Those who qualified for membership were called upon to swear piety to God, justice toward men, hatred of falsehood, love of truth, and faithful observance of all other tenets of the Essene sect. es-senz', (Essenoi, Essaioi): Contents I. The Essenes are what we might best call an apocalyptic sect of Judaism. While they shared similar religious beliefs, they did not share the taste for the “high life”. [49] Purity and cleanliness was considered so important to the Essenes that they would refrain from defecation on the Sabbath.[50]. Unlike Philo, who did not mention any particular geographical location of the Essenes other than the whole land of Israel, Pliny places them somewhere above Ein Gedi, next to the Dead Sea. Paternoster Press, 1956. These Jews are thought to have belonged to a devout, ascetic and communal sect called the Essenes, one of four distinct Jewish groups living in Judaea before and during the Roman era. Updates? The Essenes were a strict Torah observant, Messianic, apocalyptic, baptist, wilderness, new covenant Jewish sect. CHRIST, CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. John the Baptist. The name Essene, itself, is either a version of the Greek word for Holy, or various Aramaic dialect words for "pious", and is probably not what the groups' members called themselves. 1. [53], Josephus and Philo discuss the Essenes in detail. Because they were convinced that they were the true remnant, these Qumran Essenes had separated themselves from Judaism at large and devoted themselves to personal purity and preparation for the final war between the "Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness." [33], Pliny locates them "on the west side of the Dead Sea, away from the coast... [above] the town of Engeda". [42] The Essenes chose not to possess slaves but served each other[43] and, as a result of communal ownership, did not engage in trading. He states that the documents probably stemmed from various libraries in Jerusalem, kept safe in the desert from the Roman invasions. Probably related to this doctrine was their gift of prophecy. In The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment, ed. The second, more common, theory claims that this group starte… When was the first name Essene first recorded in the United States? This page was last edited on 8 February 2021, at 14:59. With few exceptions, they shunned Temple worship and were content to live ascetic lives of manual labour in seclusion. Consequently some argue that the man carrying the jug was an Essene. The Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the most startling discoveries of the 21st century. He further adds that the Essenes ritually immersed in water every morning, ate together after prayer, devoted themselves to charity and benevolence, forbade the expression of anger, studied the books of the elders, preserved secrets, and were very mindful of the names of the angels kept in their sacred writings. They were extremely strict in observing the Sabbath. The followers of the first of which are the Pharisees; of the second, the Sadducees; and the third sect, which pretends to a severer discipline, are called Essenes. [44] Josephus and Philo provide lengthy accounts of their communal meetings, meals and religious celebrations. But, unlike the Pharisees, the Essenes denied the resurrection of the body and refused to immerse themselves in public life. Their teachings were recorded in books that the members were required to pass on with gr… [3] Rachel Elior questions even the existence of the Essenes.[4][5][6]. and the 1st cent. According to the Community Rules, repentance was a prerequisite to baptism: "They shall not enter the water... for they will not be cleansed unless they have turned from their evil. The Essenes are also believed to have been residents of the reclusive Qumran community which produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. Philo's Account of the Essenes. Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls . They differ in the time and place that the Essenes originated. p. 1. : "Moses should not pray to God in a city full of idols"). [30], According to Josephus, the Essenes had settled "not in one city" but "in large numbers in every town". and 70 A.D., remains the subject of scholarly debate to this day. (comp. JSOT on behalf of the Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies: Sheffield, 1989. Most scholars[citation needed] believe that the community at Qumran that allegedly produced the Dead Sea Scrolls was an offshoot of the Essenes. The Name of the Essenes The Greek name Essenoi or Essaioi is related to the Aramaic hasya, "pious," 3 and this Aramaic word has been confirmed in the west in a Palmyrene inscription. Property was held in common and all details of daily life were regulated by officials. Although there is still much unknown about this group, they appear to have been theologically distinct for a heightened reverence for Moses, a strict interpretation of the law, and for following their own sacrificial system. Consequently some argue that the man carrying the jug was an Essene. These facts, it is argued, points to a community of people that did not have women or slaves.
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