Hebrew word for "rising" or "standing tall." The candidate would totally immerse themselves by squatting in the water with a witness or baptizer doing the officiating. Note the New Testament points out the fact that Jesus came up straightway out of the water. According to Matthew 3:16, "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him."   The Jewish baptism candidates were often immersed three times. The idea of total immersion comes from the Scripture in Leviticus 15:16 when it says, "he shall wash all his flesh in the water." One reason it was customary to immerse three times was because the word mikveh occurs three times in the Torah.

 

According to Jewish law the immersion had to have a required witness.  The Biblical phrase "in the name of" was an indication of the required witness.

 

Early baptism mentioned in conjunction with the name of individuals such as John and Paul. Below are several New Testament references:

 

1 Corinthians 1:13, 15, " Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?  I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,  so no one can say that you were baptized in my name."

 

Matthew 21:25, "' John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?'  They discussed it among themselves and said, 'If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’"

 

Acts 1:22, "beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

 

Acts 19:3, " So Paul asked, 'Then what baptism did you receive?' 'John’s baptism,' they replied."

 

The immersion candidate was not initially touched by the baptizer in Yeshua's (Jesus') day. Because Leviticus 15:16 says "He shall wash all his flesh in the water," Therefore, the entire body must come in contact with the water of the mikveh. To insure the immersion was valid, no clothing or individuals could touch the candidate.