Notice that Matthew identifies John as “the Baptist.” Matthew, who was evidently tailoring his account to Jews, must have felt that the Jews would know who “the Baptist” was. He used “the Baptist” as a sort of surname. Jesus and his disciples used “John the Baptist,” as did the servants of Herod.a​—Matthew 11:11, 12; 14:2; 16:14.

The disciple Mark reports a similar use of “the Baptist.” (Mark 6:25; 8:28) But when introducing John, Mark called him “John the baptizer.” (Mark 1:4) The Greek involved at Mark 1:4 differs slightly from that of the other verses. Mark 1:4 might also be rendered “the baptizing one.” Mark was highlighting what John was doing; he was the one doing baptizing, the baptizer.