Thus he would have passed his life, a wheelwright on week‐days, a preacher on the Sabbath and festivals, but for a strange event that occurred in his own family. Among us Jews, none has more honor than the _Nabi_, the man who speaks the word of wisdom in the name of God. How know we that a man is a Nabi? Chiefly by his words, but mainly by his eyes, in which there shines the light of prophecy. Now, when Jesus was about thirty years old, three or four years before I first saw him, the light of prophecy came in the eyes of his cousin, Jochanan ben Zacharia Ha‐Cohen. Thou knowest, Aglaophonos, that amongst us there is a sect of Essenoi, who answer in much to the Pythagoreans among the Hellenes. These Essenoi eat no flesh, they dwell not in the cities of men, they perform frequent lustrations, nor will they admit any into their community until they have been baptized of them; they care little for the Temple service, and in this above all distinguish themselves from either Pharisees or Sadducees. Their belief in the angels is strong, and they use magic for the healing of sickness. Now, this Jochanan, the cousin of Jesus, seems to have adopted in many things the views of these Essenoi: he separated himself from men, and ate no flesh, nor did he go up to the Temple on the three great festivals of the year; and above all, when men began to follow after him, he would admit none to communion with him till he had baptized them in running water, and for this he was called among the folk Jochanan the Baptizer. Yet he was not an Essene, for he joined not their communion, nor established any distinction of orders among the men who came out to him; he was more like unto the prophets of old, who taught as individuals new truths about life; and his great teaching was this: “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And men went out to him, asking him in what they should repent so as to become worthy of the kingdom. Above all, those who were despised of the people because they did the work of the Romans, by being their tax‐gatherers or their soldiers, feared the wrath to come in the new kingdom which he preached, and asked him in what they should alter their ways. But to them he was by no means hard, saying only to the tax‐gatherers, “Act justly,” and to the soldiers, “Do no violence.” To the poor he was tender and merciful, but exhorted the rich to divide their possessions with the poor. In this way he drew unto him all who were despised of the people, and those who were poor and miserable. Thus he attracted the notice of the rulers, who feared that he was preparing to rebel against them; for they said, “Wherefore does this man attract to him the discontented and the soldiery?”