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→Precursors of the Christian monastic ideal
[[Image:Wadi Qelt.jpg|left|thumb|350px|Monastery of St. [[George the Chozebite]], Wadi Qelt<br>(On the road from Jerusalem to Jericho)]]
The prophets of [[Israel]] were set apart to the Lord for the sake of a message of [[repentance]]. Some of them lived under extreme conditions, voluntarily separated or forced into seclusion because of the burden of their message. Other prophets were members of communities, schools mentioned occasionally in the Scriptures but about which there is much speculation and little known. The pre-Abrahamic prophets, [[Enoch]] and [[Melchizedek]], and especially the Jewish prophets [[Elijah]] and his disciple [[Elisha]] are important to Christian monastic tradition. The most frequently cited "role-model" for the life of a hermit separated to the Lord, in whom the Nazarite and the prophet are believed to be combined in one person, is [[John the Baptist]]. John also had disciples who stayed with him and, as may be supposed, were taught by him and lived in a manner similar to his own.:
: In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. ([[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 3:1-6)
