There are verses in the New Testament that indicate that John the Baptist was a Nazarite. One of the qualifications to be a Nazarite is that he couldn't drink wine.

Numbers 6:3 (KJV) He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.

The verses below show that John was conforming to this requirement.

Luke 1:15 (KJV) For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

Luke 7:33 (KJV) For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.

It appears that John the Baptist was conforming to the laws of the Nazarites as stated in Numbers 6:1-21. One of the qualifications of being a Nazarite was that he couldn't have his hair cut.

Numbers 6:5 (KJV) All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no rasor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.

There are three Nazarites mentioned in the Bible:

• Samson (specifically stated)
• Samuel (indicated)
• John the Baptist (indicated)

All three of these men were children when they were used of God.

Samson

Judges 13:5 (KJV) For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Samuel

1 Samuel 1:11 (KJV) And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no rasor come upon his head.

John the Baptist

Luke 1:15 (KJV) For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

So, it appears that John the Baptist was a Nazarite and if so he had long hair.

Another answer from our community:

No. The author of The Gospel According to St. John, 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John in the New Testament is John the Beloved, one of the original Twelve Apostles under the authority of Jesus Christ.

John the disciple of Christ was the brother of James and the son of Zebedee. He was one of the "Sons of Thunder", and he was also the disciple who went on to be imprisoned on the island of Patmos, where he received the Revelation that makes up the final book of the Bible.

John the Baptist was beheaded before Christ was crucified, and before the writing of the Greek Scriptures started.

However, it is believed by some in the eastern churches, that John the Apostle wrote a compilation of John the Baptist's writings. It is said that John the slave of verse 2 is a reference to John the Baptist and not to John the apostle himself. According to this view, John the apostle would have written the first chapters including the letters to the congregations and used by John The Apostle as an introduction to the book of Revelation. The part revealed directly to John The Apostle would start on chapter 4 and end on chapter 22.

This is not an absurdity if one compares the wording used by John the Baptist when quoted by the very same John the Apostle in his Gospel, i.e., "the Lamb of God."

The Armaic version of the book of revelation, says in verse 2: "2. Who testified to the Manifestation of God, and the testimony of, Jesus Christ, everything that he saw."

This is in every aspect in accordance to the description of Jesus in the gospel of John, where Jesus is called the "Word" of God.

According to this view, it becomes implied that Jesus gave this revelation to John while still on earth and that was preserved by John the Apostle and delivered when it was time to do so.

Moreover, John the apostle was a disciple of John the Baptist before he went with Jesus Christ, for the apostles were chosen right after John the Baptist baptized Christ, and the Gospel of John testifies that were chosen from among his disciples.

Another interesting point is that Jesus declared John the baptist greater than any other prophet before him, and therefore put him in higher rank than Elijah and Moses. How could this be if he hadn't been given any revelation?

The truth of the fact is that he was given the ultimate revelation, which was kept by his disciple the apostle John, until Jesus let him release it through the book of Revelation.

No scripture attests to John baptizing in anyone's name. His baptism unto repentance "prepared the way" for Jesus' baptism [which isn't a baptism of water -- but of the Holy Spirit, for the remission of sins].

John didn't "remit anyone's sins"... he "prepared and pointed the way" to the One who would.

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire." (Matt.3:11)

Jesus has "two" baptisms that are quite "opposite" from each other: 1] with the "Holy Spirit"; 2] with "fire."

The gift of the Holy Spirit is for those whose sins are remitted. The baptism of "fire" is for those who shall be cast into the Lake of Fire in the Judgment [Rev.20:15].

When John baptized and preached repentance... Jesus had not yet begun His ministry. He had not yet been tested by Satan, that He might defeat him, depose him and qualify to become the "King" of God's prophesied "Kingdom" on the earth.

Until Jesus did that... He could not preach the Kingdom of God. And until Jesus rose from the dead, there was no "baptism of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name" until Jesus rose from the dead and made the Holy Spirit available beginning on Pentecost.

Until Jesus died and rose again... for the short period of time of His "cut-off" ministry, He remitted sins as He walked among the people in the flesh. But the Holy Spirit was not yet given.

"Let all the House of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, WHOM YE HAVE CRUCIFIED, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter... WHAT SHALL WE DO?

"Then Peter said unto them, REPENT [John's baptism, the baptism with water that others took over after John's imprisonment], and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

"For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 2:36-39)

John's "baptism unto repentance" COMES FIRST. No one can be forgiven if they aren't conscious of the reality that they are a sinner... that they have "broken God's laws" [the Bible's definition of sin] -- I John 3:4. A person has to, first, want forgiveness for his sins in order to seek it. Repentance is the awakening of the spirit to the need of obedience to God.

That was John's job. That's why he was born [see Luke 1]. That was his commission: to herald the coming of the Messiah. To baptize unto and preach: "repentance." To "...turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers..." (Malachi 4:6).

"...Behold, I send My messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight." (Mark 1:2-3)

John's baptism and preaching of repentancewas a "harbinger" to the people that the prophecies of their scriptures regarding their long-awaited Messiah was about to be fulfilled. It was a most exciting time in Judaea.

Everyone was looking for Him to appear, because of John's "voice" and his baptism with water unto repentance. John's baptism didn't need a name to turn peoples' hearts to a consciousness of their scriptures and their sins.

Since Jesus' ascension into heaven, repentance and "baptism for the remission of sins" is a combined and complete process that requires the name of Jesus Christ for the divine authorization of the Remitter.

"...John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him. And I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God." (John 1:32-34)

Another answer from our community:Yes. Example from Matthew 14:1-2,10-12 1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, 2 And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. (So John was dead and Jesus still alive if Herod thought that He is John, who is risen from the dead) 10 And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. 11 And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother. 12 And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

Answer

Matthew 11:2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,

11:3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? The previous marriage of Herod Antipas 'was annulled no later than 28 CE.' This is the position of the majority of scholars. (Source: Aryeh Kasher, 'Jews, Idumeans and Ancient Arabs, Mohr Siebeck, p.178.) This paved the way for Herod's marriage to Herodias soon after. It is considered also that John was arrested early in Jesus' ministry and so the events as recorded in history clearly indicate that John died first. The only logical conclusion to make in the light of all the biblical facts is that John died first.

yes

Another answer from our community:

John the Baptist was a man in the Bible who preached of the coming of Jesus. He was the man to baptize Jesus in the River Jordan, as recorded in the book of Matthew. John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus. His mother was Elizabeth.

Only the author of Luke's Gospel seems to have been aware of a family relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist, if such a relationship existed. Luke 1:36 says that John's Mother, Elisabeth, was the cousin of Mary, mother of Jesus.

Uta Ranke-Heinemann (Putting Away Childish Things) says, "That Elisabeth was legendary is proved by the historically more credible report in John that Jesus and John the Baptist did not know each other."

John Shelby Spong (Born of a Woman) says he is suspicious because Elisabeth in Hebrew would be Elisheba', a name that appears only once in the Old Testament, as the wife of Aaron, brother of Moses. Luke 1:5 describes Elisabeth as the daughter of Aaron, so the author must have had Aaron and Moses in mind when he wrote his gospel.
These are three of the grounds for believing that Elisabeth was not a real, historical person, based on which we can not say when she was born.

• We don't know. The Bible makes no reference to it. It is possible that John submitted to baptism by one of the twelve Apostles, with whom he had contact from time to time.

• Even though the Bible makes no reference to it, some still say that John was baptized in his mother's womb before his actual birth (though that was Holy Spirit baptism, rather than water baptism).