Essenes
Essenes אִסִּיִים | |
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Historical leader | |
Founded | 2nd century BCE |
Dissolved | 1st century CE |
Headquarters | Qumran (proposed)[1] |
Ideology |
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Religion | Judaism |
Part of a series on |
Jews and Judaism |
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The Essenes (/ˈɛsiːnz, ɛˈsiːnz/; Hebrew: אִסִּיִים, Isiyim; Greek: Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi) were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE.[2]
The Essene movement likely originated as a distinct group among Jews during Jonathan Apphus' time, driven by disputes over Jewish law and the belief that Jonathan's high priesthood was illegitimate.[3] Most scholars think the Essenes seceded from the Zadokite priests.[4] They saw themselves as the genuine remnant of Israel, upholding the true covenant with God, and attributed their interpretation of the Torah to their early leader, the Teacher of Righteousness, possibly a legitimate high priest. Embracing a conservative approach to Jewish law, they observed a strict hierarchy favoring priests (the Sons of Zadok) over laypeople, emphasized ritual purity, and held a dualistic worldview.[3]
According to Jewish writers
The Essenes have gained fame in modern times as a result of the discovery of an extensive group of religious documents known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are commonly believed to be the Essenes' library. The scrolls were found at Qumran, an archaeological site situated along the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, believed to have been the dwelling place of an Essene community. These documents preserve multiple copies of parts of the Hebrew Bible along with deuterocanonical and sectarian manuscripts, including writings such as the Community Rule, the Damascus Document, and the War Scroll, which provide valuable insights into the communal life, ideology and theology of the Essenes.
According to the conventional view, the Essenes disappeared after the First 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 as Early Christianity and Mandaeism.[9][10]
Etymology
Josephus uses the name Essenes in his two main accounts, The Jewish War 2.119, 158, 160 and Antiquities of the Jews, 13.171–2, but some manuscripts read here Essaion ("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 has Essaios, which is usually assumed to mean Essene ("Judas of the Essaios race";[17] "Simon of the Essaios race";[18] "John the Essaios";[19] "those who are called by us Essaioi";[20] "Simon a man of the Essaios race").[21] Josephus identified the Essenes as one of the three major Jewish sects of that period.[22]
Philo's usage is Essaioi, although he admits this
Gabriele Boccaccini implies that a convincing etymology for the name Essene has not been found, but that the term applies to a larger group within Judea that also included the Qumran community.[25]
It was proposed before the
Flavius Josephus in Chapter 8 of "The Jewish War" states:
2.(119)For there are three philosophical sects among the Jews. 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. These last are Jews by birth, and seem to have a greater affection for each other than other sects have.[31]
Location
According to Josephus, 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 and Syria",[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 of
Some modern scholars and
Rules, customs, theology, and beliefs
The accounts by Josephus and Philo show that the Essenes led a strictly communal life—often compared to later Christian monasticism.[37] Many of the Essene groups appear to have been celibate, 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 from swearing oaths[42] and from sacrificing animals.[43] They controlled their tempers and served as channels of peace,[42] carrying weapons only for protection against robbers.[44] The Essenes chose not to possess slaves but served each other[45] and, as a result of communal ownership, did not engage in trading.[46] Josephus and Philo provide lengthy accounts of their communal meetings, meals, and religious celebrations. This communal 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-year
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 or mikveh 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 from defecation on the Sabbath.[55]
According to
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]
Calendar
The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered, a translation by Robert Eisenman and Michael Wise, reveals the Essene calendar as celebrating the Sabbath commencing on the 4th day of Abib (Nisan) page 192 3 days after the new moon of the Passover month then celebrated on the 11th, 18th and 25th. The second Essene month reveals a Sabbath on the second day exactly 7 days from the 25th of Abib Sabbath witnessing a solar calendar continuation. Page 193 of the same translation reveals a second recalibration commencing at the 2nd equinox where at the beginning of the 7th Month of The Feast of Trumpets the Sabbath commences again on the 4th day 3 days after the New Moon. The Essenes did it this way because in Genesis it reads God made the moon on the 4th day and rested 3 days later. The New Moon is the first day of the Hebrew month.
Scholarly discussion
Josephus and Philo 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 the Qumran documents and ruins (by Father Roland de Vaux, from the École 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.[62] Other scholars refute these arguments—particularly since Josephus describes some Essenes as allowing marriage.[63]
Another issue is the relationship between the Essaioi and Philo's Therapeutae and Therapeutrides. He regarded the Therapeutae as a contemplative branch of the Essaioi who, he said, pursued an active life.[64]
One theory on the formation of the Essenes suggests that the movement was founded by a Jewish high priest, dubbed by the Essenes the
The Teacher of Righteousness of the Scrolls would seem to be a prototype of Jesus, for both spoke of the New 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.[67]
Lawrence Schiffman has argued that the Qumran community may be called Sadducean, and not Essene, since their legal positions retain a link with Sadducean tradition.[68]
Connection to other religious traditions
Christianity
Rituals of the Essenes and Christianity have much in common; the Dead Sea Scrolls describe a meal of bread and wine that will be instituted by the messiah, both the Essenes and Christians were eschatological communities, where judgement on the world would come at any time.[70] 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 echo 4Q 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".[70]
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.[71]
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.[69]
In the early church a book called the Odes 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.[72]
Both the Essenes and Christians practiced voluntary celibacy and prohibited divorce.[73] Both also used concepts of "light" and "darkness" for good and evil.[74]
A few have argued that the Essenes had an idea of a pierced Messiah based on 4Q285; 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.[75]
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]
Mandaeism
The
Early religious concepts and terminologies recur in the
The beit manda (
Magarites
The Magharians or
- 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 the Logos;
- 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.
See also
- Hellenistic Judaism
- Jewish vegetarianism
- Sacred Mysteries
- Sons of Zadok
References
- ^ אשל, חנן, "תולדות התגליות הארכאולוגיות בקומראן", בתוך: מנחם קיסטר (עורך), מגילות קומראן: מבואות ומחקרים, כרך א', ירושלים: יד יצחק בן-צבי. 2009, עמ' 9. (Hebrew)
- ISBN 978-90-04-17017-9.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-567-66144-9.
- ^ F.F. Bruce, Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Paternoster Press, 1956.
- ^ a b Pliny 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. - ISBN 0-19-826301-5. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
- The Wars of the Jews. 2.119.
- ISBN 978-90-474-1061-4, retrieved 2 August 2023
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- ^ ISBN 978-1-932792-21-8.
- ^ Josephus (c. 94). Antiquities of the Jews. 15.372.
- ^ Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. 15.373.
- ^ Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. 15.378.
- ^ Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. 18.11.
- ^ a b Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. 18.18.
- ^ Josephus. The Life of Flavius Josephus. 10.
- ^ Josephus. The Wars of the Jews. I.78.
- ^ Josephus. The Wars of the Jews. 2.113.
- ^ Josephus. The Wars of the Jews. 2.567; 3.11.
- ^ Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. 15.371.
- ^ Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. 17.346.
- ^ 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 you The Life of Josephus Flavius, 2.
- ^ Philo. Quod Omnis Probus Liber. XII.75–87.
- ^ a b Pliny the Elder. Natural History. 5.73.
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- ^ 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, in Johann Carion, Chronica, 1532, folio 68 verso. Among the other proposers before 1947, e.g., 1839 Isaak Jost, "Die Essaer," Israelitische Annalen 19, 145–7.
- ^ OCLC 6150927.
- ^ "Mishnah Megillah 4:8". sefaria.org. Sefaria.
- ^ Schiffman, Lawrence H. (27 July 2015). "Discovery and Acquisition, 1947–1956, Lawrence H. Schiffman, Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1994". Center for Online Judaic Studies. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ Whiston and Maier, 1999, "The Jewish War", Chapter 8, p. 736
- The Wars of the Jews. 2.124.
- ^ Philo (c. 20–54). Quod Omnis Probus Liber. XII.75.
- Praeparatio Evangelica. VIII.
- ^ Biblical Archeology Society Staff (8 May 2022). "Who Were the Essenes?". Biblical Archaeology Society. Biblical Archeology Society. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
- ^ a b Ellegård, Alvar; Jesus—One Hundred Years Before Christ: A Study in Creative Mythology, (London 1999).
- ^ The suggestion apparently goes back to Flinders Petrie's Personal 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.
- The Wars of the Jews. book II, chap. 8, para. 13.
- The Wars of the Jews. 2.122.
- ^ Josephus (c. 94). Antiquities of the Jews. 18.20.
- The Wars of the Jews. 2.123, 134.
- ^ The Wars of the Jews. 2.135.
- ^ Philo, §75: ου ζωα καταθυοντες [= not sacrificing animals]
- The Wars of the Jews. 2.125.
- ^ Philo of Alexandria, Every Good Man is Free, 75-79.
- The Wars of the Jews. 2.127.
- ISBN 978-0674046993.
- ^ "Essenes". Retrieved 12 December 2019.
- ^ Kaufmann Kohler (1906). "Jewish Encyclopedia - Essenes".
- 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 the Shakers, Hutterites, Mennonites and Amish", Numen 51 (2004), pp. 146–181.
- The Wars of the Jews. 2.139–142.
- The Wars of the Jews. 2.153–158.
- .
- ^ Kittle, Gerhardt. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Volume 7. p. 814, note 99.
- ISBN 9781461645603. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
- ^ a b Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 378). Panarion. 1:19.
- ^ Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 378). Panarion. 1:18.
- ISBN 978-90-04-27510-2.
- ISBN 978-0-8091-4615-4.
- ^ Lim, Timothy (2021). Essenes in Judaean Society: The sectarians of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Oxford University Press's Academic Insights for the Thinking World.
- ^ "Essenes in Judaean Society: The sectarians of the Dead Sea Scrolls". 17 January 2021.
- OCLC 35047608.[page needed]
- ^ Josephus, Flavius. Jewish War, Book II. Chapter 8, Paragraph 13.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Philo. De Vita Contemplativa. I.1.
- ^ McGirk, Tim (16 March 2009). "Scholar Claims Dead Sea Scrolls 'Authors' Never Existed". Time. Archived from the original on 20 March 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
- ^ "Rachel Elior Responds to Her Critics". Jim West. 15 March 2009. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
- ^ Bratton, Fred Gladstone. 1967. A History of the Bible. Boston: Beacon Press, 79-80.
- ^ James VanderKam and Peter Flint, The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls, p. 251.
- ^ a b "St. John the Baptist - Possible relationship with the Essenes | Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
- ^ a b "The Essenes and the origins of Christianity". The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
- ^ "BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: Lost and Hidden Christianity". BBC. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
- ^ Denzer, Pam. "Odes of Solomon: Early Hymns of the Jewish Christian Mystical Tradition".
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(help) - ^ "The Essenes and the origins of Christianity". The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-8091-4615-4.
- ISBN 978-0-567-65813-5.
- ^ a b Rudolph, Kurt (7 April 2008). "Mandaeans ii. The Mandaean Religion". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
- ^ Lidzbarski, Mark, Ginza, der Schatz, oder das Grosse Buch der Mandaer, Leipzig, 1925
- ^ a b c Drower, Ethel Stephana (1960). The secret Adam, a study of Nasoraean gnosis (PDF). London UK: Clarendon Press. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2014.
- ^ Rudolph 1977, p. 4.
- ^ Thomas, Richard (29 January 2016). "The Israelite Origins of the Mandaean People". Studia Antiqua. 5 (2).
- ^ 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
- ISBN 9780800604882.
- ^ a b Rudolph, 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.
- ^ Aldihisi, Sabah (2008). The story of creation in the Mandaean holy book in the Ginza Rba (PhD). University College London.
- ^ Coughenour, Robert A. "The Wisdom Stance of Enoch's Redactor". Brill: 52.
{{cite journal}}
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(help)Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period Vol. 13, No. 1/2 (DECEMBER 1982), pp. 47-55 - ^ Brikhah S. Nasoraia (2012). "Sacred Text and Esoteric Praxis in Sabian Mandaean Religion" (PDF).
- ^ "The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
- ^ Drower, Ethel Stefana (1953). The Haran Gawaita and the Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
- ^ a b Drower, Ethel Stefana (1937). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Oxford at the Clarendon Press.
- ISBN 9004081151.
- ISBN 9789047408352.
- ^ Deutsch, Nathaniel (6 October 2007). "Save the Gnostics". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
- .
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-508450-4.
- ^ Harkavy, Abraham. "Le-Ḳorot ha-Kittot be-Yisrael". In Grätz, Heinrich (ed.). Geschichte der Juden (in Hebrew). Vol. iii. p. 496.
Further reading
- Alexander, David; Alexander, Pat (1983). The Lion handbook to the Bible. ISBN 0-86760-271-6.
- Baldwin, James (1995) [1963]. The fire next time. New York City: Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-60151-1.
- Bauer, Walter; Kraft, Robert A. (1996) [1971]. Orthodoxy and heresy in earliest Christianity. ISBN 0-9623642-7-4.
- Bennett, Chris; Osburn, Lynn; Osburn, Judy (1995). Green gold the tree of life: marijuana in magic & religion. ISBN 0-9629872-2-0.
- Bergmeier, Roland (1993). Die Essener-Berichte des Flavius Josephus: Quellenstudien zu den Essenertexten im Werk des judischen Historiographen. ISBN 90-390-0014-X.
- Bultmann, Rudolf (1987). "Significance of the Historical Jesus for the Theology of Paul". Faith and understanding. ISBN 0-8006-3202-8.
- Burns, Joshua Ezra (2006). "Essene Sectarianism and Social Differentiation in Judaea After 70 C.E". S2CID 162491248.
- ISBN 5-552-12435-9.
- ISBN 0-670-86932-5.
- Ewing, Upton Clary (1994) [1963]. The prophet of the Dead Sea Scrolls: the Essenes and the Early Christians, one and the same holy people: their seven devout practices. Tree of Life Publications. OCLC 30358890.
- Ewing, Upton Clary (1961). The Essene Christ. New York City: Philosophical Library. OCLC 384703.
- Legge, Francis (1964). Forerunners and rivals of Christianity, from 330 B.C. to 330 A.D.. OCLC 381558.
- Golb, Norman (1995). Who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?: the search for the secret of Qumran. New York City: Scribner. OCLC 31009916.
- OCLC 43629126.
- OCLC 246558.
- OCLC 2810217.
- OCLC 712416.
- Lillie, Arthur (1887). Buddhism in Christendom, or, Jesus, the Essene. 1 Paternoster Square, London: Kegan Paul & Co.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link) - OCLC 243725142.[page needed]
- OCLC 13952564.
- OCLC 23733614.
- OCLC 12223220.
- OCLC 13536522.
- OCLC 63203922.
- Smith, Enid S. (October 1959). "The Essenes Who Changed Churchianity". Rays from the Rose Cross.
- Vaclavik, Charles P. (1986). The vegetarianism of Jesus Christ. OCLC 26054343.
- Vermes, Geza; Goodman, Martin. The Essenes According to the Classical Sources. JSOT on behalf of the Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies: Sheffield, 1989.
External links
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Essenes
- Jewish Encyclopedia: Essenes
- Essenes and Others: argues that the Hebrew original form of the name later spelled "Essenes" is in some Qumran scrolls as a self-designation.
- "Jannaeus, His Brother Absalom, and Judah the Essene" Stephen Goranson, identities of Wicked Priest and Teacher of Righteousness, relevant to history of the Essenes
- Thematically compiled comparison of the parallels in the ancient sources
- The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls/ Essenes