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Born as one out of due time the child grew, waxed strong in spirit (Lk. i.80), and, in accordance with the words of the Angel, adhered steadfastly to the Nazarite vow193. Like Samson, like Samuel, no razor was suffered to come near his head. Drinking neither wine nor strong drink, he systematically denied himself all the pleasures and indulgences of ordinary life. The son of a priest, he doubtless received a strict religious education, and at some period, though when we are not told, retired to the dreary deserts west of the Dead Sea. Here, like Moses in Midian, he prepared himself by solitary communion with God for his high emprise, assumed the garb of one of the old prophets, the robe of camel’s hair fastened round the body by a leathern girdle (2 K. i.8), and subsisted on such fare as the desert afforded, eating locusts194 and wild honey (Mtt. iii.4).

THE voice of Prophecy (Mic. v.2) had declared that the Messiah should be born at Bethlehem of Judæa, a spot endeared to every Jew as the birth-place of the son of Jesse. Though Mary was now living at Nazareth, a circumstance apparently fortuitous, under the superintending hand of Divine Providence, brought about a fulfilment of the prediction.