Essenes

The Essenes (sg. Essene, IPA: [ɛˈsin]) were a Judaic religious group that flourished from the 2nd century B.C.E. to the 1st century CE. Many scholars of separate, but related groups, that had in common mystic, eschatological, messianic, and ascetic beliefs that were referred to as the "Essenes."

Contemporary ancient sources

The main source of information about the life and belief of Essenes is the detailed account contained in a work of the 1st century Jewish historiographer Flavius Josephus entitled The Jewish War written about 73-75 C.E. (War 2.119-161) and his shorter description in his Antiquities of the Jews finished some 20 years later (Ant. 18.11 & 18-22). Claiming first hand knowledge (Life §§10-11), he refers to them by the name Essenoi and lists them as the followers of one of the three sects in "Jewish Philosophy'" (War 2.119) alongside the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The only other known contemporary accounts about the Essenes are two similarly detailed ones by the Jewish philosopher Philo (fl. c. 20 C.E. - c. 54 C.E.; Quod Omnis Probus Liber Sit XII.75-87, and the excerpt from his Hypothetica 11.1-18 preserved by Eusebius, Praep. Evang. Bk VIII), who, however, admits to not being quite certain of the Greek form of their name that he recalls as Essaioi (Quod Omn. Prob. XII.75), the brief reference to them by the Roman equestrian Pliny the Elder (fl. 23 C.E. - 79 C.E.; Natural History, Bk 5.73). Pliny, also a geographer and explorer, located them in the desert near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, found in caves at Qumran, are widely believed to be the work of Essenes or to reflect Essene beliefs. See below.

Name

Josephus uses the name Essenes in his two main accounts (War 2.119, 158, 160; Ant. 13.171-2) as well as in some other contexts ("an account of the Essenes," Ant. 13.298; "the gate of the Essenes," War 5.145; "Judas of the Essene race," Ant. 13.311, but some manuscripts read here Essaion; "holding the Essenes in honor," Ant. 15.372; "a certain Essene named Manaemus," Ant. 15.373; "to hold all Essenes in honor," Ant. 15.378; "the Essenes," Ant. 18.11 & 18; Life 10). In several places, however, Josephus has Essaios, which is usually assumed to mean Essene ("Judas of the Essaios race," War I.78; "Simon of the Essaios race," War 2.113; "John the Essaios," War 2.567; 3.11; "those who are called by us Essaioi," Ant. 15.371; "Simon a man of the Essaios race," Ant. 17.346). Philo's usage is Essaioi, although he admits this Greek form of the original name that according to his etymology signifies "holiness" to be inexact (NH XII.75). Pliny's Latin text has Esseni. Josephus identified the Essenes as one of the three major Jewish sects of that period.

According to a controversial view put forward by Dead Sea Scrolls Scholar Géza Vermes, both Josephus and Philo pronounced the Essenes' name as "Esaoin," which means in Arabic followers of "Esa," which Vermes says is the name of Jesus according to the most ancient mosaic portrait found in Turkey dated 70 C.E. which says underneath "Esa our Lord." Mainstream scholars usually stress a number of fundamental differences between Dead Sea Scroll theology and early Christian theology to argue that the Essenes cannot be considered identical to any kind of Christianity.

In Eerdman's Beyond the Essene Hypothesis, Gabriele Boccaccini (p.47) implies that a convincing etymology for the name Essene has not been found, but that the term applies to a larger group within Palestine that also included the Qumran community.

It is possible that the Talmudic statement (Kiddushin Ch. 4) "the best of the physicians will go to hell" were referring to the Essenes. The Talmudic term for healer is Assia. (Reuvein Margolies Toldot Ha'Adam).

Location

According to Josephus the Essenes had settled "not in one city" but "in large numbers in every town" (War 2.124). Philo speaks of "more than four thousand" Essaioi living in "Palestinian Syria" (Quod Omn. Prob. XII.75), more precisely, "in many cities of Judaea and in many villages and grouped in great societies of many members" (Hyp. 11.1).

Pliny locates them "on the west side of the Dead Sea, away from the coast ... [above] the town of Engeda."

Some modern scholars and archaeologists have argued that Essenes inhabited the settlement at Qumran, a plateau in the Judean 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. This view, though not yet conclusively proven, has come to dominate the scholarly discussion and public perception of the Essenes.

Josephus' reference to a "gate of the Essenes" in the Temple Mount perhaps suggests an Essene community living in this quarter of the city or regularly gathering at this part of the Temple precincts.

Rules, customs, theology and beliefs

Following the qualification above that it is correct to identify the community at Qumran with the Essenes) and that the community at Qumran are the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls), then according to the Dead Sea Scrolls the Essenes' community school was called "Yahad" (meaning "oneness of God") in order to differentiate themselves from the rest of the Jews who are repeatedly labeled "The Breakers of the Covenant," especially in their prophetic book-scroll entitled "Milhama" (meaning " The War") in which the master of the Essenes (referred to as "The Teacher of Righteousness") prophesied that the so-called "Breakers of the Covenant" Jews will be on the side of the Antichrist. The accounts by Josephus and Philo show that the Essenes (Philo: Essaioi) led a strictly celibate but communal life—often compared by scholars to later Christian monastic living—although Josephus speaks also of another "rank of Essenes" that did get married (War 2.160-161). According to Josephus, they had customs and observances such as collective ownership (War 2.122; Ant. 18.20), elected a leader to attend to the interests of them all whose orders they obeyed (War 2.123, 134), were forbidden from swearing oaths (War 2.135) and sacrificing animals (Philo, §75), controlled their temper and served as channels of peace (War 2.135), carried weapons only as protection against robbers (War 2.125), had no slaves but served each other (Ant. 18.21) and, as a result of communal ownership, did not engage in trading (War 2.127). Both Josephus and Philo have lengthy accounts of their communal meetings, meals and religious celebrations.

After a total of three years probation (War 2.137-138), newly joining members would take an oath that included the commitment to practice piety towards Yahweh and righteousness towards humanity, to maintain a pure life-style, to abstain from criminal and immoral activities, to transmit their rules uncorrupted and to preserve the books of the Essenes and the names of the Angels (War 2.139-142). Their theology included belief in the immortality of the soul and that they would receive their souls back after death (War 2.153-158, Ant. 18.18). Part of their activities included purification by water rituals, which was supported by rainwater catchment and storage.

The Church Father Epiphanius (writing in the fourth century CE) seems to make a distinction between two main groups within the Essenes [1]: "Of those that came before his [Elxai, an Ossaean prophet] time and during it, the Osseaens and the Nazarean." (Panarion 1:19). Epiphanius describes each group as following:

The Nazarean - they were Jews by nationality - originally from Gileaditis, Bashanitis and the Transjordon... 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 Nazarean and the others...
(Panarion 1:18)

After this [Nazarean] sect in turn comes another closely connected with them, called the Ossaeanes. 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 Nazarean.
(Panarion 1:19)

Scholarly discussion

The Essenes are discussed in detail by Josephus and Philo.

Many scholars believe that the community at Qumran that allegedly produced the Dead Sea Scrolls was an offshoot of the Essenes; however, this theory has been disputed by Norman Golb and other scholars.

Since the 19th century attempts have been made to connect early Christianity and Pythagoreanism with the Essenes: It was suggested that Jesus of Nazareth was an Essene, and that evolved from this sect of Judaism, with which it shared many ideas and symbols. According to Martin A. Larson, the now misunderstood Essenes were Jewish Pythagoreans who lived as monks. As vegetarian celibates in self-reliant communities who shunned marriage and family, they preached a coming war with the Sons of Darkness. As the Sons of Light, this reflected a separate influence from Zoroastrianism via their parent ideology of Pythagoreanism. According to Larson, both the Essenes and Pythagoreans resembled thiasoi, or cult units of the Orphic mysteries. John the Baptist is widely regarded to be a prime example of an Essene who had left the communal life (see Ant. 18.116-119), and it is thought they aspired to emulate their own founding Teacher of Righteousness who was crucified. However, J.B. Lightfoot's essay (On Some Points Connected with the Essenes) argues that attempts to find the roots of Essenism in Pythagoreanism and the roots of Christianity in Essenism are flawed. Authors such as Robert Eisenman present differing views that support the Essene/Early Christian connection.

Another issue is the relationship between the Essaioi and Philo's Therapeutae and Therapeutrides (see De Vita Contemplativa). It may be argued that he regarded the Therapeutae as a contemplative branch of the Essaioi who, he said, pursued an active life (Vita Cont. I.1).

One theory on the formation of the Essenes suggested the movement was founded by a Jewish High Priest, dubbed by the Essenes the Teacher of Righteousness, whose office had been usurped by Jonathan (of priestly but not Zadokite lineage), labeled the "man of lies" or "false priest."

Connections with Kabbalah

According to a Jewish legend, one of the Essenes, named Menachem, had passed at least some of his mystical knowledge to the Talmudic mystic Nehunya Ben Ha-Kanah, to whom the Kabbalistic tradition attributes Sefer ha-Bahir and, by some opinions, Sefer ha-Kanah, Sefer ha-Peliah and Sefer ha-Temunah. Some Essene rituals, such as daily immersion in the Mikvah, coincide with contemporary Hasidic practices; some historians had also suggested, that name "Essene" is an hellenized form of the word "Hasidim" or "Hasin" ("pious ones"). However, the legendary connections between Essene and Kabbalistic tradition are not verified by modern historians.

Connection to Pharisees

The Talmud also refers to Hasidim. In the mishna Tractate Berachot, It is stated that "the early Hasidim would spend an hour in preparation for prayer, an hour praying. and an hour coming away from prayer," "The Hasidim would pray with sunrise." Tzvi Hirsch Chajes believes that the Essenes can be identified with the Hasidim, an offshoot of the Pharisees. (Kol Kitvei Maritz Chiyus Vol. 2). See however the statement of Reuvain Margolies above.

Modern and contemporary Essenes

Scholars such as J. Gordon Melton in his Encyclopedia of American Religions state that the modern American Pseudo-Essene movement possesses no authentic historical ties to the ancient Essene movement. Melton states, "Essene material is directly derivative of two occult bestsellers—The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, by Levi H. Dowling; and The Mystical Life of Jesus, by Rosicrucian author H. Spencer Lewis."

However, other scholars such as Gideon Ousely, also known as the Gospel of the Holy Twelve, and Edmund Bordeaux Szekely, as well as other scholars such as Gregg Braden assert that the Essene teachings had been hidden and assimilated into many mystical spiritual traditions around the world, where the teachings were hidden within ancient libraries. It was in 1928 that Edmond Bordeaux Szekely first published his translation of The Essene Gospel of Peace, an ancient manuscript allegedly discovered in the Secret Archives of the Vatican and in old Slavonic in the Royal Library of the Habsburgs of which much was destroyed by a fire that destroyed the monastery that stood in its place. (now the property of the Austrian government)

Currently there are several modern Essene Groups around the world.

Essenes in fiction

The Essenes are an important part of H. Rider Haggard's Pearl-Maiden: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem. [2]

A community of Essenes led by John the Baptist takes in time traveller Karl Glogauer in Michael Moorcock's 1966 science fiction novel Behold the Man.

The production material for Neon Genesis Evangelion identifies the SEELE group as having begun as the Essenes.

Norman Mailer's novel The Gospel According to the Son (ISBN 0-679-45783-6) (1997) portrays Jesus Christ as an Essene Jew.

Essenes feature in Sean Young's Violent Sands. Many of the scenes in this novel are set in the well-known Essene community at Khirbet Qumran.

Jesus is presented as having studied with the Essenes in C.K. Stead's 2006 novel 'My name was Judas'.

Jesus is presented as a member of the Essenes in the Role Playing Game RPGQuest.

See also

• Therapeutae
• Jewish eschatology
• Mount Carmel
• Qumran
• Dead Sea scrolls
• Ebionite
• Ein Gedi
• Vegetarianism and religion

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Baldwin, James. The Fire Next Time. New York: Dial Press, 1963. OCLC 168049
• Bauer, Walter, and Robert A. Kraft. Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity. Mifflintown, PA: Sigler Press, 1996. ISBN 0962364274
• Bergmeier, Roland. 1993. Die Essener-Berichte des Flavius Josephus. Kok Pharos, Kampen. ISBN 903900014X
• Burns, Joshua Ezra. "Essene Sectarianism and Social Differentiation in Judaea After 70 C.E." Harvard Theological Review 99 (2006) 247–74.
• Ewing, Upton Clary. The Essene Christ. New York: Philosophical Library, 1961. OCLC 384703
• Francis Legge, Forerunners and Rivals of Christianity, From 330 B.C.E. to 330 C.E. (1914), University Books New York, 1964. OCLC 381558
• Larson, Martin Alfred. The Story of Christian Origins. Washington: J.J. Binns, 1977. ISBN 0883310902
• Larson, Martin Alfred. The Essene Heritage. New York: Philosophical Library, 1967. OCLC 712416
• Savoy, Gene. The Essaei Document Secrets of an Eternal Race : Codicil to The Decoded New Testament. The Sacred teachings of light, codex 7. Reno, Nev: International Community of Christ, 1980. ISBN 0936202033
• Schonfield, Hugh J. Essene Odyssey Mystery of the True Teacher and the Essene Impact on the Shaping of Human Destiny. Element Bks, 1993. OCLC 59993796
• Schonfield, Hugh Joseph. Those Incredible Christians. [New York]: B. Geis Associates; Distributed by Grove Press, 1968. OCLC 439312

External links

• Temple of Alhym Modern Essene Movement
• Historical Facts on Essene Culture
• Thematically compiled comparison of the parallels in the ancient sources
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Essenes
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Essenes
• Jewish Encyclopedia: Essenes
• Library/bibliography on Essene texts and beliefs both modern and ancient, historical and created]

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