John the Baptist in Wikipedia

John the Baptist (Hebrew: יוחנן המטביל, Yo-hanan ha-matbil, Arabic: يحيى‎ Yahyá or يوحنا المعمدان Yūhannā al-mamadan, Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ Yokhanan) [1] was an itinerant preacher[2] and a major religious figure[3] who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River.[4] John was an historical figure [5] who followed the example of previous Hebrew prophets, living austerely, challenging sinful rulers, calling for repentance, and promising God's justice. John is regarded as a prophet in Christianity, Islam,[6] the Bahá'í Faith,[7] and Mandaeism. He baptised Jesus Christ. Some scholars maintain that he was influenced by the Essenes, who were semi-ascetic, expected an apocalypse, and practiced rituals conferring strongly with baptism,[8] although there is no direct evidence to substantiate this.[9] John's baptism was a purification rite for repentant sinners, performed in "living water" (in this case a running river) in accord with Jewish custom. John anticipated a messianic figure who would be greater than himself.[10] Jesus may have been a follower of John.[4][11] Herod Antipas saw John as a threat and had him executed.[3] Many Christian theologians believe that the ministry of Jesus followed John's, and some of Jesus' early followers had previously been followers of John.[12] Both John and Jesus reportedly preached at times of great political, social, and religious conflict...