For a long while he preached to stones, because, he said, they were not so hard as men's understanding.

The stones themselves would soon speak, the mountains be levelled and the valleys filled up so that a smooth road might be ready for the Holy Spirit which was drawing nigh.
Men grew keenly interested in those tidings.

Some said: "Let us go out and hear him just for amusement's sake." They came back and summoned others to go out and see the extraordinary man.

He wore a garment of camel's hair instead of a cloak, and a leather girdle round his loins.
His hair was long, black, and in disorder, his face sunburnt, and his eyes flamed as if in frenzy.

But he was not an Arab nor an Amalekite; he was one of the chosen people.