to this opinion, the word of God came to John in the fifteenth year of his government, that is, between the conclusion of J. P. 4738 and J. P. 4739.

We have determined the baptism of Jesus to November J. P. 4739, as its most probable date. If, therefore, the word of the Lord did not come to John more than ten or twelve months before the baptism of Jesus, it did come to him in the 15th year of the proconsular government of Tiberius. The length of time by which this revelation to John preceded the actual baptism of our Saviour becomes therefore a necessary preliminary to the elucidation of the difficulty.

What we either know or can gather from the Gospels relative to the duration of the Baptist's ministry previous to the baptism of our Saviour is extremely scanty and dubious.

1. St. Luke says, that "the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness; and he came into all the country round about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." The connecting particle "and" is quite indefinite, and is used in the

Gospels to signify various periods of greater or less duration, but from the manner in which it here connects the revelation to John with the commencement of his preaching, no unprejudiced person could possible suppose that they did not immediately follow each other. I think, therefore, that no interval, or at least a very short one, elapsed between those two events.

2. John went, as we have seen above, into all the countries round about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance, and his success was such, that, according to St. Matthew and St. Mark “all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and they of Jerusalem went out unto him, and were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins." This travelling into all the country round about Jordan, and preaching there, may have occupied several months, and would not probably occupy more.

3. It was during this period, "then," as we are informed by St. Matthew;" "in those days," according to St. Mark; and "when all the people were baptized," or "whilst they were baptizing,"

P Chap. iii. 5.

Chap. i. 5.

r

Chap. iii. 13.

3

Chap. i. 9.

as we learn from St. Luke, that Jesus also came from Galilee to John, and was baptized of him in Jordan. The baptism of Jesus, therefore, occurred at an interval of several months from the period at which the word of God came to John in the wilderness of Judea.

4. How many months elapsed between the revelation to John and the baptism of Jesus may be gathered with some appearance of accuracy from the subject of John's preaching. He preached "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." Winter does not seem a very fit or natural time for beginning to promulgate a doctrine which exacted the baptism of all its converts, that is, according to the general practice of those days, the complete immersion of the whole body of the disciple in the open river. It would seem much more reasonable on this account to suppose that the word of God, directing John to preach and baptize, was communicated to him in the summer or spring, or in other words, about four or six months before the baptism of Jesus in November.

t

* Chap. iii. 21. Εγένετο δὲ ἐν τῷ βαπτισθῆναι ἅπαντα τὸν Xaov. The authorised version "when all the people were baptized” seems rather inaccurate. In Luc. c. x. v. 38. éyéveto dè év tậ TоρEVEσlαι AUTOÙs, is very properly translated, "It came to pass πορεύεσθαι αὐτοὺς, as they went," and the similar phrase above-mentioned ought in common consistency to have been rendered "whilst all the people were baptizing" or being baptized.

5. That these inferences are not incorrect,that the ministry of John had only occupied a short space of time before the baptism of Jesus may also be argued from the Gospel of St. John. From his first chapter it appears that on a certain day the priests came to ask John who he was, and received their answer. On the very next day John again bore witness to Jesus, whom he saw walking, mentioning what had taken place at his baptism. From this account we may easily collect that this enquiry could not have been made previous to our Lord's baptism, because the Baptist speaks of that as a thing already past." Neither could it have taken place before the temptation of Jesus; because St. Mark asserts that his temptation began immediately after his baptism, whereas the continuity and regularity of St. John's narrative precludes its having taken place at all, if it did not take place before this mission of the Levites to the Baptist. This enquiry then must have been made more than 40 days after the Baptism of our Saviour. Having established this, we shall easily perceive that our Saviour's baptism must have happened very early in the ministry of his forerunner; for it is natural to suppose that the general expectation of the Messiah then entertained would make the Jews very anxious to

" Ver. 32.

ascertain both who and what the Baptist was; and almost the first accounts of John's extraordinary character, and actions, and mode of life would induce them to make the necessary enquiries. Had then John been baptizing for the space of ten or twelve months before our Saviour went to him, and been all that time upon the banks of the Jordan, it is in the highest degree probable, I would almost say, certain, that a formal and official enquiry into his pretensions would have been made by the Priests and Levites at Jerusalem long before, instead of forty days after the baptism of Jesus.

Thus it appears that, if we fix the commencement of the Baptist's ministry about six months before the baptism of Jesus in November J. P. 4739, we place it as early, and if we place it one month before the baptism of Jesus in Nov. J. P. 4739, we place it as late as the circumstances which are recorded in the New Testament will permit. Nov. J. P. 4739-6 months=May J. P. 4739, which is therefore the earliest, and Nov. J. P. 4739,- one month Oct. J. P. 4739, which is therefore the latest period at which the word of God came to John, and corresponds exactly to the 15th year of the proconsular government of Tiberius, which comprehends at least the greater part of J. P. 4739, being to be dated, as we have