wilderness was a place of escape, solitude, and his first encounter with God (Exod 3). As noted above, prophetic predictions of a new exodus beginning in the wilderness excited the eschatological hopes and imaginations of the people. Josephus speaks of a number of messianic movements that began in the Judean desert (J.W. 2.13.4–5 §§259–263; 6.6.3 §351; cf. Matt 24:26; Acts 21:38). The Qumran community applied this imagery to themselves, and Isa 40:3 was interpreted to justify the establishment of