Did people understand John the Baptist when he said "repent and be baptized"?
The short answer
Very likely. The Old Testament is full of ritual washing — such as Naaman washing in the Jordan to be cured of leprosy — and Jews had long used ritual baths (mikvahs) to cleanse impurity. John's hearers would have grasped what he meant by washing away sin in the Jordan.
Ritual washing in Scripture
The Old Testament has many references to ritual washing. Notably, Elisha told Naaman to wash in the Jordan to be cured of leprosy, a biblical symbol of sin (2 Kings 5).
The mikvah
From ancient times to today, Jews have used ritual baths called mikvahs, and archaeologists have found ancient mikvah sites in the Holy Land. Jewish law required the mikvah to cleanse ritual impurity — for example, a woman after menstruation.
John's audience
So the people John preached to probably understood what he meant in calling them to be cleansed of sin in the Jordan, which as a natural body of water could itself have served as a mikvah.
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