[1]. The poet Vladimir Benediktov (1807–1873).

[2]. The reference is to John the Baptist, who baptized people, including Jesus, in the water of the River Jordan. Cf. the “third baptism” (among the Bloodbrothers), viz. the baptism in blood spoken of by the other John, the apostle and evangelist.

[3]. In the Old Testament, as St. Augustine observes, sin-offerings were actually called “sins” (Jos. 4.8). What wisdom! One and the same deed—a murder, for instance—is a sin for one man (the sinner) and a sin-offering for another (the Sinnerist). For the sinner, it is a temptation of the flesh in pursuit of pleasure; for the Sinnerist, it is a sacrifice of the soul in pursuit of suffering.

[4]. St. Augustine, De Genesi ad Litteram (The Literal Meaning of Genesis) , Book 12, chap. 33, 8 (n.p., n.d.).

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