Scripture: Mark 6:14–29; Matthew 14:1–12; Luke 3:1–20; Luke 23:6–12
The Gospels say John the Baptist preached repentance and baptized in the Jordan, and that Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, imprisoned and beheaded him after John condemned his marriage to Herodias.
The Jewish historian Josephus, writing around 93 CE, describes 'John, called the Baptist', a good man who urged Jews to practice virtue and come to baptism (Jewish Antiquities 18.116–119). Herod Antipas, fearing John's influence could spark an uprising, imprisoned him at the fortress of Machaerus, east of the Dead Sea, and had him killed. Josephus says many Jews saw Antipas's later defeat by the Nabatean king Aretas as God's punishment for it. Coins Antipas minted at Tiberias, inscribed 'of Herod the tetrarch', also survive.
Machaerus, JordanView on OpenStreetMap
