Smith in his Bible dictionary[50] says: It is well known that ablution or bathing was common in most ancient nations as a preparation for prayers and sacrifice or as expiatory of sin.
There is a natural connection in the mind between the thought of physical and spiritual pollution. In warm countries this connection is probably closer than in colder climates; hence the frequency of ablution in the religious rites of the East.
The history of Israel and the law of Moses abound with such lustrations. The consecration of the high priest deserves special notice. It was first by baptism then by unction and lastly by sacrifice.
From the gospel history[51] we learn that at that time ceremonial washings had been greatly multiplied by traditions of the doctors and elders. The most important and probably one of the oldest of these traditional customs was the baptism of proselytes.
These usages of the Jews will account for the readiness with which all men flocked to the baptism of John the Baptist.[52]
Schürer in his history of the Jewish people[53] devotes several pages to giving reasons for believing that the Jews baptized proselytes long before the coming of Christ.
Dean Stanley says baptism is inherited from Judaism.[54]
Many other good authorities might be quoted to support the belief that water baptism and other ordinances were greatly multiplied among many Jews during the last few hundred years before Christ. There are no Scripture writings which cover this period.
Tylor says: The rites of lustration which hold their places within the pale of Christianity are in well marked connection with Jewish and Gentile ritual.[55]
Baptism by water, the symbol of the initiation of the convert, history traces from the Jewish rite to that of John the Baptist and thence to the Christian ordinance.