The Essene movement likely originated as a distinct group among Jews duringJonathan Apphus' time, driven by disputes over Jewish law and the belief that Jonathan'shigh priesthood was illegitimate.[3] Most scholars think the Essenes seceded from theZadokite priests.[4] They attributed their interpretation of the Torah to their early leader, theTeacher of Righteousness, possibly a legitimate high priest. Embracing a conservative approach to Jewish law, they observed a strict hierarchy favoring priests (theSons of Zadok) over laypeople, emphasized ritual purity, and held adualistic worldview.[3]
According to Jewish writersJosephus andPhilo, the Essenes numbered around four thousand, and resided in various settlements throughoutJudaea. Conversely, Roman writerPliny the Elder positioned them somewhere aboveEin Gedi, on the west side of the Dead Sea.[5][6] Pliny relates in a few lines that the Essenes possess no money, had existed for thousands of generations, and that their priestly class ("contemplatives")did not marry. Josephus gave a detailed account of the Essenes inThe Jewish War (c. 75 CE), with a shorter description inAntiquities of the Jews (c. 94 CE) andThe Life of Flavius Josephus (c. 97 CE). Claiming firsthand knowledge, he lists theEssenoi as one of the three sects of Jewishphilosophy[7] alongside thePharisees andSadducees. He relates the same information concerningpiety, celibacy; the absence of personal property and of money; the belief incommunality; and commitment to a strict observance ofSabbath. He further adds that the Essenesritually immersed in water every morning (a practice similar to the use of themikveh for daily immersion found among some contemporaryHasidim), ate together after prayer, devoted themselves tocharity and benevolence, forbade the expression of anger, studied the books of the elders, preserved secrets, and were very mindful of the names of theangels kept in their sacred writings.
The Essenes have gained fame in modern times as a result of the discovery of an extensive group of religious documents known as theDead Sea Scrolls, which are commonly believed to be the Essenes' library. The scrolls were found atQumran, an archaeological site situated along the northwestern shore of theDead Sea, believed to have been the dwelling place of an Essene community. These documents preserve multiple copies of parts of theHebrew Bible along withdeuterocanonical and sectarian manuscripts, including writings such as theCommunity Rule, theDamascus Document, and theWar Scroll, which provide valuable insights into the communal life, ideology and theology of the Essenes.
According to the conventional view, the Essenes disappeared after theFirst Jewish–Roman War, which also witnessed the destruction of the settlement at Qumran.[3] Scholars have noted the absence of direct sources supporting this claim, raising the possibility of their endurance or the survival of related groups in the following centuries.[8] Some researchers suggest that Essene teachings could have influenced other religious traditions, such asMandaeism,Jewish Christianity, and small group ofAssyrians.[9][10]
Josephus uses the nameEssenes in his two main accounts,The Jewish War 2.119, 158, 160 andAntiquities of the Jews, 13.171–2, but some manuscripts read hereEssaion ("holding the Essenes in honour";[11] "a certain Essene named Manaemus";[12] "to hold all Essenes in honor";[13] "the Essenes").[14][15][16]
In several places, however, Josephus hasEssaios, which is usually assumed to meanEssene ("Judas of theEssaios race";[17] "Simon of theEssaios race";[18] "John theEssaios";[19] "those who are called by usEssaioi";[20] "Simon a man of theEssaios race").[21] Josephus identified the Essenes as one of the three major Jewish sects of that period.[22]
Gabriele Boccaccini implies that a convincing etymology for the name Essene has not been found, but that the term applies to a larger group withinJudea that also included theQumran community.[25]
It was proposed before theDead Sea Scrolls were discovered that the name came into severalGreek spellings from a Hebrewself-designation later found in some Dead Sea Scrolls,ʻosey haTorah, "'doers' or 'makers' ofTorah".[26] Although dozens of etymology suggestions have been published, this is the only etymology published before 1947 that was confirmed byQumran text self-designation references, and it is gaining acceptance among scholars.[27] It is recognized as the etymology of the formOssaioi (and note that Philo also offered an O spelling) andEssaioi andEsseni spelling variations have been discussed by VanderKam, Goranson, and others. In medieval Hebrew (e.g.,Sefer Yosippon)Hassidim "the Pious" replaces "Essenes". While this Hebrew name is not the etymology ofEssaioi/Esseni, the Aramaic equivalentHesi'im known fromEastern Aramaic texts has been suggested.[28] Others suggest that Essene is a transliteration of the Hebrew wordḥiṣonim (ḥiṣon "outside"), which theMishnah (e.g.,Megillah 4:8[29]) uses to describe various sectarian groups. Another theory is that the name was borrowed from a cult of devotees toArtemis inAnatolia, whose demeanor and dress somewhat resembled those of the group inJudea.[30]
2.(119)For there are three philosophical sects among the Jews. The followers of the first of which are the Pharisees; of the second, theSadducees; and the third sect, which pretends to a severerdiscipline, are called Essenes. These last are Jews by birth, and seem to have a greater affection for each other than other sects have.[31]
According toJosephus, the Essenes had settled "not in one city" but "in large numbers in every town".[32] Philo speaks of "more than four thousand"Essaioi living in "Palestine andSyria",[33] more precisely, "in many cities of Judaea and in many villages and grouped in great societies of many members".[34]
Pliny locates them "on the west side of the Dead Sea, away from the coast... [above] the town ofEngeda".[24]
Some modern scholars andarcheologists have argued that Essenes inhabited the settlement atQumran, aplateau in theJudean Desert along the Dead Sea, citing Pliny the Elder in support and giving credence that the Dead Sea Scrolls are the product of the Essenes.[35] This theory, though not yet conclusively proven, has come to dominate the scholarly discussion and public perception of the Essenes.[36]
The accounts by Josephus andPhilo show that the Essenes led a strictly communal life—often compared to laterChristian monasticism.[37] Many of the Essene groups appear to have beencelibate, but Josephus speaks also of another "order of Essenes" that observed the practice of being engaged for three years and then becoming married.[38] According to Josephus, they had customs and observances such as collective ownership,[39][40] electing a leader to attend to the interests of the group, and obedience to the orders from their leader.[41] Also, they were forbidden fromswearing oaths[42] and fromsacrificing animals.[43] They controlled their tempers and served as channels of peace,[42] carryingweapons only for protection against robbers.[44] The Essenes chose not to possessslaves but served each other[45] and, as a result of communal ownership, did not engage intrading.[46] Josephus and Philo provide lengthy accounts of their communal meetings, meals, and religious celebrations. Thiscommunal living has led some scholars to view the Essenes as a group practicing social and material egalitarianism.[47][48][49]
Despite their prohibition on swearing oaths, after a three-yearprobationary period,[50] new members would take an oath that included a commitment to practice piety to God and righteousness toward humanity; maintain a pure lifestyle; abstain from criminal and immoral activities; transmit their rules uncorrupted; and preserve the books of the Essenes and the names of the angels.[51] Their theology included belief in the immortality of thesoul and that they would receive their souls back after death.[15][52] Part of their activities included purification bywater rituals which was supported by rainwater catchment and storage. According to theCommunity Rule,repentance was a prerequisite to water purification.[53]
Ritual purification was a common practice among the peoples of Judea during this period and was thus not specific to the Essenes. A ritual bath ormikveh was found near many synagogues of the period continuing into modern times.[54] Purity and cleanliness was considered so important to the Essenes that they would refrain fromdefecation on the Sabbath.[55]
According toJoseph Lightfoot, theChurch FatherEpiphanius (writing in the 4th century CE) seems to make a distinction between two main groups within the Essenes:[28] "Of those that came before his [Elxai, an Ossaean prophet] time and during it, the Ossaeans and theNasaraeans."Part 18[usurped][56] Epiphanius describes each group as following:
The Nasaraean—they were Jews by nationality—originally from Gileaditis, Bashanitis and the Transjordan... They acknowledged Moses and believed that he had received laws—not this law, however, but some other. And so, they were Jews who kept all the Jewish observances, but they would not offer sacrifice or eat meat. They considered it unlawful to eat meat or make sacrifices with it. They claim that these Books are fictions, and that none of these customs were instituted by the fathers. This was the difference between the Nasaraean and the others...[57]
After this Nasaraean sect in turn comes another closely connected with them, called the Ossaeans. These are Jews like the former... originally came from Nabataea, Ituraea, Moabitis, and Arielis, the lands beyond the basin of what sacred scripture called the Salt Sea... Though it is different from the other six of these seven sects, it causes schism only by forbidding the books of Moses like the Nasaraean.[56]
We do not know much about the canon of the Essenes, and what their attitude was towards the apocryphal writings, however the Essenes perhaps did not esteem the book of Esther highly as manuscripts of Esther are completely absent in Qumran, likely because of their opposition to mixed marriages and the use of different calendars.[58][59]
The Essenes were unique for their time for being against the practice of slave-ownership, and slavery, which they regarded as unjust and ungodly, regarding all men as having been born equal.[60][61]
At the outset of theFirst Jewish–Roman War in 66 CE, as Roman advances were anticipated, command over parts of western Judea was assigned to John the Essene (or Essaean), who was placed in charge of thetoparchy ofThamna. This region encompassedLydda,Joppa, andEmmaus.[62]
Josephus andPhilo discuss the Essenes in detail. Most scholars[citation needed] believe that the community at Qumran that most likely produced the Dead Sea Scrolls was an offshoot of the Essenes. However, this theory has been disputed by some; for example,Norman Golb argues that the primary research on theQumran documents and ruins (by FatherRoland de Vaux, from theÉcole Biblique et Archéologique de Jérusalem) lacked scientific method, and drew wrong conclusions that comfortably entered the academic canon. For Golb, the number of documents is too extensive and includes many different writing styles and calligraphies; the ruins seem to have been a fortress, used as a military base for a very long period of time—including the 1st century—so they therefore could not have been inhabited by the Essenes; and the large graveyard excavated in 1870, just 50 metres (160 ft) east of the Qumran ruins, was made of over 1200 tombs that included many women and children; Pliny clearly wrote that the Essenes who lived near the Dead Sea "had not one woman, had renounced all pleasure... and no one was born in their race". Golb's book presents observations about de Vaux's premature conclusions and their uncontroverted acceptance by the general academic community. He states that the documents probably stemmed from various libraries in Jerusalem, kept safe in the desert from the Roman invasions.[63] Other scholars refute these arguments—particularly since Josephus describes some Essenes as allowing marriage.[64]
Another issue is the relationship between theEssaioi and Philo'sTherapeutae andTherapeutrides. He regarded theTherapeutae as a contemplative branch of theEssaioi who, he said, pursued an active life.[65]
One theory on the formation of the Essenes suggests that the movement was founded by a Jewish high priest, dubbed by the Essenes theTeacher of Righteousness, whose office had been usurped byJonathan (of priestly but not ofZadokite lineage), labeled the "man of lies" or "false priest".[66][67][unreliable source?] Others follow this line and a few argue that the Teacher of Righteousness was not only the leader of the Essenes at Qumran, but was also identical to the original Messianic figure about 150 years before the time of theGospels.[36] Fred Gladstone Bratton notes that
The Teacher of Righteousness of the Scrolls would seem to be a prototype ofJesus, for both spoke of theNew Covenant; they preached a similar gospel; each was regarded as a Savior or Redeemer; and each was condemned and put to death by reactionary factions... We do not know whether Jesus was an Essene, but some scholars feel that he was at least influenced by them.[68]
Lawrence Schiffman has argued that the Qumran community may be calledSadducean, and not Essene, since their legal positions retain a link with Sadducean tradition.[69]
Early religious concepts and terminologies recur in theDead Sea Scrolls, andYardena(Jordan) has been the name of every baptismal water inMandaeism.[78]: 5 Mara ḏ-Rabuta (Mandaic for 'Lord of Greatness', which is One of the names for the Mandaean GodHayyi Rabbi) is found in theGenesis Apocryphon II, 4.[79]: 552–553 Another early self-appellation isbhiria zidqa, meaning 'elect of righteousness' or 'the chosen righteous', a term found in theBook of Enoch andGenesis Apocryphon II, 4.[79]: 552–553 [70][80]: 18 [81] As Nasoraeans, Mandaeans believe that they constitute the true congregation ofbnia nhura, meaning 'Sons of Light', a term used by the Essenes.[82]: 50 [83] Mandaean scripture affirms that the Mandaeans descend directly fromJohn the Baptist's original Nasoraean Mandaean disciples in Jerusalem.[84]: vi, ix Similar to the Essenes, it is forbidden for a Mandaean to reveal the names of the angels to a gentile.[85]: 94 Essene graves are oriented north–south[86] and a Mandaean's grave must also be in the north–south direction so that if the dead Mandaean were stood upright, they would face north.[85]: 184 Mandaeans have an oral tradition that some were originally vegetarian[72]: 32 and also similar to the Essenes, they arepacifists.[87]: 47 [88]
Thebit manda (beth manda) is described asbiniana rba ḏ-šrara ("the Great building of Truth") andbit tušlima ("house of Perfection") inMandaean texts such as theQulasta,Ginza Rabba, and theMandaean Book of John. The only known literary parallels are in Essene texts fromQumran such as theCommunity Rule, which has similar phrases such as the "house of Perfection and Truth in Israel" (Community Rule 1QS VIII 9) and "house of Truth in Israel."[89]
Rituals of the Essenes andChristianity have much in common; the Dead Sea Scrolls describe a meal of bread and wine that will be instituted by themessiah, both the Essenes and Christians were eschatological communities, where judgement on the world would come at any time.[91] The New Testament also possibly quotes writings used by the Qumran community. Luke 1:31-35 states" And now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High...the son of God" which seems to echo4Q 246, stating:"He will be called great and he will be called Son of God, and they will call him Son of the Most High...He will judge the earth in righteousness...and every nation will bow down to him".[91]
Other similarities include high devotion to the faith even to the point of martyrdom, communal prayer, self denial and a belief in a captivity in a sinful world.[92]
John the Baptist has also been argued to have been an Essene, as there are numerous parallels between John's mission and the Essenes, which suggests he perhaps was trained by the Essene community.[90]
In the early church a book called theOdes of Solomon was written. The writer was likely a very early convert from the Essene community into Christianity. The book reflects a mixture of mystical ideas of the Essene community with Christian concepts.[93]
Both the Essenes and Christians practiced voluntary celibacy and prohibited divorce.[94] Both also used concepts of "light" and "darkness" for good and evil.[95]
A few have claimed that the Essenes had an idea of a pierced Messiah based on4Q285; however, the interpretation of the text is ambiguous. Some scholars interpreted it as the Messiah being killed himself, while modern scholars mostly interpret it as the Messiah executing the enemies of Israel in an eschatological war.[96]
Both the Essenes and Christians practiced a ritual of immersion by water, however the Essenes had it as a regular practice instead of a one time event.[10]
The Magharians orMagarites (Arabic:Al-Maghariyyah, 'people of the caves')[97] were, according toJacob Qirqisani, aJewish sect founded in the1st century BCE.Abraham Harkavy and others identify the Magharians with the Essenes, and their author referred to as the "Alexandrinian" withPhilo (whose affinity for the Essenes is well-known), based on the following evidence:[97][98]
The sect's name, which, in his view, does not refer to its books but to its followers who lived in caves or desert areas—an established Essene lifestyle;
The sect's founding date coinciding with that of the Essenes;
The theory that God interacts with humans through an angel aligning with Essene beliefs, as well as Philo's concept of theLogos;
Qirqisani's omission of the Essenes from his list of Jewish sects, which can be explained if he considered the Magharians to be synonymous with the Essenes.
^abcGurtner, Daniel M.; Stuckenbruck, Loren T., eds. (2020).T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism. Vol. 2. T&T Clark. pp. 250–252.ISBN978-0-567-66144-9.
^F.F. Bruce, Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Paternoster Press, 1956.
^abPliny the Elder.Historia Naturalis. Vol. V, 17 or 29, in other editions V, (15).73.Ab occidente litora Esseni fugiunt usque qua nocent, gens sola et in toto orbe praeter ceteras mira, sine ulla femina, omni venere abdicata, sine pecunia, socia palmarum. in diem ex aequo convenarum turba renascitur, large frequentantibus quos vita fessos ad mores eorum fortuna fluctibus agit. ita per saeculorum milia—incredibile dictu—gens aeterna est, in qua nemo nascitur. tam fecunda illis aliorum vitae paenitentia est! infra hos Engada oppidum fuit, secundum ab Hierosolymis fertilitate palmetorumque nemoribus, nunc alterum bustum. inde Masada castellum in rupe, et ipsum haut procul Asphaltite. et hactenus Iudaea est. cf.English translation.
^And when I was about sixteen years old, I had a mind to make trial of the several sects that were among us. These sects are three: The first is that of the Pharisees, the second that Sadducees, and the third that of the Essenes, as we have frequently told youThe Life of Josephus Flavius, 2.
^Goranson, Stephen (1999). "Others and Intra-Jewish Polemic as Reflected in Qumran Texts". In Peter W. Flint; James C. VanderKam (eds.).The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment. Vol. 2.Leiden:Brill Publishers. pp. 534–551.ISBN90-04-11061-5.OCLC230716707.
^For example, James C. VanderKam, "Identity and History of the Community". In The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment, ed. Peter W. Flint and James C. VanderKam, 2:487–533. Leiden: Brill, 1999. The earliest known proposer of this etymology was P. Melanchthon, inJohann Carion,Chronica, 1532, folio 68 verso. Among the other proposers before 1947, e.g., 1839 Isaak Jost, "Die Essaer," Israelitische Annalen 19, 145–7.
^Biblical Archeology Society Staff (8 May 2022)."Who Were the Essenes?".Biblical Archaeology Society. Biblical Archeology Society. Retrieved9 May 2022.
^abEllegård, Alvar;Jesus—One Hundred Years Before Christ: A Study in Creative Mythology, (London 1999).
^The suggestion apparently goes back toFlinders Petrie'sPersonal religion in Egypt before Christianity (1909), 62ff; see William Herbert Mackean,Christian Monasticism in Egypt to the Close of the Fourth Century (1920), p. 18.
^Josephus (c. 75).The Wars of the Jews. 2.137–138. Josephus' mention of the three-year duration of the Essene probation may be compared with the phased character of the entrance procedure in the Qumran Rule of the Community [1QS; at least two years plus an indeterminate initial catechetical phase, 1QS VI]. The provisional surrender of property required at the beginning of the last year of the novitiate derives from actual social experience of the difficulties of sharing property in a fully communitarian setting, cf. Brian J. Capper, 'The Interpretation of Acts 5.4', Journal for the Study of the New Testament 19 (1983) pp. 117–131; idem, '"In der Hand des Ananias." Erwägungen zu 1QS VI,20 und der urchristlichen Gütergemeinschaft',Revue de Qumran 12(1986) 223–236; Eyal Regev, "Comparing Sectarian Practice and Organization: The Qumran Sect in Light of the Regulations of theShakers,Hutterites,Mennonites andAmish",Numen 51 (2004), pp. 146–181.
^Furstenberg, Yair (8 November 2016). "Initiation and the Ritual Purification from Sin: Between Qumran and the Apostolic Tradition".Dead Sea Discoveries.23 (3):365–394.doi:10.1163/15685179-12341409.
^Kittle, Gerhardt.Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Volume 7. p. 814, note 99.
^Lim, Timothy (2021).Essenes in Judaean Society: The sectarians of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Oxford University Press's Academic Insights for the Thinking World.
^Rogers, Guy MacLean (2021).For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 186.ISBN978-0-300-24813-5.
^Macuch, Rudolf A Mandaic Dictionary (with E. S. Drower). Oxford: Clarendon Press 1963.
^R. Macuch, "Anfänge der Mandäer. Versuch eines geschichtliches Bildes bis zur früh-islamischen Zeit", chap. 6 of F. Altheim and R. Stiehl,Die Araber in der alten Welt II: Bis zur Reichstrennung, Berlin, 1965.
^The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Book I (Sects 1–46) Frank Williams, translator, 1987 (E.J. Brill, Leiden) ISBN 90-04-07926-2
^abRudolph, Kurt (April 1964). "War Der Verfasser Der Oden Salomos Ein "Qumran-Christ"? Ein Beitrag zur Diskussion um die Anfänge der Gnosis".Revue de Qumrân.4 (16). Peeters:523–555.
^Coughenour, Robert A. (December 1982). "The Wisdom Stance of Enoch's Redactor".Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period.13 (1–2). Brill: 52.doi:10.1163/157006382X00035.
^abSchiffman, Lawrence H.; VanderKam, James C., eds. (2000)."Magharians".Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-508450-4.
^Harkavy, Abraham. "Le-Ḳorot ha-Kittot be-Yisrael". InGrätz, Heinrich (ed.).Geschichte der Juden (in Hebrew). Vol. iii. p. 496.
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