After the death of Martyrius, John, wishing to practice greater asceticism, withdrew to a hermitage at the foot of the mountain.

[4] The artful rhetorical figures in his writings, as well as philosophical forms of thought indicate a solid academic education, as was customary for a profession in administration and law during his epoch.

The legend of his renunciation of the world at the age of 16, found also in other biographies of saints, is to suggest his having been untouched by secular education.

This was composed in the early 7th century at the request of John,[7] Abbot of Raithu, a monastery situated on the shores of the Red Sea.

Also surviving to the present day is a shorter work To the Pastor (Latin: Liber ad Pastorem), most likely a sort of appendix to the Ladder.

It is in the Ladder that we hear of the ascetic practice of carrying a small notebook to record the monk's thoughts during contemplation.

Originally written simply for the monks of a neighbouring monastery, the Ladder swiftly became one of the most widely read and much-beloved books of Byzantine spirituality.

This book remains one of the most widely read among Orthodox Christians, especially during the season of Great Lent which immediately precedes Pascha (Easter).

This volume contains the Life of St. John by Daniel, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, and To the Pastor, and provides footnotes explaining many of the concepts and terminology used from an Orthodox perspective, as well as a General Index.