|The wilderness is a metaphor for the unrepentant crowd. Why would he cry out in the wilderness, where none would hear? Though this is too often taken as literal, the Greek origin provides a picture "φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ" which can be easily translated into English. "''The voice of a messenger preaching among skeptics''" is a valid interpretation of this picture, but the original mentions neither "a messenger" nor "skeptics". | |The wilderness is a metaphor for the unrepentant crowd. Why would he cry out in the wilderness, where none would hear? Though this is too often taken as literal, the Greek origin provides a picture "φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ" which can be easily translated into English. "''The voice of a messenger preaching among skeptics''" is a valid interpretation of this picture, but the original mentions neither "a messenger" nor "skeptics". |