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And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. The World English Bible translates the passage as: Now John himself wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. The 1881 Westcott-Hort text is:
John is described as wearing clothes of camel's hair, and living on locusts and wild honey. John proclaims baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin, and says another will come after him who will not baptize with water, but with the Holy Spirit. Beheading of St John the Baptist by Massimo Stanzione, 1635
In Biblical times, it was the Jewish custom to wear a hairshirt (sackcloth) when "mourning or in a public show of repentance for sin" (Genesis 37:34, [14] 2 Samuel 3:31, [15] Esther 4:1). [16] [17] In the New Testament, John the Baptist wore "a garment of camel's hair" as a means of repentance (Matthew 3:4).
Like his aunt Mary, John the Baptist also holds a holy book – an unusual attribute; these are two of the 18 books in the entire piece. [24] He wears a green mantle over a cilice of camel-hair, his usual attribute.
Herod wanted to kill John, but was afraid of the people. John the Baptist was executed by beheading by Herod Antipas on the request of Herodias' daughter. His disciples buried his remains and told Jesus. Mark 1:14, 6:17–29. John the Baptist criticised king Herod Antipas for marrying his brother's ex-wife Herodias.
The work depicts the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan by Saint John the Baptist, as described in Matthew 3:13–17. Matthew relates how John had begun living and preaching in the wilderness, living on locusts and wild honey and wearing a camel hair robe with a leather belt. After preaching he would baptise those who confessed their sins.
The panel depicts John the Baptist, recognizable by his attribute, the lamb of God. John is in the wilderness, where he preached, according to the Gospel of Matthew (3:1-6). The brown garment, that according to Matthew was made of camel's hair, that John wears on the panel also refers the Gospel.
The pointing man has variously been described as either the patron of the work (Fraenger in 1947), as an advocate of Adam denouncing Eve (Dirk Bax in 1956), as Saint John the Baptist in his camel's skin (Isabel Mateo Goméz in 1963), [35] or as a self-portrait. [15]