The Essenes: Their history and doctrines

by Christian D. Ginsburg

THE ESSENES.

I.

It is very surprising that the Essenes, whose exemplary Virtues elicited the unbounded admiration of even the Greeks and Romans, and whose doctrines and practices contributed so materially to the spread of Christianity, should be so little known among intelligent Christians. The current information upon this remarkable sect or order of Judaism, to be found in ecclesiastical histories and Cyclopædias, is derived from the short notices of Philo, Pliny, Josephus, Solinus, Porphyry, Eusebius, and Epiphanius. These seven witnesses—of whom the first and third are Jewish philosophers, the second, fourth and fifth heathen writers, and the last two Christian church historians—are all who, till within a very recent period, have been subpœnaed before the tribunal of public opinion, to give evidence as to the character of these very much misunderstood and neglected Essenes.

Not only is this combined testimony insufficient, but it is too much tainted with the peculiar dogmas of the respective witnesses, to furnish the general reader with an unbiassed notion of the character and doctrines of this ancient sect. Philo and Josephus, writing in Greek and in apology for their Jewish brethren, were too anxious to represent to the Greeks and Romans every phase and sect of Judaism, as corresponding to the different systems of Greek and Roman philosophy; Pliny, Solinus, and Porphyry, again, betray too great an ignorance of the inward workings of the Jewish religion, and too much prejudice against the Jews; whilst Epiphanius draws upon his imagination, and Eusebius simply copies the account of Philo, with the well-known patristic pen. Nor can the [[6]]modern descriptions of the Essenes, as given in the histories of the church and in the popular Cyclopædias, be always relied upon when they profess to give the results of the aforementioned garbled scraps of ancient information; since the writers are either too much afraid of, or too much pleased with, the marked resemblance between some of the doctrines and practices of Christianity and Essenism. Hence those who style themselves the true evangelical Christians are very anxious to destroy every appearance of affinity between Essenism and Christianity, lest it should be said that the one gave rise to the other; whilst those who are termed Rationalists multiply and magnify every feature of resemblance, in order to show that Christianity is nothing but a development of Essenism—so that the poor Essenes are crucified between the two.

The design of this essay is to give an impartial statement of the doctrines and practices of the Essenes; to show their rise and progress, their relationship both to Judaism and Christianity, their numbers and localities, to trace the most probable signification of their name, &c., &c. To do this, I not only appeal to the seven stereotyped witnesses, but to the information upon this subject scattered throughout the Midrashim and the Talmud. But not to incur the charge of partiality, as well as to enable you to test my conclusions, I have collected all that the ancients have written upon this subject, and append to this paper the whole account which Philo, Pliny, Josephus, Solinus, Porphyry, Eusebius, and Epiphanius give of the Essenes.

The cardinal doctrines and practices of this sect are as follows:—They regarded the inspired Law of God with the utmost veneration. In fact, their adhesion to it was such that they were led thereby to pay the greatest homage to Moses, the lawgiver, and to visit with capital punishment any one of the brotherhood who blasphemed his name. The [[7]]highest aim of their life was to become the temples of the Holy Ghost, when they could prophesy, perform miraculous cures, and, like Elias, be the forerunners of the Messiah. This they regarded as the last stage of perfection, which could only be reached by gradual growth in holiness, brought about through strictly observing the commandments and the Levitical laws of purity contained in the Pentateuch, mortifying the flesh and the lusts thereof, and being meek and lowly in spirit, inasmuch as this would bring them into closer communion with him who is the Holy One of Israel. This earnest desire to avoid everything which involved profanity in the slightest degree and which might interpose between them and the Deity, made them abstain from using oaths, because they regarded the invocation, in swearing, of heaven or the heavenly throne, or anything which represents God’s glory, as a desecration. Their communication was yea, yea; nay, nay; whatsoever was more than these came of evil.

Their increased strictness in enforcing the observance of the rigid Mosaic Jaws of Levitical purity, which were afterwards amplified and rendered still more rigid by traditional explanations,[1] ultimately compelled the Essenes to withdraw [[8]]themselves altogether from the society of their Jewish brethren, to form a separate community, and to live apart from the world, since contact with any one who did not practice these laws, or with anything belonging to such an one, rendered them impure. This fear of coming in contact with that which is impure, as well as the desire not to be hindered in their spiritual communion with their Creator, also made the Essenes abstain from marriage; inasmuch as women, according to the law, are subject to perpetual pollutions in menstruum and child-birth (compare Lev. xii, 1–8 ; xv, 19–31 ), and as going to one’s wife, even under ordinary circumstances, is regarded as defiling (vide infra, p. 39, note 19). There were, however, some weak brethren who could not be like the angels in heaven, neither marrying nor being given in marriage; these were allowed to take wives, but they could never advance to the highest orders of the brotherhood, and had, moreover, to observe laws specially enacted for married brethren and sisters.

Here, in their separation from the Jewish nation, whatever any one of them possessed was deposited in the general treasury, from which the wants of the whole community alike were supplied by stewards appointed by the whole brotherhood; so that they had all things in common. There were no distinctions amongst them, such as rich and poor, masters and servants; they called no one master upon earth, but all ministered to the wants of one another. They lived peaceably with all men, reprobated slavery and war, and would not even manufacture any martial instruments whatever, however great the temptation or the fear might be. They were governed by a president, who was elected by the whole body, and who also acted as the judge of the community. Trials were conducted by juries, composed, not as our juries are, of twelve persons, but of the majority of the community, or of at least a hundred members, who had to be unanimous in their verdict. [[9]]The brother who was found guilty of walking disorderly was excommunicated, yet was he not regarded as an enemy, but was admonished as a brother, and received back after due repentance.

As it was contrary to the laws of Levitical purity to buy anything from one who did not practice those laws, the Essenes had to raise the supplies of all their wants among themselves. In this they experienced no difficulty, as their food and raiment were most simple and very self-denying, and as each one of the community willingly took his share of work in the department in which he most excelled. Some were engaged in tilling the ground, some in tending flocks and rearing bees, some in preparing food, some in making the articles of dress, some in healing the sick, and some in instructing the young; whilst all of them devoted certain hours to studying the mysteries of nature and revelation and of the celestial hierarchy. They always got up before the sun rose, and never talked about any worldly matters till they had all assembled together and, with their faces turned towards the sun, offered up their national hymn of praise (‏המאיר לארץ‎) for the renewal of the light of the day. This done, every one betook himself to his work, according to the directions of the overseers, and remained at it till the fifth hour (or eleven o’clock, a.m.), when the labour of the forenoon regularly terminated. All of them again assembled together, had a baptism in cold water, put on their white garments, the symbol of purity, and then made their way to the refectory, which they entered with as much solemnity as if it were the temple. The meal was a common one; and each member took his seat according to the order of age. Those of the brethren who were the bakers and cooks then placed before each one a little loaf of bread and a dish of the most simple food, consisting chiefly of vegetables as they ate very little animal flesh, and the repast commenced after the priest had invoked God’s [[10]]blessing upon it. A mysterious silence was observed during the meal, which had the character of a sacrament, and may have been designed as a substitute for the sacrifices which they refused to offer in the temple. The priest concluded it by offering thanks to the Bountiful Supplier of all our wants, which was the signal of dismissal. Hereupon all withdrew, put off their white and sacred garments, and dressed themselves in their working clothes, resumed their several employments which they had to do according to the directions of the overseers till the evening, when they assembled again to partake of a common meal. But though every thing was done under the directions of the overseers, and the Essenes had even to receive their presents through the stewards, yet in two things they were at perfect liberty to act as they pleased, viz., they could relieve the distressed with as much money as they thought proper, and manifest their compassion for those who were not of the brotherhood as much as they liked, and whenever they liked. Such was their manner of life during the week days.

The Sabbath they observed with the utmost rigour, and regarded even the removal of a vessel as labour, and a desecration of this holy day. On this day they took special care not to be guilty of forsaking the assembling of themselves together, as the manner of some is. Ten persons constituted a complete and legal number for divine worship in the synagogue, and in the presence of such an assembly an Essene would never spit, nor would he at any time spit to his right hand. In the synagogue, as at meals, each one took his seat according to age, in becoming attire. They had no ordained ministers, whose exclusive right it was to conduct the service; any one that liked took up the Bible and read it, whilst another, who had much experience in spiritual matters, expounded what was read. The distinctive ordinances of the brotherhood, as well as the mysteries connected with the Tetragrammaton [[11]]and the angelic worlds were the prominent topics of Sabbatic instruction. Every investigation into the causes of the phenomena both of mind and matter was strictly forbidden, because the study of logic and metaphysics was regarded as injurious to a devotional life.