so affected his father; a passage which Zechariah bar Zicri had shared
with his son before his death. The text where Isaiah cries out: ‘A voice calling, “In the wilderness, prepare the way for
Adonai – in the wilderness make sure straight a road for our God…”’32
He felt as though haShem were speaking directly to him; not to the reader, the Mevaqqer, the Ruler or anyone
else: just to him. This was it. HaShem was calling him to go into the wilderness as an Essene hermit, to meditate on the
word of haShem, to proclaim the year of his favour, to prepare the way for his chosen one (the Messiah – could it be?).
The Mevaqqer presented the message that meeting and used the Safar haMashal ha῾Edah33 to illustrate his points.
‘“In the sanhedrin of the Community,”’ he read, starting from the eighth column, ‘“there shall be twelve men and
three priests… whose works shall be truth, righteousness, justice, lovingkindness, and humility… when these are in
Israel, the sanhedrin of the Community shall be established in truth. It shall be an everlasting plantation, a house of
holiness for Israel… It shall be that tried wall, that precious cornerstone…
‘“And when these become members of the Community in Israel, according to these rules, they shall separate from
the habitation of unjust men and shall go into the wilderness to prepare there his way, as it is written, ‘Prepare in the
wilderness the Way of Adonai, make straight in the desert a path for our God.’
‘“This Way is the study of the Torah which he commanded by the hand of Moses, that they may do according to
all that has been revealed from age to age, and as the Prophets have revealed by his holy Spirit.’”34
The cantor then led the congregation in one of the Hōdayōt:

‘…For thou art my refuge, my high mountain,

My stout Rock and my fortress;
In thee will I shelter
From all the designs of ungodliness,
For thou wilt succour me with eternal deliverance…’35

At the close of the meeting, John asked permission to address the congregation. ‘As most of you’ll know,’ he
started, ‘the Community has been my life since I was brought here as a child, and you took me in. I believe haShem has
guided my way all the days of my life, both here and in my childhood, born to a chief priest, and, I believe, has prepared
me for this moment.
‘Today we’ve read the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the preparation of the Way for the Messiah; as a child –
indeed before I was born – my father prophesied this same passage over me; it’s now time I fulfilled that prophecy.
‘I’ve heard haShem calling me again to go into the wilderness. It’s now time I obeyed his summons. I’m convinced
that it’s my solemn and joyful duty to prepare the Way for haShem’s Messiah, who will be revealed as and when haShem
is ready.
‘Thank you for your love and support over the years, and for the comfort you’ve provided when my wife and son
were taken from me. Shalom.’
And then he walked to the entrance of the house of prayer, nodding pleasantly left and right to his spiritual brothers
and sisters, exchanging a brief word or receiving a blessing from many of them. He spent the rest of the sabbath praying
in his quarters, at peace for the first time since Deborah died.
Early the following morning, he packed a few supplies, then watched the sun rising over the waters as he ate a
light breakfast to sustain him on his travels. He not eaten breakfast since the day of his bar mitzvah, but felt the need to
break with tradition on this momentous day. As the sun’s rays warmed his face, he turned thoughtfully towards the
northern end of the Salt Sea and started walking. He did not turn back and so never saw his cousin and closer friends
standing by the wall of the Camp, their right arms raised in blessing.
 Prepare the Way

How would he survive in this arid land? HaShem would provide, ‘For you will succour me with eternal deliver-
ance…’ the Mevaqqer had echoed, when he gave John a purse of coins.
John smiled wryly as he clambered down the side of the Wadi Sekhakhah. He had quite forgotten he would need
at least a little money to buy food. He would have to be on his guard lest he be robbed or conned as he really was not
used to handling money…
 Chapter
‘[He] commanded the Jews to exercise virtue…and so come to baptism’ (AJ
XVIII.v. )

John trudged slowly along the shore of the Sea, idly wondering which of them was once Lot’s wife, as he often
did when studying the eldritch pillars and foetid encrustations of salts that seemed to drag themselves out of the Sea.
Had he thought more carefully, he would have realised that Sodom and its sister cities were in fact at the southern end
of the Sea, not far from Zoar in Arabia, and therefore at the opposite end to where he was headed! The story of Lot and
the destruction of Sodom had often troubled him, both as a child and as an adult, and he again recited the difficult
passages, under his breath at first, then declaiming it as though to the watching salt statues.
‘Abraham had persuaded haShem not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if ten righteous men could be found in
Sodom. Then haShem sent two angels in the guise of men to Sodom. Lot, Abraham’s nephew, who happened to be
sitting by the city gate, saw the strangers and invited them to stay at his home, where they would be safe. At first,’ he
said, raising his voice as he preached to an imaginary audience, ‘the angels declined his offer, as they wished to see the
city at first hand, but he soon convinced them to accept his hospitality and they lodged in his house.
‘At nightfall, however, the men of Sodom – of all ages – surrounded the house and called out to Lot, “Where are
the men who came to visit you this evening? Bring them out so that we can…”’ John paused, blushing like a bride.
When he had come across this passage as a child reading to his mother, his parents had explained that the men wanted
to get to know the angels better, which did not really make much sense at the time. When he was older, he was horrified
to learn that the Sodomites wanted to force the angels to perform disgusting and forbidden sexual acts with them!1 He
skipped the uncomfortable words and continued, gesticulating with his free hand at the white-clad hosts before him.
‘But Lot went out to them, shutting the door behind himself. “By no means, brothers”, he said. “Don’t be so
wicked! Look, I have two virgin daughters. I’ll bring them to you and you can do whatever you like to them; only leave
my guests alone!” But the evil Sodomites accused Lot of judging them and told him to get out of their way, so the angels
pulled Lot back into the house before he could be attacked. They then told him to gather his friends and family and get
ready to leave as haShem was going to destroy the city.
‘Lot went out the next morning but was unable to convince his future sons-in-law and their families, or even any
of his friends that they were in imminent danger – indeed they thought he was joking and refused to leave their homes
because some crack-pot thought the city was going to be destroyed!
‘Then the angels urged him to take his wife and two virgin daughters and leave the city. “Flee! Run for your
lives!” one said, as they reached the city gates. “And don’t look back! Don’t stop anywhere on the Arabah – flee to the
mountains lest you’re swept away!”
‘Lot was afraid the destruction would start before he could get his family to safety and begged that the small town
of Zoar be spared, and the angels agreed. “But go there quickly!”’ John paused dramatically, gazing squarely where his
crystalline congregation would have had eyes, had they had them.
‘By the time the sun was high over the land, Lot with his wife and daughters had reached the sanctuary of Zoar,
then haShem rained down burning sulphur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they were utterly consumed, and
all who lived in them were wiped out.
‘Overwhelmed by curiosity, Lot’s wife looked back at the raging inferno and was immediately turned into a pillar
of salt. – Is she among yourselves today?’ he said, changing his tone and looking about him. ‘Perhaps not – the stories
don’t tell of how the land trembled and slipped at the far end of the deep valley and plugged the then outlet of the Jordan,
so that all of its waters filled this basin and covered the remains of the sinful cities.
‘Early the following day,’ he continued with his sermon. ‘Abraham looked towards the land of the Arabah and
could see a dense cloud of smoke rising from the land, like the smoke from a volcano.’2
John stopped. He could have continued, haShem was his witness as to his knowledge, but any preacher worth a
straw knows when to continue and when to stop. He could tell the story of how Lot’s daughters had thought themselves
to be entirely alone in the world and had supposedly made their father drunk and so incestuously laid with him as one
would lie with a husband and had become pregnant with the supposed ancestors of the people of Moab and Ammon, but
this would profit no-one but the leaders, scribes, priests and generals, who needed such incendiary information to cause
wars.
The story had always puzzled him. Firstly, why did the Sodomites want to do unmentionable things with complete
strangers? And why were they prepared to use violence to get their own way? All of them – young and old alike? And
then again, how could a God-fearing righteous man offer his own daughters to be violated by these men – as though it
were somehow more acceptable that what they were planning? Indeed, he could not imagine any father offering his
daughters, regardless of age – let alone tender maidens – to be gang-raped! Unthinkable! And lastly, why would haShem
punish simple curiosity with such a bizarre form of execution? John had long realised that the Torah was not telling the
whole story, and indeed many Essenes felt the same and had composed commentaries and detailed apologetics to clarify
Torah stories, especially those pertaining to the first scroll of the Torah.3
 Prepare the Way

As he made his way along the path, away from the soda stalagmites, he had to scramble over larger rocks which
had fallen from nearby cliffs. Most people travelled to Sekhakhah from Jerusalem to the west, or from Ein Gedi in the
south; very few bothered to traverse the difficult terrain near the mouth of the Jordan. John felt reasonably safe from
bandits since very few troubled anyone in the general area, due to the dearth of travellers, although he was somewhat
concerned about falling awkwardly and breaking a leg, and subsequently dying from starvation – but surely haShem
would not permit such a calamity to befall his ‘voice calling in the wilderness’!
Around midday, he sat in the shadow of a small overhang, drank some tepid water from his goatskin water-bag,
and nibbled a few dates – the last crop from his old palm tree – and rested from the harsh, unrelenting heat of the desert
sun. An hour or so later, he resumed his journey; had he been pressed for a destination, he would probably have said
that he was aiming for the wilderness of Peraea, as he needed solitude to meditate on the will of haShem and a time of
reflection for the fierce sun to burn away his desires, grief, and lusts, leaving only the husk of a humble and willing
servant.
Nightfall found him around a six-hour walk from the nearest village, so he made his simple camp under a withered
acacia, gathered firewood, and lit a small fire – more for company than to frighten away wolves, lions, hyaenas or bears,
who seldom frequented this arid and barren land anyway. He dined frugally on bread and dates, washed down by a few
mouthfuls of water, then rolled his travelling cloak for a pillow, and slept under the stars, trusting to haShem to watch
over him…

‘Thy Keeper is the good haShem, thy shade upon thy right;
The sun shall not blaze down on thee, nor shall the moon at night.
From evil shall haShem thee keep, and shalt preserve thy soul;
Thy comings in and goings out, He’ll watch and keep thee whole.’4

John sleepily recited the words of the psalm which had been sung at his bar mitzvah, smiling contentedly as he
then murmured the Shema before falling into a deep and dreamless sleep, secure in his faith in haShem.

⸎⸎⸎

He reached the tiny hamlet of Beth Arabah the following day. In ancient times, before the destruction of the five
cities of Sodom, and the creation of the Salt Sea (or as it was then known, Yam Arabah – the Sea of the Plain), the
Arabah had stretched from this little hamlet in the north to Zoar in the south in what had since become Arabia, sometimes
claimed by Edom, once home of the Edomites.
In those days the hamlet would have controlled trade coming from Arabia via the Five Cities, as well as that
leaving Canaan for Sodom and beyond, but when the Arabah had been torn apart, raining brimstone and ash upon the
cities and then drowning them with evil-smelling water from the displaced estuary of the Jordan, then the prosperous
trading-post had shrunk to the miserable hamlet he now entered.
The trade route had swerved around the Salt Sea and followed an inland ridge of hills, joining up at Jericho with
the then King’s Highway that had been established between Egypt and the kingdoms of the Mitanni and Hittites millennia
before in the days of Abraham or even earlier. The Mitanni and Hittites were long gone and Egypt was a mere shadow
of its ancient glory, being reduced to the status of a Roman provincia, and even the ancient trade route had shifted again,
in part due to more recent shipping routes and in part due to more emphasis on Syria rather than Judaea.
A few substantial, finished blocks marked where the customs’ palace had once stood – the rest of those quality
blocks of finished sandstone were incorporated higgledy-piggledy in the pathetic hovels scattered about the dusty track.
A wizened old crone grinned toothlessly at him – no modesty veils then, although, John thought impishly, she would
have been immeasurably improved by one! – when he asked if there was somewhere he could stay that night. She
nodded and pointed across the packed dirt path at a decrepit old building. He followed her gesture and knocked on a
coarse wooden door.
An unkempt, unwashed old man opened the door. ‘Shalom,’ he muttered listlessly, evidently more out of habit
than politeness. ‘You looking for lodging?’
‘Um, yes, old father.’ John replied, with serious misgivings about staying here in the indubitably flea-ridden dump.
‘One lepton for a mattress, two lepta for a bowl of stew,’ he mumbled, turning away, disinterested as to whether
his potential guest was staying of not.
John followed him into a small courtyard. Scrawny chickens scratched dustily among broken crates, cracked
amphorae and what appeared to be the wilted remnants of a defeated vegetable patch littered with shrivelled cucumbers
and limp lettuces, whilst a despondent donkey staggered around a wobbly millstone. His host gestured towards a hut in
the corner; in better days it had probably been the house of separation for women when unclean and equally probably
 Prepare the Way

in this dreary place had not been reconsecrated for general use. No doubt the mattress would be full of ravenous fleas,
lice, and bedbugs. Perhaps the stew would make up for everything else.
It did not.
The following day the track improved and John arrived at Beth Hogelah soon after his midday repose. The little
village almost immediately lived up to its name, as a flight of panicked partridges whirred noisily into the air, when he
rounded a bend in the track straight into small, but very orderly, fields of emmer wheat rapidly ripening in the hot sun.
Narrow channels led water through the fields from the gurgling Jordan nearby.
Two young men looked up from weeding, alerted by the partridges, and one walked over to where John was
standing. ‘Shalom, friend, welcome to the Place of Partridges,’ he said, striding through the wheat. ‘If you require lodg-
ing, please knock at the third gate on the left,’ he added, gesturing towards the little whitewashed houses nestling among
the cliffs overlooking the swirling waters of the Jordan. ‘My mother will be happy to provide you with good food and a
clean mattress for five lepta.’
‘Thank you, friend,’ John replied, comparing this well-appointed village with the previous flea-pit and scratching
absently at the memory. ‘Thank you for your hospitality.’ He nodded to the lad and walked towards the indicated cottage.
He passed a small herd of cows grazing on barley hay, and in the haze of the cliffs spotted a young goatherd, almost as
nimble and sure-footed as his charges.
The cottage had been extended to include guest-quarters for infrequent travellers; the mattresses were clean, well-
aired and miraculously free from pests. When he mentioned this to his bustling hostess as she stirred some mouth-
watering concoction, she turned around smiling broadly.
‘I always warn travellers to Beth Arabah about their dreadful accommodation and suggest they camp outside if at
all possible! In this house, we smoke the bedding over cedarwood chips and frankincense every three months or so,
which gets rid of all parasites.’
‘Yes, my wife also…’ John stopped and took a deep breath. Would it always hurt like this? ‘She used to do that
too – before she died.’ He abruptly plunged his face into his hands, his body jerking with the force of his sobs.
Several minutes passed. As his sobbing subsided, he became aware of hands resting on both shoulders – a burly,
bearded man sat to his right, presumably the husband of the ruddy-cheeked woman who sat at his left, gently patting his
shoulder.
Embarrassed, John managed to bring his grief under control. Dabbing his eyes, he looked up.
‘Recent was it, lad?’ the man asked, slowly getting up, straightening his rumpled robes.
‘Yes,’ John answered slowly and with great effort. ‘We’d only been married just over eight months – the baby
tried to come early.’ He took a deep breath and looked up at the older man and his amiable wife. ‘Thank you for your
compassion towards a stranger.’
Had he not been on a mission for haShem, he would have been sorely tempted to stay in the pleasant little hamlet,
full of smiling faces (something of which the Community had not had a surfeit), but he felt the pull of the wilderness
and he left the following morning, with a scrip full of cheese, dates, a cucumber, and oven-warm bread.
His next stop was Cypris, a lively market town, formerly called Emeq Qeziz – the Vale of the End, which probably
referred to the end of the Jordan – but now named for the mother of Herod the Great. The town was situated on the
banks of a small tributary to the Jordan, with roads leading to Jerusalem and Jericho, as well as a well-worn track leading
to a ford over the Jordan, the first place a traveller could safely cross the river. This area was alluded to as the gateway
to the lowlands and the terrain was now easier underfoot, apart from occasional steep gullies, some of which contained
perennial streams.
He stayed in Cypris only long enough to buy a camel-skin travelling robe, and a sturdy leather belt to fasten the
robe, giving his old cloak to a blind beggar. He also purchased a strong wayfarers’ scrip to carry food, a fire-making kit,
and his small purse of silver shekels and assorted bronze coins. He also bought a knife, although more for utility than
defence; his goatskin water-bag was still in very good condition, so did not require replacing, and he still had his Essene
spade.
He had no real idea exactly what to expect in the wilderness of Peraea, but wanted to be prepared for everything
that haShem had in store for him. As he left the outskirts of Cypris, he wondered, not for the first time, whether he was
doing the right thing: had he heard haShem correctly, or was he simply running away from his unbearably unhappy
memories? Perhaps he would never have heard the voice of haShem, had Deborah not died, and he would have stayed
in Sekhakhah all the days of his life, but never doing the will of haShem…
Large stones had been placed in the river to make it easier for wheeled traffic to cross and for travellers to remain
reasonably dry simply by hitching up the skirts of their robes, although in the rainy season the ford could only be crossed
with difficulty. The winter rains had already passed and the summer rains were not quite due, so he crossed the river
easily and so arrived in the rockier terrain of Peraea for the first time.
 Prepare the Way

He had barely reached the opposite side when a heavily-laden mule-cart came trundling past, spraying water
everywhere as the carter urged his beasts on. First stop for all traffic was Beth Abarah, the Place of the Ford, which
maintained the ford – especially when summer floods swept stepping-stones away – and also acted as a customs post
for Herod Antipas’ tetrarchy. John was waved through by a bored-looking border-guard, although the mule-cart was
stopped and diligently inspected before being charged the usual customs duty.
As a territory, Peraea was quite recent, having been created for Pheroras, the youngest brother of Herod the Great,
from the lands once claimed by Reuben and Gad, and later by the Nabataean Arabians, whose capital up to recent times
had been the remarkable rust-red sandstone city, known to the Greeks as Petra, but called by the Arabians as Raqmu,
which lay to the south of the Salt Sea. It stretched from the River Arnon in the south to the mountains of Gilead in the
north, which bordered on Ituraea. Much of it was sparsely populated, and Herod Antipas, who had received it upon
Pheroras’ death, derived little revenue from the arid lands, so he preferred to live in the wealthy tetrarchy of Galilee.
Beth Abarah held no interest for John as he had already equipped himself in Cypris, so he strode purposefully out
of the little town and into the wilds of Peraea. As he left the town, a verse from the Torah came to mind: ‘And Abraham
called the place “YHWH Will Provide” and it is so said to this day, “On the mountain of Adonai it will be provided”.’5
John had no qualms in applying the verse to his situation on the plains of Peraea – although he mentally amended
‘YHWH Will Provide’ to ‘Adonai Will Provide.’ HaShem would provide for him, of that he had no doubt.
As he wandered, he stayed close to the Jordan, returning to his habit of frequent dips in the ‘living’ water, purifying
not only his body, but also his soul; his old work robe of coarse linen being the closest thing he had to the white of
Essenes purity. Sometimes passing travelling gave him food, other times he foraged for locust beans.6 A good day was
when he could find a hive, filled with wild honey, subduing the angry bees with smoke, and snatching a couple of
honeycombs rich with juicy grubs. His erstwhile brethren in Sekhakhah would have accused him of ‘defiling himself…
by eating… the larvae of bees.’7 But haShem had provided and he would eat!
He practised preaching; for hours on end he would harangue the serried rows of rushes, sedges, and bulrushes,
honing his message of preparation and repentance.
Then pilgrims started to turn up: a few goatherds, then farmers with cartloads of produce destined for the markets
of Jericho and Jerusalem; then priests and Levites travelling to fulfil their divisions duties at the Temple. After a while,
even tax farmers and their military escorts – who were guarding the taxes rather than the tax collectors – turned up to
hear the wild prophet of repentance. More and more people gathered to hear John haMetabbel ‘the Immerser’ – from
his habit, initially of encouraging people to cleanse themselves daily by immersion, then eventually going so far as to
immerse them himself.
‘Right under!’ he would say. ‘Like a crafty fox ridding itself of fleas as it swims across a river, you must likewise
leave no foothold for sins!’8
Again, he would say, ‘Bear fruit worthy of repentance and don’t think to say to yourselves, “We’ve Father Abra-
ham!” for I say to you all, that God can raise up children to Abraham from those very stones! Already the axe is poised
at the roots of the trees, so every tree not bearing good fruit will be cut down and hurled into the fire!’9
By the end of his first five years of self-imposed exile, John haMetabbel had acquired quite a reputation, and was
convinced he was preparing the way for the promised Messiah. ‘I immerse you in water for repentance, but the one
coming after me is more powerful than me; I’m not worthy to carry his sandals. He will immerse you in the holy Spirit;
his winnowing fork is in his hand and he’ll clean out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his granary, but the
chaff he’ll burn with an unquenchable fire!’10

⸎⸎⸎

In the twelfth year of Tiberius, a new governor was appointed over the province of Judaea, a military praefectus
called Pontius Pilatus. Whereas most governors came from the upper echelons of Romans society, Pilatus came from an
impoverished gens, the Pontii, from Umbria in northern Italia. He had entered the army on his fifteen birthday and was
an optio before he was twenty, his skill with the spear giving him his cognomen. His focussed application to the accounts
of his century was quickly recognised, and he was promoted to junior centurion when he was twenty-two, having by
this time seen service in Iberia, northern Gallia, Germania, and Armenia. When he was thirty-two, he went to Germania
to try to recover the eagles of the legions of Varus who had been slaughtered in the Teutoburger Forest by Arminius and
the barbarian hordes of the Germanii – a slaughter which had devastated the morale of the legions of Augustus.11
In due course, he made First Centurion of the First Cohort of his legion, the Praefectus Castrorum. He was a
harsh, brutal man and got results; such was his skill in managing the affairs of two legions, that he was requested as a
favour to stay on for five years past his retirement from military service. When he retired, aged around forty-five, he
was rewarded with the prefecture of Judaea; a part of the empire he had never visited, to govern people he despised.
 Prepare the Way

The Jews had been granted special dispensation from the Divine Julius Caesar to practise their weird faith – even
then the, fortunately diminishing number of, Jewish soldiers were permitted to take every seventh day off, although at
least they were being phased out. They were disruptive in that they were excused the otherwise mandatory worship of
the signa, or eagles, whereas true soldiers would fight to their last breaths to protect the standards which not only sym-
bolised their unit, but also wore the battle honours the unit had been awarded. This particular disrespect enraged the
man who had endeavoured to recover the signa of Varus, and he vowed to do something about it…
He was also disgusted that they were exempted from burning incense to Caesar, which to his mind was a further
example of their disrespect – sacrificing a mangy sheep each day on behalf of the entire race of Jews, was, to his mind,
no substitute for individual oaths before the gods of Rome. And yet he was expected to display mercy and understanding
to these people who had invited Rome to govern them, then resented Rome for doing just that!
At least, he mused, the Pontifex Maximus – or Kohen haGadōl as they called him – Josephus Caiaphas, seemed
a decent fellow; certainly, he could work with him since Caiaphas was indecently interested in making a talent or two
to pay for his palatial new residence in Hierosolyma.

⸎⸎⸎

Around the same time, many of the Galilean pilgrims who visited John were muttering against Tetrarch Herod
Antipas, who was engaged in building a city to honour the Imperator Tiberius. Tiberias was in a beautiful part of the
Galilee, near the Sea of Kinnereth, not far from the spa town of Hammat Emmaus, and was soon to give its name to the
Sea.
Antipas needed to populate this new town and compelled many Galileans to inhabit it; he also drafted in numerous
foreigners and admitted a lot of poor folks – even those whose freedman status was in doubt. But what really infuriated
the Jewish inhabitants of Tiberias – or Tveriya᾽, as it was known by the Aramaic speaking folk, was that he had caused
a large number of graves and sepulchres to be moved to make way for the city, with scant regard for the laws regarding
purity.
Furthermore Herod Antipas’ behaviour had become a ‘stench in the nostrils’ – as one of the worthy had remarked
– when he divorced his wife, the daughter of the Arabian King Aretas, and married Herodias, the former wife of his
disgraced half-brother Herod, the son of Mariamne, the daughter of the former Kohen haGadōl Simeon bar Ezer. Now
the only time a man was permitted to have sexual relations with his brother’s wife, was when his brother had died
without issue. Such intercourse was, however, to prevent his brother’s line from dying out and was, moreover to cease
as soon as she fell pregnant. Herodias was not a widow, and had anyway borne her former husband a daughter, Salome,
who was soon to celebrate her coming of age.
They had both been living in Rome when his father, Herod the Great had disinherited Herod the Younger; Antipas
had been in Rome at the same time, whilst his wife was visiting her father in Damascus. Herodias had visited her brother-
in-law, who, like her husband, was also her paternal half-uncle, for solace – a solace which had resulted in her divorcing
her now disgraced husband and her marriage to Antipas, even although such a marriage was forbidden under the laws
of the Torah.
John frequently was to brood on the behaviour of Hard Antipas, and his whore of a wife, and started to use their
illegal marriage as an allegory for the immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah when preaching to the growing crowds, by
now often as many as a hundred at any one time; a defamation of character which was to come to the ears of Antipas…

⸎⸎⸎

Over the next few years, Pontius Pilatus was making a name for himself in Judaea, and the situation was deterio-
rating rapidly. People started to murmur against him, saying that for all his faults, at least Archelaus had been Jewish –
well, sort of!
Pilatus decided, against all advice, to try to countermand Jewish laws; an attempt that not only was doomed to
failure, but was guaranteed to intensify ill-feeling towards Rome, which had never really understood the Jews, so alien
was their faith to the pantheistic, all-inclusive Romans. So, he marched the army from the comfortable barracks in
Caesarea to take up winter-quarters in Jerusalem. With the army, of course, came their signa, their deified standards,
which bore the faces of either the now Divine Augustus or the Imperator Tiberius, depending upon who had originally
dedicated the century, as well as the heads of various beasts of prey.
This contravened the commandment in the Torah which forbids the making of images of man or beast,12 and also
forbade the worship of any gods other than Adonai, so when the people found the signa had been brought into their holy
city, they assembled in their tens of thousands outside the governor’s palace in Caesarea, pleading for six days for him
to remove the signa. On the sixth day he ordered his soldiers to gather round, then went to sit on the bema, the judgement
 Prepare the Way

seat, in the main town forum to receive their petition. At first, he flatly refused to accede to their pleas; his soldiers drew
their swords and he threatened that unless they desisted, they would be executed forthwith. To his astonishment, the
Jews, almost as one, knelt and bared their necks in submission and a spokesman declared that they would rather be dead
than see the laws of their Torah transgressed.
Pilatus was so impressed with this show of unity and obvious devotion to their strange god, that he relented and
gave the order for the signa to be removed from Jerusalem.13
He was nonetheless determined to make his mark on Jerusalem, and devised a clever plan so as to appear to the
world as a benefactor, whilst ensuring the Jews would appear to be barbarous ingrates. Jerusalem urgently needed an-
other water supply, even although there were a number of sources, such as the springs feeding the Pools of Siloam, Beth
Hesed and of Bathsheba, as well as the water brought into the storage cisterns through King Hezekiah’s Tunnel, built
over seven hundred earlier. But these were no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the burgeoning city, especially at
festival times.
Pilatus called in the architects and commissioned an aqueduct together with a survey to identify the nearest per-
ennial source of water. This was widely regarded as the mark of great leadership by the Jewish community, until it was
revealed how he was going to fund this venture.
He had long coveted the extraordinary wealth of the Temple, which he believed was vastly disproportionate to
the needs of the priests, but had not been able to work out how to lay his hands on some of it. It was the Kohen haGadōl,
Caiaphas, who gave him the idea to sequester the Treasury, the great bronze offering urn near the principal gate of the
Temple, or at least its contents.
The two men, both intent on topping up their private fortunes, claimed the contents of the Treasury immediately
after Passover and the week of Unleavened Bread, when the bronze urn was filled to overflowing. The people were
horrified and not in the least consoled that this money – less, of course, a ‘handling fee’ – would be paying for a won-
derful aqueduct to bring water from the Ein Gihon to the south-east of the city.
Indeed, so outraged were the people that many thousands gathered in Jerusalem and demonstrated against Pilatus,
not suspecting that the Kohen haGadōl was also complicit in this matter, shouting out abuse as such crowds tend to do.
Seeing this as an opportunity, Pilatus disguised his soldiers and had them mingle with the crowd; then, when the Jews
refused to disperse, he signalled to his soldiers who enthusiastically began to slaughter those around them, regardless of
the fact that they were all unarmed. The ‘sedition’ was speedily quelled.14

⸎⸎⸎

Imperator Tiberius looked most sympathetically upon the actions of Pilatus as he was experiencing a great deal
of trouble with foreign superstitions, including that of the Jews in Rome.
He had recently exposed a shameful abuse committed by the priests of the Egyptian goddess, Isis, which had
outraged Roman sensibilities at all levels of society and raised doubts about all foreign superstitiones.15
It so happened that the priests of Isis had tricked the Roman matron Paulina, the beautiful, virtuous, and exces-
sively pious wife of an Eques called Saturninus, into embarking upon a night of debauchery with a persistent suitor
disguised as the jackal-headed deity Anubis.
Decius Mundus was a wealthy young man who had been smitten by Paulina’s beauty, and had pestered her to
sleep with him – even offering her a substantial amount of money. Naturally Paulina, who was quite happily married,
had with considerable indignation, spurned his most unwelcome advances. Now, Mundus’ freedwoman, Ide, was aware
of Paulina’s piety towards the Egyptian superstitio and her veneration of the fertility goddess, Isis, her resurrected,
green-skinned consort Osiris, their son the falcon-headed sky-god, Horus, and the god of Amenti, the underworld god
of death, the jackal-headed Anubis. Wishing to please her master, she devised a cunning plan with him, that cost about
a quarter of his last proposed gift to Paulina. She bribed the priests of Isis to send Paulina an invitation to dine at the
temple with Anubis, and to spend the night with him. Unbeknownst to her, of course, Anubis would in reality be Decius
Mundus.
The pious and gullible Paulina was overwhelmed that the puissant deity, who guarded the halls of Amenti and
weighed the souls of the dead to see whether they were worthy to enjoy eternal life, had acknowledged her piety, and
told everyone where she was going that night. Even her husband, who had his doubts, assumed she would be spending
the night on her knees in clouds of incense, whispering prayers to some devout priest in a jackal mask.
As it so happened, Saturninus’ assumptions were not that far off – his wife did indeed spend part of the night on
her knees, but not in prayer! After dining, Paulina was astonished to discover that the god was interested not only in her
soul, but also in her physical body, but obediently acquiesced to his carefully couched request that she ‘open up’ to her
god physically as well as spiritually, and so Mundus enjoyed her in every possible position. When they fell into an
 Prepare the Way

exhausted sleep, one of the priests crept in and woke Mundus up, then at dawn wafted great clouds of incense smoke,
whilst striking a bronze gong. When Paulina awoke, she supposed the god had disappeared back to his infernal realm.
She returned home and over the following days bragged to her friends that Anubis had shown her great favour.
When Mundus heard what she was saying, he felt he absolutely had to bring her down, so contrived to bump into her
outside the baths one day, and disabused her of her belief by thanking her for saving him one hundred and fifty thousand
Attic drachmae.16 He had, so he reminded her, asked her to make love to him on many occasions, and had even offered
her two hundred thousand Attic drachmae, but she had always declined. But who, he asked with a lascivious grin, did
she really think the god Anubis was? The blood drained from her face as he whispered to her the intimate location of a
certain birthmark to cinch his argument and then went on his way, whistling a ditty about a courtesan who wanted to
please.
Paulina was devastated – utterly humiliated. She went home immediately, shaking with grief and feeling soiled.
She told Saturninus, who was infuriated, and immediately went to the Imperator. Tiberius was shocked; he had the
priests of Isis crucified, the temple demolished and the statue of Isis thrown into the River Tiber. He also had Ide, the
freedwoman, crucified as she had facilitated the entire sordid business, but Decius Mundus, being a Roman citizen, was
not punished, as his was deemed to be a crime of passion.17
No sooner had Tiberius dealt with this distressing incident, than four Jews were discovered to be involved in a
confidence trick involving Fulvia, a distinguished Roman matron, whereby they had persuaded her to send purple cloth
and gold to the Temple in Hierosolyma, but had instead, diverted her largesse for their own ends.
The Imperator was incensed that yet another superstitio was trying to fleece the good citizens of Rome, and
forthwith banished all Jews from the city. Four thousand undesirables were selected and sent as slaves to Sardinia, to
work in the mines there.
It took nearly ten years before there was a Jewish quarter in Rome again, but this time it was to be situated across
the River Tiber in Trans-Tiberina. Meanwhile various decrees were passed in Rome against all foreign superstitions…18

⸎⸎⸎

Whilst the Jews of Rome were being expelled, John was slowly making his way northwards along the course of
the River Jordan, travelling up through Peraea, sometimes staying just a few days, sometimes many months, but seldom
straying too far from the live-giving waters of the river, subsisting on the meagre produce of the wilderness and the
rather more generous largesse of local people and pilgrims, proud to support this wild and contentious holy man.
In the fifteenth year of Tiberius, the aged Augusta Livia, wife of the former Imperator Augustus, died. Her funeral
oration was declaimed, not by her son, Tiberius, but by her great-grandson Gaius – often called by his childhood nick-
name ‘Caligula’ Little Boots, although never to his face! Tiberius, it seems, had pressing business with his painted
whores and catamites on his island retreat of Capreae.19
Meanwhile John was quite unaware of rising tensions in Rome. He had been living in the wilderness for about
eight years and was ministering in Bethany in Peraea, when his cousin Jeshua visited him.
It was one of those days when the clouds were hanging low in the sky and there was the promise of rain in the
air. Crowds were milling about John, men of all ages vying for his attention, wanting him to immerse them, although by
this time he had ten or so disciples – so much for his desire to be a hermit! – who were also performing immersions. In
the hubbub, John suddenly spotted a familiar face.
‘Shalom, Jeshua bar Joseph!’ he cried out. ‘Shalom, cousin. But what brings you here? You, of all people, certainly
don’t need to be immersed by me!’
‘Shalom, John bar Zechariah! Nevertheless, let it be now, because it is proper for us to fulfil all righteousness.’
So, John immersed him. As Jeshua came out of the water, the clouds above parted and a beam of sunlight lit him
up, whilst coincidentally there was a rumble of thunder, the voice, as the Essenes would say, of the Almighty, in the
distance, and a startled dove fluttered above them. Then the crowds turned as one, to see Jeshua standing in the water,
haloed by sunshine, acknowledged by God.20
Jeshua stood for a few moments as the sunshine waned and the clouds scurried to obscure the light, then smiled
wryly at his cousin. ‘I must be tested now by the Accuser, for I, too, have a destiny which I must fulfil, even though it
may lead to death! Shalom, cousin.’ He turned and waded out of the river and made his way up a dry wadi and into the
nearby cliffs. John was never to see his cousin again…
A group of tax farmers came just then to be immersed, saying, ‘Rabbi, what must we do?’
‘Collect no more than what you’ve been directed,’ John replied.
Soldiers who were guarding those tax collectors were sitting down on the river bank, eating and drinking. One
offered him a mug of beer, which he declined. The soldier asked him, ‘And us? What must we do?’
‘Don’t extort money from anyone,’ he responded sternly, ‘Slander no-one and be satisfied with your wages.’21
 Prepare the Way

He glanced over towards the tiny figure of Jeshua laboriously making its way up the cliff path. Was the sudden
ray of sunshine, the thunder, and the dove just a coincidence, or was haShem saying something to which he must pay
heed? If only he had the charts the Essenes used to determine what haShem was indicating when he spoke through
thunder.
He would have to meditate on this incident.

⸎⸎⸎

John left Bethany soon afterwards, accompanied by his growing band of disciples, and continued on his journey
to the north. They crossed the River Yabboq on the way to the quaint hamlet of Succoth, where they crossed the River
Jordan via three islets, to arrive at Ein Salim, a spring in the southern reaches of Galilee.
Three months later, soldiers belonging to Herod Antipas arrested John, ostensibly on the grounds that the crowds
he was attracting were causing a nuisance, but in reality, due to his continued verbal attacks concerning the adulterous
and illegal marriage of Antipas and the whore Herodias. John was put in chains and marched off to the fortress of
Machaerus in southern Peraea, at the furthest reaches of Antipas’ realm (and, ironically, not all that far from the Com-
munity at Sekhakhah).22
John was to languish there for nearly a year, in a dungeon hewn from the rock upon which the fortress was built.
At least the cell was dry and reasonably free from pests, although his sole light was a small oil lamp supplied by his
disciples, several of whom had travelled with him to bring him food and news while he was incarcerated.
Others of his disciples remained at Ein Salim, ministering to the diminishing crowds, whilst the rest left to follow
other rabbis.
By this time, Jeshua bar Joseph was making a name for himself amongst those people who were always seeking
someone new to guide them, in the hope that sooner or later the Messiah would arise and lead them in victory against
the by now universally reviled Romans. When John heard about his cousin’s activities, he wondered, not for the first
time, whether perhaps he did fulfil that role after all, and sent a few of his disciples to find out.
Initially he was concerned as to why the disciples of Jeshua did not fast – all devout men, like his own disciples
and the Pharisees fasted.
‘Surely the sons of the nuptial chamber can’t mourn whilst the bridegroom is with them? But the days’ll come
when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they’ll fast!’ came back the enigmatic reply.23 Was this a
reference to John’s joy at being married, and his mourning after Deborah’s death?
So, he decided to be more direct and sent a couple of disciples back, asking whether Jeshua was in fact the One
Who was Coming. The reply as returned by his disciples was equally enigmatic, but rather more satisfying. ‘Those who
are blind receive sight and the crippled walk; lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised and a good
message is preached to the Poor. Blessed are those who aren’t offended by me,’24
As John heard these words, his heart missed a beat. Jeshua was not only echoing the words Prophet Isaiah pro-
claimed in his annunciation of the Day of Adonai, but ‘As haShem is my witness’, John uttered to his most loyal disciples
standing at the door of his cell, ‘Jeshua is recalling an Essenes text – one which I knew as The Messiah of the Heavens
and the Land. You wouldn’t know this work, but it contains these words: “The heavens and the Land will obey God’s
Messiah…then he will heal the sick and will resurrect the dead, and preach a good message to the Poor…”25 Go, all of
you, follow him and spread the word to all of those who used to follow me, for he is the Lamb of God who takes away
the sins of the Land!’26
His remaining disciples reluctantly left their master to his fate and travelled north, telling everyone they met on
the way what John had said. When they reached Ein Salim, they found only three disciples faithful to their master and
they told them John’s commands.
Eighteen year-old merchant’s son Philippus of Bethsaïda Julius, a Hellenised Jew, was immediately enthused and
insisted they start off straight away for Capernaum, where Jeshua was currently living, although Nathanael bar Talmay,
also eighteen, a fig grower from Cana, was less certain, even although he had already met Jeshua when sent previously
by John.
‘Can the Prophet come out of Galilee?’27 he mused, as they trudged along the dusty track.
‘Of course, he can!’ Andreas, the third disciple exclaimed, somewhat miffed that his hometown of Capernaum
was being spoken of in such a disparaging manner and missing the point Nathanael was making. ‘I mean, all said and
done, the very town we’re headed for is named after the prophet Naḥum who was born there, isn’t it?!’28
‘I didn’t say a prophet, Andreas bar John,’ Nathanael responded a little testily, turning around to face his agitated
companion. ‘I said, “the Prophet”, of whom Moses himself spoke! I seem to recall that the scriptures assert he came
from the town of David, in other words, Bethlehem; and the town of David is not in Galilee!’29
‘Sorry,’ Andreas muttered, blushing, ‘Didn’t hear you properly.’
 Prepare the Way

Sixteen-year-old Andreas hailed from Capernaum, where his father John bar Matthan, his burly older brother
Simeon and he himself, had a thriving fishing business in association with a town elder, a certain Zebedee bar Jacob and
his two sons. The business supplied fresh, smoked, dried, and salted fish from the Sea of Kinnereth to customers across
Galilee and parts of Judaea, including Jerusalem, and the partners were comfortably prosperous. Andreas had rebelled
against his family’s riches and gone off to follow haMetabbel and rather they hoped they understood and would welcome
him back.
And so it happened, that John’s last disciples left him, albeit at his request, to await his fate…

⸎⸎⸎

A few weeks after John’s thirty-eighth birthday, Herod Antipas was celebrating his own birthday. As was the
custom among the Romans, who loved any excuse to celebrate, birthdays were made much of in the Roman world, so
Antipas had invited the dignitaries of Tiberias, Sepphoris and Caesarea to his party. His half-brother Philippus, Tetrarch
of Ituraea was also present. He was in his late fifties and unmarried. A mild-mannered man, he was admired by all who
knew him and, unusually, was held in high esteem by his subjects.
At one point in the revelries, Herodias encouraged her daughter, Salome, who had recently turned twelve, to
perform a salacious dance for the company. The girl so enchanted her stepfather that he leapt up, his eyes shining as he
declared, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish and I’ll give it to you!’ Herodias was well-aware that her husband was infat-
uated with and bewitched by her daughter, and had planned her daughter’s dance meticulously.
‘Promise?’ the little minx simpered, fluttering her kohl-laden eyelashes coyly at the Tetrarch.
‘Whatever you ask of me, I’ll give up… up to half my kingdom!’
Of course, Antipas could not have given the girl even a part of his ‘kingdom’, for it was not his to apportion, but
he did not expect her to make such a preposterous request.
She did not. She went to her mother who at last could get her own back. Herodias had wanted the Immerser
executed for a long time, but Antipas was nervous about spilling the blood of the holy man and had on several occasions
when inspecting Machaerus, spent time talking to him, although seldom agreeing with the prophet’s theological views.
But now Herodias could force her husband’s hand and get rid of the man who insisted upon calling her a whore.
Salome marched over to where Antipas was reclining with Philippus. Little did she realise that her uncle had
expressed an interest in marrying her and that within two months she would be sharing her uncle’s marriage bed. She
planted herself squarely before their couches, pushed out her young bosom beguilingly to look more grown-up, and
spoke up loudly and clearly.
‘I want you to give me the head of John the Immerser on a gold platter!’
The musicians fell silent, and the guests looked on askance, wondering how Antipas would respond to this bar-
barous demand.
Antipas froze. Dismayed, he could not refuse her in front of his guests, and could not dishonour himself because
of his foolish, fatuous oaths earlier, so he gestured to the First Centurion of the local legion, who was seated on a nearby
couch, and addressed him for all to hear.
‘Go, send a squad to Machaerus, and execute the Immerser by beheading. Ensure the cut is not bungled, but cut
cleanly, and bring the head back with you!’30

⸎⸎⸎

John was praying quietly on his knees in his dungeon cell when his door was unbolted. He had been in near
darkness for several months, as his keepers had not provided any lamp oil, so he squinted in the bright light as a soldier
gruffly told him to make his peace with the gods as he would soon be meeting them.
Still dazed with the light of several bitumen torches, he looked at the men, seeing death in their eyes. He nodded.
‘Shema῾ Yisra’el! ᾽Adonay ᾽Elohaynū, ᾽Adonay ’eḥad. We-’ahaveta ’et ᾽Adonay ᾽Elohayka bekal levaveka, ūbekal
naf sh ka, ūbekal me᾽odeka!’
e e

As John uttered the last word of the Shema, the soldier hefted his sturdy gladius and with a sudden grunt brought
it down as hard as he could. John died instantly, the gush of blood soaking the straw that had been his bed for so long.
Eight days after Antipas had issued the warrant for execution, a dusty squadron of cavalry rode up to the place.
Shortly after, his chief steward, Chuza, came to his chambers, bearing a gold dish with a cover. Grimacing with distaste,
Antipas lifted the cover.
‘Sorry, holy man. But you shouldn’t have called the wife of your ruler a whore! She could’ve ignored almost
anything else, but that really got under her skin. Shalom.’
 Prepare the Way

Antipas waved the dish away and told his steward to take it through to Salome’s quarters, put the dish by her bed
and then to withdraw immediately.
A few minutes later he was gratified by hearing a shrill scream as Salome looked at what she had requested.
Shortly afterwards, however, he heard the expected squeal of laughter, accompanied by several unexpected obscenities
from Herodias, and a few meaty thuds. Then Herodias came into his room and kissed him gratefully.
‘Um, what do you want me to do with this, Kuria?’ the steward asked plaintively behind them, evidently having
retrieved the head and put it back in the dish, as he followed her to Antipas’ chambers.
‘Well, where do you usually throw dung?’ she snarled.
He backed off, his face white. He knew whose head this was. ‘The… the midden, Kuria.’
Herodias looked at her husband’s immobile features. ‘Well, throw it on the midden then – such a man deserves
no less!’
Antipas shook his head slightly at this further indignity. ‘You heard the Kuria, Chuza, he said.
‘Yes, Kurios.’ The man left, taking the dish, around which a number of expectant flies were buzzing – soon they
could feast to their hearts’ content.

⸎⸎⸎

In such a way did John haMetabbel die. Several of his former disciples sorrowfully returned and collected his
headless corpse and interred it decently in the cemetery near the foot of Machaerus. They then went up to Galilee, to
join up with his cousin Jeshua bar Joseph, of whom John had once prophetically declared, ‘I must decrease, so that he
can increase.’31
John had prepared the way for the Messiah, and Jeshua bar Joseph was to find himself propelled into that role by
the expectations of his followers…
 Prepare the Way

Next:
The Way of God (Matthew : ) The story of Jeshua bar Joseph ‘the Messiah’,
also known as Jeshua the Anointed (Christ).
 Prepare the Way

Bibliography

Bibles
‫ תורה נביאים וכובי‬Berlin,
th
KAINH ΔIAΘHKH, H British & Foreign Bible Society, London, Nestle Ed.,
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia United Bible Societies - Logos Bible Software, Hodder & Stoughton
Biblia Sacra, Junxta Vulgatam Clementinam, Typis Societas S. Joannis Evang. Paris,
Holy Bible, New International Version, The Anglicised ed., Hodder & Stoughton, London, [NIV]
Holy Bible, The, Authorised Version, SPCK, Oxford, [KJV]
New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament, Tyndale, , incorporating:
Greek New Testament, United Bible Societies rd Ed., Nestle-Aland th Ed., [NA ]
New Revised Standard Version, National Council of the Churches of Christ
& Interlinear translation, tr. R.K. Brown & P. W. Comfort. [NRSV]
Old Testament in Greek, The, According to the Septuagint, Vol I-IV nd Ed. H.B. Swete, Cambridge University Press,
[LXX]
Septuagint with Apocrypha, The, tr. L. Brenton (with Greek text & English tr.), Hendrickson Publishers, Massachusetts,
( ) [LXX]

Selected Christian & Gnostic Texts

Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to AD, Vol. II. Justin Martyr and
Athenagoras, ed. A. Roberts & J. Donaldson, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, [Justin Martyr/Athenagoras]
Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to AD, Vol. III. Tatian, Theophilus,
and the Clementine Recognitions, ed. A. Roberts & J. Donaldson, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, [Tatian/Ad
Autolyco/ Recognitions]
Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to AD, Vol. IV. Clement of Alexan-
dria, vol. I. ed. A. Roberts & J. Donaldson, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, [Clement of Alexandria]
Apocryphal New Testament, The, M. R. James, Oxford University Press, Oxford, (revised ) [ANT]
Apostolic Fathers, The, full text & tr. J. B. Lightfoot, Macmillan and Co. Ltd, London, nd ed.
Gospel of Thomas, The New Translation with Introduction & Notes, tr. Marvin Meyer, HarperSan-Francisco, .
Select Library of NICENE AND POST-NICENE FATHERS of THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. A Second Series. Vol. I
Eusebius: Church History, Life of Constantine the Great, and Oration in Praise of Constantine, Ed. Philip Schaff &
Henry Wace. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, . Reprint Wm. Eerdmans, . [The translator’s notes are identified as
Schaff.] [H.E. including Oration of Constantine/Schaff]

Judaica (Ancient): Texts & History

Antiquities of the Jews, The ‘The Works of Flavius Josephus’, tr. William Whiston, Thomas Nelson, London, .
(Includes Life of Flavius Josephus, Against Apion and War of the Jews [see below]). [AJ]
Book of Jubilees, The, tr. G.H. Schodde from the Ethiopic, Artisan Sales, California, USA, [Jub.]
Dead Sea Scrolls in English, The, Geza Vermes, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, [DSSE]
Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered, The Robert Eisenman & Michael Wise, Penguin, London, [DSSU]
Jews from Alexander to Herod, The, D. S. Russell, New Clarendon Bible, Oxford U.P.,
Masada, Herod’s Fortress and the Zealots’ Last Stand, Yigael Yadin, tr. M. Pearlman, Sphere Books, London,
Pharisees, The, R. Travers Herford, George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London,
Scriptures of the Dead Sea Sect, The, T.H. Gaster, Secker & Warburg, London, [SDDS]
Wars of the Jews, The (or The Jewish War), ‘The Works of Flavius Josephus’, tr. William Whiston, Thomas Nelson,
London, . [BJ]

Judaica (Post-Fall of Jerusalem) to Modern

Everyman’s Talmud, Revd Dr A. Cohen (A Comprehensive Summary…of the Talmud and the Rabbis…), Dent, London,
.
 Prepare the Way

Pentateuch and Haftorahs, The, Hebrew text, English translation and commentary, ed. the Chief Rabbi (Dr J.H. Hertz),
Soncino Press, London, [Hertz]
Revised Hagada, The: Home Service for The First Two nights of Passover, tr., ed. & annotated Revd A.A. Green, Green-
berg & Co. London,
Students’ Edition of the Talmud: Nezikin: Baba Ķamma, tr. Rabbi Dr E.W. Kirzner & ed. Rabbi Dr I. Epstein: Soncino
Press, London,
Talmud, The, (Selections from the Talmud), tr. H. Polano, Frederick Warne & Co.,

Islamic Works
English Language Interpretation of The Holy Koran Text, An, Translation and Commentary Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Version
. . Adapted by William B. Brown, Rt.# Box New Haven, Missouri USA - , \ - ,© ,
(e-text).

Latin & Greek Works

Apuleius, Lucius, tr. R. Graves ( ) Golden Ass, The, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth
Lucan, tr. Robert Graves ( ) Pharsalia, Cassell, London
Plutarch, tr. John Dryden (undated) Parallel Lives, Otho (Computer e-text)
Poems of Propertius, The, Sextus Propertius, tr. Ronald Musker, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, London,
Reign of Nero, The, Cornelius Tacitus, tr. G. G. Ramsay, The Folio Society, London, (from the Annals of Tacitus).
Satires of Juvenal, The, Juvenal, tr. H. Creekmore, New American Library, New York,
Satyricon, The, of T. Petronius Arbiter, Burnaby’s Translation ; Simpkin Marshall Ltd, London (undated)
Satyricon, The, Petronius, tr. W. Arrowsmith, New American Library, New York, [A colloquial American
translation]
Tacitus, Cornelius, tr. H. Mattingly ( ) On Britain and Germany, A New Translation of the ‘Agricola’ and the
‘Germania’, Penguin, Harmondsworth, Middx.
Tacitus, Cornelius, tr. Kenneth Wellesley ( ) Histories, The, Guild Publishing, London [Hist.]
Tacitus, Cornelius, tr. Michael Grant ( ) Annals of Imperial Rome, The, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth [Ann.]
Timaeus, Plato, tr. J. Warrington, J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., London,
Twelve Caesars, The by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, tr. R. Graves, Penguin Books London, .
Virgil (Maro, P. Vergilius) ( , ) Bucolica et Georgica, with Introduction and Notes by T. E. Page, Macmillan,
Edinburgh
Virgil (Maro, P. Vergilius) tr. Patric Dickinson ( ) Aeneid, The, New England Library, New York
& See also https://www.poetryintranslation.com/index.php an excellent website: ‘A. S. Kline’s Open Access Poetry
Archive’ which has provided some first class translations [Kline]

Reference & Other Sources

DK Eyewitness Jerusalem, Israel, Petra & Sinai, DK Eyewitness Travel, London UK, [JIPS]
Everyman’s Classical Atlas, J. O. Thomson, J.M Dent, London,
Greek-English Lexicon, A, Liddell & Scott, (Seventh ed.) Oxford,
New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon, The, Hendrickson, [BDB]
New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, The, J.H.Thayer, Hendrickson,
NIV Exhaustive Concordance, Zondervan,
Smith’s Bible Dictionary, by Wm Smith, LL. D., revised & ed. by F.N. & M.A. Peloubet, Regency Reference Library,
Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A. © Porter & Coates, © Zondervan,
Student’s Hebrew Lexicon, A Compendious and Complete Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, ed. B.
Davies, Asher & Co. London,
 Prepare the Way

Endnotes

1
‘Today there is no need to cook or eat meat on Passover. The eating of the Paschal lamb is no longer required now that the Temple
is not standing.’ https://www.jewishveg.org/faq .html
2
‘From the men as they stand, surely any sensible person would be inclined to consider them worthy of all confidence; they were
admittedly poor men without eloquence, they fell in love with holy and philosophic instruction, they embraced and persevered in
a strenuous and a laborious life, with fasting and abstinence from wine and meat [χρεών actually means necessities], and much
bodily restriction besides, with prayers and intercessions to God,’ Demonstratio Evangelica Book III, Chapter , (The Proof
of the Gospel, Being the Demonstratio Evangelica of Eusebius of Caesarea, Vol. I, tr. Rev. W. J. Ferrar, SPCK, London )

Chapter
1
The Keter Yerushalayim, printed in Jerusalem in , is a modern version of the Tanakh, based on the Aleppo Codex and the
work of Breuer.
2
BCE.
3
Psalm :.
4
Maccabees : - .
5
Some Christian traditions claim John the Baptist was born in what is now Ein Korem (lit. Fountain of the Vineyard [Not TNK]),
where visitors will find the ‘Franciscan Church of St John the Baptist (built over the ruins of earlier Byzantine and Crusader
structures)’ and ‘the Grotto of the Nativity of St John’ [JIPS, ], a settlement about km/ miles west of Jerusalem, but I prefer
Bethlehem - about km/ miles south of Jerusalem, to explain why Mary & Joseph both needed to go there when a census would
only have required the presence of Joseph; Mary could have stayed at home rather than risk journeying so near to giving birth.
6
Samuel : - .
7
Genesis : - : .
8
It should be borne in mind that most people read aloud in those days – very few people, if any, would have read silently to
themselves as is now the norm.
9
The virgin birth of Christ is an article of faith held by Christians (Matthew : - , Luke : - ) and Muslims (Qur’an, Sûra : ,
: - , : , : ). Jews and atheists alike dispute this, as does science. Even were this a factual miracle, the scenario I have
chosen indicates how such a supernatural phenomenon would have been viewed by family, friends, and neighbours alike.
10
Psalm : .
11
Psalm : - .
12
Leviticus : - .
13
Popularly called the Scapegoat (KJV, NIV etc.), preferably Dismissal. Not a proper name at all, but it has passed into legend and
myth as a fallen angel or a wilderness demon.
14
Modern Judaism has since arranged the calendar so that the Day of Atonements can be neither preceded nor followed by a sabbath.
15
Isaiah : . Strictly speaking, this haftorah would have been read six weeks earlier.
16
q.v. Numbers : - .
17
Leviticus : Myrtle, citron, willow, and palm-fronds.
18
Leviticus : A tabernacle, or bower made of leafy branches. cf. also Nehemiah : .

Chapter
1
Literally, The Immerser, more popularly as John the Baptist.
2
In CE, the Scythian monk, Dionysius Exiguus ‘Dennis the Little!’, was given the task of calculating the date of the birth of
Jesus, but miscalculated by about seven years, placing it in a.u.c. Since it is agreed that Jesus was born in the reign of Herod
the Great, who died in the Spring of BCE, the calculated date is obviously incorrect, placing Jesus’ birth ca. - BCE.
3
Leviticus : - .
4
Leviticus : - , : - .
5
The Priestly Blessing Numbers : - .
6
Adapted from an inscription in the Archaeological Museum, Istanbul; also, Deismann Light from the Ancient East, p. . cf.
AJ XII.iii. , XV.xi. .
7
See AJ XV.xi for a full description of the temple that Herod the Great had built.
8
Psalms : (a ‘Song of Ascents’, probably also sung by pilgrims on the way to Jerusalem).
9
Maccabees : , and possibly the ‘Wicked Priest’ of QpHab Commentary on Habakkuk VIII. - (DSSE, ).
10
ca BCE.
 Prepare the Way

11
Or Boëthusians. The Gk βοηθός and the Hb Ezer both mean help or helper.
12
Psalms : - Very loose translation.
13
Numbers : - .
14
As per the Hebrew. The familiar Red Sea, was an error made by the translators of the Greek Septuagint version, and perpetuated
through Josephus (AJ II.xv. ), the Latin Vulgate and the NT.
15
Exodus : .
16
This storyline is developed in the next volume.
17
i.a. the Exodus (q.v. Deuteronomy : , ).
18
i.e. the Book of Judges, in this case Judges : - . The corresponding Torah reading is Numbers : - : and is actually read
on the sabbath before Hanukkah, so I have taken liberties in placing it here – purely, of course, for narrative flow! Still, if I had
remained silent, how many would have realised this, or even cared?!
19
A hiyn was probably about pints/ litres.

Chapter
1
Sirach : - .
2
Proverbs : f.
3
Also called the Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, Sirach, Sira or Ecclesiasticus.
4
i.e. Leviticus.
5
i.e. Job, Ezra-Nehemiah, Daniel, and Chronicles ( & ), or the last four books of the Tanakh.
6
Leviticus : - .
7
This event is recorded by Josephus (AJ XVII.vi. ). Whiston’s translation describes this rather more circumspectly: ‘[He]
seemed, in a dream, to have conversation with his wife…’ A nice euphemism!
8
Ge : -
9
Gymnasts, all male, competed in the nude, indeed the word gymnos means ‘naked’. This activity was considered immoral, so
forbidden to all orthodox Jews, but at this time, there were many Hellenised Jews who disobeyed the strictures of the Torah.
10
cf. Maccabees : & AJ XII.v. , also AJ XVI.v. ‘... games to be performed naked.’
11
Macrobius, Saturnalia, Book II.iv. . ‘Melius est Herodis porcum esse quam filium.’ Augustus, however, was joking in Greek,
since the words for ‘pig’ (ὗα) and ‘son’ (υἷα), are close enough for the pun to work.
12
AJ XVII.vi. .
13
AJ XVII.vi. - .
14
This is not a true comment, but I suspect Herod probably did think that!
15
th March BCE. cf. AJ XVII.vi. .

Chapter
1
In the modern Jewish calendar, the full moon falls on the th Tishri, so had the Temple sacrifices continued to today, the New
Moon sacrifices would not have taken place during Tabernacles.
2
The Hebrew reads ‫הוֹשׁיﬠָה נָּא‬ִ ‫᾿ אָ נָּא יְהוָה‬Anna᾿ YHWH hoshiyah na᾿, ‘Please Yahweh [read Adonay] deliver us’ and should be inter-
preted as pleading or begging. The LXX has ὦ κύριε, σῶσον δή, ὦ κύριε, εὐόδωσον δή. ‘O Lord, save now: O Lord, send now
prosperity’. The gospels transliterate the Hebrew hoshiyah na᾿ as hosanna, but the writers do not seem to have understood the
underlying Hebrew, so Hosanna! becomes a meaningless expression of praise in Christian liturgy. But why is this expression, and
the line, ‘Blessed is he... of Adonay’, sung when Jesus comes to Jerusalem for Passover? It is a Tabernacles feast [Hertz ,
quoting H.M. Adler]; nobody arrived singing and dancing for Passover, which was a solemn feast, and anyway palm fronds and
branches were waved at Tabernacles not Passover.
3
Psalms : , , - (English Bible numbering).
4
Deuteronomy : f (translit. from Hebrew). The Shema῾ in full includes this extract and Deuteronomy : & Numbers : - ).
5
The exceptions, written in Aramaic, are Genesis : (one word), Jeremiah : , Daniel : - : and Ezra : - : & : - .
6
Leviticus : (extract).
7
i.e. Leviticus.
8
i.e. Genesis.
9
Hertz, . Actually anachronistic. Modern Jews say ‫ חזק חזק ונתזק‬Ḥazaq, ḥazaq wenethaḥazaq echoing Jos. : , , & , and
Sa : “Be strong,” they say, “to carry out the teaching contained in the book”.
10
Numbers : - (the Priestly Blessing).
11
P. Quinctilius Varus was killed in a humiliating defeat in Germania, some thirteen years later in CE.
12
i.e. Ruler of a nation.
13
i.e. Ruler of a quarter-territory.
14
This custom is when ‘a surviving brother-in-law (L. levir) marries the childless widow [Deuteronomy : , cf. Ruth : f]. The
eldest son of such a marriage inherited the name and property of the deceased.’ Hertz, .
15
i.e. the ‘Community of the Sons of Light’ at what is now called Khirbet Qûmr᾽an.
 Prepare the Way

Chapter
1
This name is found at Jos. : .
2
ca BCE.
3
Better known by the Greek name Aretas, a descendent of whom tried to imprison Paul of Tarsus.
4
BCE.
5
And, to later generations, the Dead Sea.
6
The origins of the name Essene, is shrouded in mystery. The Latin Esseni, Gk Ἐσσηνοί or Ἐσσαῖοι offer few clues. Some authorities
believe the name comes from a corruption of Ἀσιδαῖοι [ Ma : , Ma : ], Ḥassidiym, the Pious, whilst others suggest ‘The
Healers’ (as in the Therapeutae of Philo in his essay Every Good Man Should be Free - ). Personally, I like a connection with
‫᾽ אֶ ְש ֶﬠן‬Eshe῾an [Jos. : ], a town near Sekhakhah and the City of Salt, although I probably should write the transliterated name
as ᾽Eshe῾iyn [Aram.]. Wikipedia (which to be fair to me, was not available when I first wrote this story!) has a useful article on
ִ ᾽Issiy῾ym.
the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essenes, and notes that modern Hb. has ‫אסִּ יִים‬,
7
‘Followers of the Way’, the early Jewish Christians.
8
Entire section summarised from the Dead Sea Scrolls and Josephus: BJ II.viii. - , AJ XIII.v. , xi. f, XV.x. f & XVIII.i. - .
9
Genesis : - : .
10
‘House of Writing’. Probable name of the Qûmr᾽an building now called the Scriptorium.
11
Sister and brother.
12
BJ II.vii. , cf. also Sa : (some modern versions have ‘relieve himself’, or similar, but the Hb. and KJV use the idiom ‘cover
his feet’. The action of digging a hole for this purpose is commanded in Dt. : - . The way this method is described seems to
argue against the wearing of loincloths, although perhaps it is to be understood that the loincloth was removed privately before
performing this act. Needless to say, affordable paper had not been invented in the Middle East/Roman Empire at the time (and
was certainly not affordable in China!), so running water was usually involved in this process. Romans employed sponges on long
sticks, which were washed and normally (?) only used by the owner.
13
A deliberate quote from Gal. : ; Jas : expands this sentiment which is a common idea running through the non-Biblical
writings of the Essenes.

Chapter
1
i.e. Leviticus; several copies have been found written in Palaeo-Hebrew script.
2
About ft, in./ m long. The Temple Scroll, QT, is the longest scroll found, at over ft.
3
Commonly known by its Latin name, the Septuagint. Only portions from the Torah and the apocryphal Letter of Jeremiah have so
far been discovered and positively identified at Qumran – the other Greek fragments are really too small to be identified, or are
neither biblical nor pseudepigraphical.
4
i.e. a.m.
5
As indeed do many modern-day Christians, when they seek a message they believe was hidden for their present generation.
6
i.e. Kings ( Ki : - ). Also told in AJ VIII.viii. f.
7
BJII.vii. (& Genesis ).
8
i.e. Modern Vienne in the Rhône Valley, not the capital of Austria.
9
See Glossary on mitzvah – this entire ceremony is anachronous and for narrative purposes only.
10
Psalm (a mixture of arrangements – not all mine, I’m afraid, but adapted in part from childhood memory, as this was my high
school’s anthem!)
11
Genesis.
12
The antiquity of the story of Abraham is most evident here. He builds an altar out of loose stones – more like a cairn; he brings
fire in a pot, perhaps as a tinderbox of smouldering mosses and his knife is almost certainly a flint blade – which is, of course,
extremely sharp, especially when freshly knapped, and sharper than a copper or even bronze knife would be. Iron was not in wide
use at the time, and meteoric iron was extremely rare and expensive. Perhaps around - BCE. The reading is that from Ge
: - : , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vayeira_(parsha), although this system would not have been in use at the time, so is a
deliberate anachronism.
13
QT Temple Scroll XXXIX. (DSSE, ).
14
Actually, this haftorah reading now accompanies Exodus : - : . The correct modern reading for the ‘Binding of Isaac’ is
actually Kings : - . Changed for narrative purposes.
15
Isaiah : - .
16
Lit. worthlessness (or what is not God) and deeds of hostility (both personified).
17
Q ‘Beatitudes’ col. , ll. - (DSSU, - ). Same style as those in Matthew .
18
Ḥokhmah Wisdom is a personified female attribute of God (cf. Proverbs : - , et al.).
19
Q col. , ll. - (DSSU fn. as per alterations).
20
Numbers : - , as adapted in Q (DSSE, ).
21
Adapted from Q ‘Hymns of the Poor’, col. , ll - (DSSU, ).
 Prepare the Way

Chapter
1
Q (a Septuagint copy of Lv. : ) has Iao instead of the normal κύριος (i.e. Kurios, “Lord”, DSSE, ); Iaöē or Ieoueao (!)
are found in the gnostic work The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit (TGS, ) et al. These are attempts to either vocalise ‫יהןה‬
i.e. YHWH, or reproduce it in Latin (or Greek).
2
According to AJ XV.ix. .
3
‘First Citizen [or Prince] among equals.’ Later simply Imperator (Commander, Emperor).
4
Kohen haGadōl Simeon bar Ezer, as called in earlier chapters.
5
In the style of lists from Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. All names Latinised, not in Glossary.
6
Exodus : - , cf. Matthew : - .
7
Deuteronomy : - , cf. Malachi : , Matthew : , Luke : .
8
The tithe was a mandatory tax for the upkeep of the Temple; when the Temple was destroyed in CE, the tithe was abolished, only
to be resurrected in recent years by evangelical Christianity, which seems to ignore Jesus’ words simply to ‘give freely’ (Matthew
: ); also Romans : , Corinthians : and Luke : .
9
Leviticus : - .
10
Leviticus : - .
11
Nehemiah : - . See also Nehemiah : , Q - , especially Q et al.; BJ II.xvii. .
12 st
April AD.
13
Not all of these towns are listed in the Maps. If you really want to know where they are, invest in a decent historical atlas! But all
of these roads had crosses at close intervals, so the slaughter must have been horrendous.
14
Either esparto grass or a species of broom with strong fibres suitable for rope-making.
15
Hence the persistence of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who insist that Jesus was hung on a torture stake and not crucified. What they
misunderstand is that the cross shape comes from the shape made by the outstretched arms on the cross-piece, hung from the
palisade stake. Depending upon how high the body was hoisted, would determine the shape of the cross; whether T (as in the
Greek letter ‘tau’), or †, as evidenced by these quotes from Justin Martyr’s works (Chapter numbers in brackets):
Dialogue with Trypho
‘For the [Passover] lamb, which is roasted, is roasted and dressed up in the form of the cross. For one spit is transfixed right
through from the lower parts up to the head, and one across the back, to which are attached the legs of the lamb.’ (XL)
‘“When the people,” replied I, “waged war with Amalek, and the son of Nave (Nun) by name Jesus (Joshua), led the fight, Moses
himself prayed to God, stretching out both hands, and Hur with Aaron supported them during the whole day, so that they might
not hang down when he got wearied. For if he gave up any part of this sign, which was an imitation of the cross, the people were
beaten, as is recorded in the writings of Moses; but if he remained in this form, Amalek was proportionally defeated, and he who
prevailed by the cross. For it was not because Moses so prayed that the people were stronger, but because, while one who bore the
name of Jesus (Joshua) was in the forefront of the battle, he himself made the sign of the cross. For who of you knows not that the
prayer of one who accompanies it with lamentation and tears, with the body prostrate, or with bended knees, propitiates God most
of all? But in such a manner neither he nor any other one, while sitting on a stone, prayed. Nor even the stone symbolized Christ,
as I have shown.”’ (XC)
‘And that it was declared by symbol, even in the time of Moses, that there would be two advents of this Christ, as I have mentioned
previously, [is manifest] from the symbol of the goats presented for sacrifice during the fast. And again, by what Moses and Joshua
did, the same thing was symbolically announced and told beforehand. For the one of them, stretching out his hands, remained
till evening on the hill, his hands being supported; and this reveals a type of no other thing than of the cross: and the other,
whose name was altered to Jesus (Joshua), led the fight, and Israel conquered.’ (CXI)
First Apology:
‘And the human form differs from that of the irrational animals in nothing else than in its being erect and having the hands
extended, and having on the face extending from the forehead what is called the nose, through which there is respiration for the
living creature; and this shows no other form than that of the cross.’ (LV)
16
There is good reason to believe this is also how Jesus was crucified, which is why the legs of his companions were broken, so that
they would suffocate very quickly, allowing their bodies to be removed before the Passover Feast, which would, in turn, outrage
the large numbers of Jews in the city. The idea that his feet were nailed, however, does not appear in Matthew or Mark, and
although his hands and feet are mentioned in Luke : - , these verses, along with the rest of that chapter may not be Lucan in
origin. It is the very late John, written at the end of the first century, and almost certainly a joint effort with his own disciples,
which goes into detail about the nail wounds in Jesus’ hands and feet, along with the wound in his side, about which also, the other
gospels are silent. But nails were comparatively expensive; archaeology has uncovered only one victim thus far, and the nail
through the side of his ankle is so bent, that the executioner probably could not remove it; this is in itself, not proof that Jesus was
likewise so nailed. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion for further discussions on the subject.
17
Acts : - .
18 th
August CE. “ab urbe condita” means “from the founding of the city [i.e. Rome].”
19
q.v. Tacitus Annals II. .
20
The Copper Scroll ( Q ) lists the amounts and cryptically describes locations – many have searched for this treasure, but none
have been successful. Either it never truly existed, or else, as some rabbinical writers aver, it was used to restore the Temple after
its initial destruction in CE.
 Prepare the Way

21
This entire section has been freely adapted from QSI. -II. , the Community Rule (DSSE, f), in parts copied verbatim.
22
Deuteronomy, probably chapters and .
23
i.e. Persia, the Parthians.
24
So says BJI.xiii.
25
That the Jews called Persians and Babylonians barbarians probably derives from the Babylonian destruction of the Temple;
certainly, Josephus refers to them as Upper Barbarians in his Preface to the Jewish War.
26
i.e. BCE (Athenian calendar).
27
Antigonē is the feminine form of Antigonus.
28
BCE.
29
Selected, condensed, and adapted primarily from Whiston’s translation of Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews XIV.ix. – XV.v. .

Chapter
1
‘alef and dalet’ (‫ א‬and ‫ )ד‬are the Hebrew names for the first two letters of Adonai (The Damascus Document CD.XV, DSSE, ).
HaShem ‘The Name’, a common (even in modern times) circumlocution; ᾽El and ᾽Elōhiym both mean ‘God’; ῾Elyōn – ‘Most
High’ and ᾽El Shadday – God the Destroyer, usually translated as ‘God Almighty’.
2
Q The Worship of the Heavenly Lights III. f DSSE, f.
3
Hymn (formerly ) DSSE, .
4
Temple Scroll QT, XLVIII DSSE, . Literally ‘the sons of YHWH, your ᾽Elōhiym’.
5
Isaiah : .
6
Isaiah : .
7
Jeremiah : b.
8
The ‘chariot’ chapters, Ezekiel and .
9
᾽Ariy means lion.
10
Q (DSSE, f). Unfortunately, this is fragmentary, so I have taken considerable liberties with the accepted interpretation.
Fortunately, the men concerned cannot sue me!
11
The Essenes believed that the signs of the zodiac governed groups of two or three days at a time, rather than months; they used
the same signs that are still in use today. This method meant that each month was governed sequentially by all twelve signs.
12
Extrapolated from QT (The Temple Scroll) LXV DSSE, .
13
Roughly adapted from Q Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice DSSE, . This is actually sung on the twelfth sabbath of the year,
the document is incomplete, the appropriate song is missing. The sky, according to biblical sources as well as here, was really
believed to be solid sapphire!
14
Genesis : and : .
15
Damascus Document [modern name] VII. - (quoting Numbers : ) DSSE, .
16
Psalm : - , arranged by author, sorry.
17
Q Commentary of Psalms ( : - is all that is extant) & following paragraphs DSSE, f, adapted by author.
18
Hymn DSSE, f, arranged by author.
19
i.e. Genesis.
20
It should be understood that there are no documents indicating wedding ceremonies among either the Essenes, or indeed, the Jews
as a race, throughout the Bible, Dead sea Scrolls, or any other ancient Jewish documents. Whether or not there was even a cere-
mony, we do not really know. The wedding “service” in chapter is entirely fictious.
21
Q The Rule of War, DSSE, . The Land should probably be understood as Israel.
22
About six foot six inches (or two metres).
23
Approximately , litres.
24
Deuteronomy : .
25
This is still a common custom in many African tribes, and the author has experienced this for himself in both South Africa and
eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), although African women in these countries are not veiled.
26
Q The Rule of War DSSE, .
27
Song of Songs : , .
28
ibid. : f.
29
Hertz, . This is certainly anachronistic, but we know little of synagogue liturgy during this time.
30
Psalms : .
31
The Torah reading Deuteronomy : - : Va’etchanan ‘Pleaded’ is accompanied by the haftorah reading Isaiah : - , the first
of the seven haftaroth of consolation. This custom was not necessarily in vogue during this period. Quotes adapted from JPS
(Hertz).
32
Isaiah : .
33
The document that is called (in modern times) The Book of the Community Rule, viz. QS.
34
QS VIII (DSSE, ). Also Q II-III (DSSE, ).
35
Hymn from QH (DSSE, excerpt).
 Prepare the Way

Chapter
1
Traditionally believed to refer to acts of male homosexuality – apparently worse than pimping one’s virgin daughters (certainly
under-aged), offering them up to be gang-raped and, assuming they survived the ordeal, forever unmarriageable! Don’t blame the
story-teller, blame the culture of the time (which likewise had no problem with slavery).
2
Summarised and adapted from Genesis : - : .
3
The Dead Sea Scrolls include a number of such works concerning Genesis, of which the text is to be found in DSSE.
4
Psalm : - .
5
Genesis : .
6
There is some debate as to whether John the Baptist actually ate locusts as Matthew : /Mark : say, or whether he ate the seed
pods of an acacia or similar tree such as the locust tree. Whilst this suggestion is not impossible, it must be borne in mind that
many cultures eat insects as an important source of protein, and Leviticus : clearly states that locusts and grasshoppers – in
various developmental stages, or instars – are clean and may be consumed. This practice probably started off as a concession to
farmers who lost their crops to a locust invasion.
7
Damascus Document CD XII (DSSE, ) et al.
8
Although a common trope in Europe, I see no reason why it should not have been expressed similarly in the Middle East.
9
Matthew : - .
10
Matthew : - .
11
Which took place in CE. Pilatus’ origins and exploits prior to coming to Judaea are actually unknown, so this biography is
extrapolated from his name and subsequent actions according to Josephus.
12
Exodus : , ; Deuteronomy : , : et al.
13
AJ XVIII.iii. .
14
AJ XVIII.iii. .
15
At the time, all religions which kept themselves separate from the all-embracing pantheism of Rome were called superstitiones –
superstitions.
16
The Attic drachma was roughly equivalent to a silver denarius, approximately one day’s wages for an unskilled labourer. A sub-
stantial sum of cash, but difficult to give a modern equivalent – perhaps enough to pay the wages of over men for a year!
17
AJ XVIII.iii. .
18
AJ XVIII.iii. , Suetonius’ Twelve Caesars Tiberius § , Acts : .
19
Tacitus Annals V. [Graves], Suetonius’ Twelve Caesars Tiberius Bk III.lxiv [Kline].
20
Matthew : - , Mark : - , Luke : - .
21
Luke : - .
22
AJ XVIII.v. This is the only mention of John the Baptist in Josephus, which has nothing to say of his fate. It is also the only
historical mention outside of the New Testament and Christian (and later Muslim) sources.
23
Matthew : f.
24
Matthew : - , Luke : - . cf. Isaiah : - , : - , : f. Isaiah omits ‘the dead are raised’. See also Matthew : - .
25
Q (DSSU, ; DSSE - ). We do not know the original name of this work. Isaiah omits “and will resurrect the dead”, so
it is significant that Jesus appears to be quoting this work, rather than Isaiah.
26
John : .
27
John : .
28
It appears that Capernaum, as it is called in English Bibles, is probably not named after the Prophet Nahum.
29
John : , Matthew : , Micah : , (TNK) [ : , LXX & Protestant Bibles].
30
Matthew : - , Mark : - , Luke : - , : - .
31
John : adapted.