60 Dimensions of Baptism
salvific symbolism,^20 the Johannine narrative goes on to say that John's
disciples became involved in a dispute 'concerning purification' (TTepi
Ka0apiG|JoG, Jn 3.25). This dispute, whose authenticity is quite probable,
strongly implies that John's baptizing activity at Aenon concerned purity.Indeed, it is inconceivable that a figure such as John, who summoned
Israel to repent and prepare for coming judgment, had no interest in Jewish
immersion for purification, something that recent archaeology throughout
the region has shown to be quite common in this period of time.^21 The
emphasis on purification immersion at Qumran also supports this,^22 espe-
cially if John had ever had anything to do with the covenanters of Qumran.
It is of course probable that John's teaching and practice of ritual purifi-
cation were significantly conditioned by his 'baptism of repentance' in theJordan River. The two dimensions do not represent competing alternatives,
but complementary aspects of John's teaching concerning purity. These
aspects entailed daily, ongoing purity on the one hand, and a special immer-
sion that signified repentance and preparation for the impending judgment
on the other. It is probable that these dimensions were consciously, even- For discussion of the exact location, as well as historicity of this tradition, see
R.E. Brown, The Gospel according to John (2 vols.; AB, 29, 29A; Garden City, NY:
Doubleday, 1966,1970), I, p. 151. See also R. Schnackenburg, The Gospel according
to StJohn (3 vols.; New York: Crossroad, 1987), I, pp. 412-13. - N. Avigad, Discovering Jerusalem (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983), pp. 139-
43; E.P. Sanders, Jewish Law from Jesus to the Mishnah: Five Studies (London: SCM
Press; Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1990), pp. 214-27; idem, Judaism:
Practice and Belief 63 BCE-66 CE (London: SCM Press; Philadelphia: Trinity Press
International, 1992), pp. 222-30; J.F. Strange, 'First Century Galilee from Archaeology
and from the Texts', in D.R. Edwards and C.T. McCollough (eds.), Archaeology and
the Galilee: Texts and Contexts in the Graeco-Roman and Byzantine Periods (Uni-
versity of South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism; Atlanta: Scholars Press,
1997), pp. 39-48; M. Chancey and E.M. Meyers, 'How Jewish was Sepphoris in Jesus'
Time?', BARev 26/4 (2000), pp. 18-33, 61; R. Reich, 'Miqva'ot', in L.H. Schiffman
and J.C. VanderKam (eds.), Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (2 vols.; Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2000), I, pp. 560-63. - B.G. Wood, 'To Dip or Sprinkle? The Qumran Cisterns in Perspective', BASOR
256 (1984), pp. 45-60; R. Riesner, 'Das JerusalemerEssenerviertelunddie Urgemeinde:
Josephus, Bellum JudaicumV 145; HQMiqdasch 46,13-16; Apostelgeschichte 1-6 und
die Archaologie', ANRW 11.262 (1995), pp. 1775-922, esp. pp. 1811-16; R. Reich,
'Miqwa 'ot at Khirbet Qumran and the Jerusalem Connection', in L.H. Schiffman,
E. Tov, and J.C. VanderKam (eds.), The Dead Sea Scrolls: Fifty Years after their Dis-
covery. Proceedings of the Jerusalem Congress, July 20-25,1997 (Jerusalem: Israel
Exploration Society and the Israel Antiquities Authority, 2000), pp. 728-31.