John the Baptizer and Prophet: A Socio-historical Study

by Robert L. Webb

This volume, a revised version of a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of Sheffield in 1990, places John the Baptist within his first-century Jewish context by exploring his public roles and activities as a baptizer and a prophet as they would have been understood within the sociohistorical context of Second Temple Judaism. After surveying the relevant traditions concerning John the Baptist (in particular, Josephus, canonical Gospels, and extracanonical sources), the volume turns to the use of ablutions and immersions in the Hebrew Bible, in Second Temple Jewish literature, and especially in the Qumran literature. In light of this context, several functions of John's baptism are proposed both in continuity with his context and in distinction from it. Then, Webb explores John's role as a prophet in two respects. First, after surveying the expectation of eschatological figures of judgment and restoration in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Jewish literature, John's own proclamation of a coming one is understood as describing Yahweh's coming to judge and restore, but through an unspecified human agent. Second, in light of the varieties of prophetic figures in the Second Temple period, John is best understood as a popular prophet who uses the symbolic event of the people's baptism in the Jordan River and their return home to symbolize not only their entrance into the true remnant Israel but also their entrance into the Promised Land. When this symbolic activity is placed alongside John's prophetic critique of Herod Antipas and of Herod's marriage, the social and political implications of this critique become evident. The symbolic activity and strong critique led to the Baptist's death under Herod Antipas.

446 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1991

Reviews

[Geoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book because it was consistently referred to in studies on the historical Jesus. I wanted to understand better the context in which Jesus' movement started, the movement that John the Baptist anticipated.

It is a long, dense read. Robert Webb thoroughly explores and analyses the evidence available about John the Baptist in each of the ancient documents that refer to him. He accurately assesses their relative value as historically reliable sources of information. His analysis is then also accurate and insightful.

Having read material in this area before, not much that he concluded was new to me. John the Baptist was a "leadership popular prophet" who differed from other similar figures because his movement was dispersed and pacifist rather than corporate and activist. (I need to check again how this classification compares with NT Wright's categorisation of prophets). Yet his message and activity still brought the ire of Herod Antipas.

Webb's style is very clearly structured. He used "firstly... secondly... thirdly..." over and over again, which made it easy to follow his points but also a bit tedious at times. There was only one occasion that I got lost when he had sub-points he also introduced as "firstly... secondly...".

I was hoping to learn something about the interaction between John and Jesus, but found that this was specifically outside the boundaries of this study. That means I feel like I'm prepared to engage with the topic, but now have to find another study to lead me there :)

[Brian LePort · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best English language historical investigation of John the Baptist I know.