=Scene of John the Baptist's Early Life.= John the Baptist is one of the most meteoric characters in biblical history. Only one scene in his life can be identified with certainty, and that is the grim castle beside the Dead Sea, where he fell a victim to Herod's passion and fear. Apparently a large part of his early life was spent at or near Jerusalem, where his father ministered as priest and where he was able to observe the crimes of the people, against which he later so vehemently and effectively protested. The wild, treeless wilderness that runs up from the Dead Sea almost to the gates of Jerusalem furnished a fitting setting for this stern prophet of righteousness, this herald of a new order. Here, undisturbed by the distracting life of the city, he could effectively deliver his message to the thoughtful ones who sought him in his solitude.^{(24)} Here also dwelt that peculiar Jewish sect, the Essenes, whose ascetic life and strict ceremonial régime were an extreme protest against the corrupt Hellenizing tendencies of the day. =Field of His Activity.= Like the early Hebrew prophets, whom John so closely resembled, he also sought out the places where men could be found in great numbers. The later Maccabean rulers and Herod transformed the hitherto comparatively deserted valley of the lower Jordan into fruitful fields, irrigated by the brooks from the hillside, studded with prosperous villages and guarded with mighty strongholds. The Jordan valley, which touched all the Jewish parts of Palestine--Judea itself, Perea, Samaria, and Galilee--was the chief field of John's work. Bethabara (House of the Ford) has been generally identified with the famous ford called Abarah, opposite Scythopolis. The best Greek manuscripts, however, read "Bethany beyond the Jordan." It is doubtful whether John's work extended so far north as the Decapolis. It is exceedingly probable that the variant readings are due to a confusion of the original, which read Beth Nimrah, which is represented by Tell Nimrin beyond the Jordan northeast of Jericho, at the point where the Wady Nimrin breaks through the Gileadite hills. It was evidently an important town, commanding the road which leads inland from this point and was within the field of John's activity.