ESSENES

ĕsˈēnz, members of a small Jewish religious order, originating in the 2d cent. b.c. The chief sources of information about the Essenes are Pliny the Elder, Philo's Quod omnius probus liber, Josephus' Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews, and (possibly) the Dead Sea Scrolls. The sect consisted of adult males and celibacy was encouraged. The Essenes lived as a highly organized community that held possessions in common. Ceremonial purity entailed scrupulous cleanliness, the wearing of only white garments, and the most strict observance of the Sabbath. The Essenes believed in the immortality of the soul. Their practice, common among many Jewish groups, of purification through ritual immersion may have been a significant influence on the development of the rite of baptism in the early Christian church. They condemned slavery and prohibited trading because it led to covetousness and cheating; they avoided luxury, abhorred untruthfulness and forbade oaths, with the one exception of the oath a new member took after two years of probation. In this oath, the member pledged piety toward God, justice to men, honesty with fellow Essenes, preservation of the sect's secrets, and proper transmission of its teachings. The Essenes subsisted by pastoral and agricultural activities and handicrafts; they avoided the manufacture of weapons. There is evidence of Persian and Hellenistic influences in the sect's thought. The Essenes' belief in several Messiahs is thought by some to have been a major influence in the development of Christianity. The sect ceased to exist sometime in the 2d cent. a.d.

See D. Howlett, The Essenes and Christianity (1957); A. Dupont-Sommer, The Essene Writings from Qumran (tr. 1961, repr. 1967); M. A. Larson, The Essene Heritage (1967); G. Vermes, The Dead Sea Scrolls (1978); P. R. Davies, Behind the Essenes: History and Ideology in the Dead Sea Scrolls (1987).

____________________

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

-15950-

Top...
Search the Library
Books
Journals
Magazines
Newspapers
Encyclopedia
Advanced Search
About Questia
Questia is the world's largest online academic library offering full-text books, journals, and articles on thousands of topics.

Join Now...
Questia Books and Articles on: Essenes
We found: 1143 results
By media type:
 

Books:

 

997  

 

Journal articles:

 

97  

 

Magazine articles:

 

19  

 

Newspaper articles:

 

21  

 

Encyclopedia articles:

 

9  
 

books on: Essenes  - 997 results

       More book Results: 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 >>  
 
1.
Beyond the Essene Hypothesis: The Parting of the Ways between Qumran and Enochic Judaism
Book by Gabriele Boccaccini; William B. Eerdmans, 1998
Subjects: Dead Sea Scrolls, Essenes, Ethiopic Book Of Enoch--Criticism, Interpretation, Etc, Qumran Community
...the Ther- apeutae were Essenes, they formed a completely...speaks explicitly of an Essene settlement in Jerusalem...individual members of the Essenes, such as Judas and Menaemus...being off limits for the Essenes during both the Hasmonean...to the presence of an Essene 5. J. Riaud, Les Th6rapeutes...
2.
The Library of Qumran, on the Essenes, Qumran, John the Baptist, and Jesus
Book by Hartmut Stegemann; W.B. Eerdmans, 1998
Subjects: Dead Sea Scrolls, Dead Sea Scrolls--Relation To The New Testament, Essenes, Qumran Community
...from the caves to the Essenes. But at the same time...the center, of pan- Essene life. Plinys report...which relegates the Essenes to the Dead Sea (see...Righteousness founded the Essenes only around 100 B.C...manuscripts of specifically Essene works, such as the
3.
Wealth in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Qumran Community
Book by Catherine M. Murphy; Brill, 2002
Subjects: Dead Sea Scrolls, Qumran Community, Wealth--Religious Aspects--Judaism
...Hellenistic-Jewish Essene source which celebrates...moral caliber of the Essenes and views them as...to a Pythagorizing Essene tradition responsible...passages in which the Essenes are clothed in the...Sadducees, and Essenes, Josephus himself...nothing about the Essene economy, it need...
4.
Women & Christian Origins
Book by Ross Shepard Kraemer, Mary Rose D'Angelo; Oxford University Press, 1999
Subjects: Christianity--Origin, Women In Christianity--History--Early Church, Ca. 30-600
...loyalty. 67 For Philo, the Essenes unlike the Therapeutics are...the mind and the life of the Essene community. 68 Pliny states that "no Essene takes a wife," 69 confirming in this one phrase that Essenes are solely men and that they...
5.
A Dictionary of the Bible: Dealing with Its Language, Literature, and Contents, Including the Biblical Theology
Book by James Hastings; C. Scribners Sons, 1898
...But whereas the Essenes dined together because...required, like the Essene common meal, the...Obedience to the Essene officers. The brethren...body or class of Essenes as Jos. calls it...Christians, the Essenes were not content...and for all, the Essene baptism was daily...
More book Results: 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 >>

Top...
 

journal articles on: Essenes  - 97 results

       More journal Results: 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 >>  
 
1.
Josephus's Essenes and the Qumran Community
Journal article by Kenneth Atkinson, Jodi Magness; Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 129, 2010
Subjects: Jews, Vegetarianism
...challenge to the Qumran-Essene hypothesis. He criticizes...Josephuss accounts of the Essenes to establish the...discussion of the Qumran- Essene theory since he is...knowledge of the Essenes (Life 10-12...traditional Qumran-Essene hypothesis is substantial...Community Rule and to the Essenes as Josephus describes...
2.
Qumran and the Essenes
Journal article by Michael O. Wise; Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Vol. 42, 1999
Qumran and the Essenes by Michael O. Wise Qumran and the Essenes. By Lena Cansdale. Tubingen...probably a tannery. Qumran and the Essenes comes at a time when the field...Adherents of the traditional Essene hypothesis are still in the...
3.
The Dead Sea Scrolls at Fifty
Journal article by Wido Van Peursen; The Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 121, 2001
Subjects: Beyond the Essene Hypothesis: The Parting of the Ways between Qumran and Enochic Judaism (Book)--Reviews, Books--Reviews, The Dead Sea Scrolls at Fifty (Book)--Reviews
...Qumran community with the Essenes known from ancient sources...presents the Enochic/Essene hypothesis: what ancient...of the references to the Essenes in ancient sources. While...which seems to support the Essene hypothesis, Josephus and...
4.
Judaism of the Second Temple Period, Volume 1: Qumran and Apocalypticism
Journal article by Henry W. Morisada Rietz; The Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 129, 2009
Subjects: Books--Book reviews, Judaism of the Second Temple Period, vols 1: Qumran and Apocalypticism (Nonfiction work)--Book reviews
...Community as the Essenes, concluding that...retrospective "The Essene Worldview" (1997...Qumran Community as Essene. In "Economic Ideology...description of the Essenes as sharing wealth...in Hasmonean and Essene Eyes" (1982/83...second temple: The Essenes considered it illegitimate...
5.
Was Jesus a Buddhist?
Journal article by James M. Hanson; Buddhist-Christian Studies, Vol. 25, 2005
Subjects: Buddhism--History, Buddhism--Influence, Jesus Christ--Beliefs, opinions and attitudes, Lamaism--History, Lamaism--Influence
...appears to be primarily the Essenes, perhaps also the Mandeans...ascetic sects, such as the Essenes, that were part of the spiritual...little about the origins of the Essenes. Philo, Pliny, and Josephus...arrived from India. The name "Essene" appears to have Indic origins...
More journal Results: 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 >>

Top...
 

magazine articles on: Essenes  - 19 results

       More magazine Results: 1-10 11-19 >>  
 
1.
400-yard Dash
Magazine article by Stéphan Reebs; Natural History, Vol. 116, March 2007
Subjects: Bible, Historic documents, Jews, Sacred texts
...members of an ancient Jewish sect called the Essenes who, they argue, lived at Qumran. Newly...first century A.D., wrote that the Essenes were adamant about defecating in "retired...then, would connect the settlement, the Essenes, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Feces cant...
2.
Armageddon in the Bible
Magazine article by Gerald A. Larue; The Humanist, Vol. 59, November 1999
Subjects: Bible (Sacred work)--Criticism and interpretation, End of the world--Religious aspects, Prophecy--Analysis
...numbers to continue to claim that the end was near. Enter the Essenes, John the Baptist, and the Christians From the scrolls found...Jordan, we have learned about a Jewish sect, believed to be Essenes, who saw its members as the "children of light" who would...
3.
What They Found in the Caves: Let's Go to the Scrolls
Magazine article by Joseph A. Fitzmyer; Commonweal, Vol. 119, December 18, 1992
Subjects: Dead Sea Scrolls--Analysis
...Qumran community as Essene, these documents have...Qumran community was Essene. Either such Essenes emerged from the Hasidim...their kings. Or the Essenes emerged from Jews who...house in Israel." This Essene identification of the...
4.
Rocks of Ages: A Pilgrim's Progress
Magazine article by Sidney Callahan; Commonweal, Vol. 126, February 12, 1999
Subjects: Pilgrims and pilgrimages--Religious aspects
...explains the influence of the Essene and Pharisee sects upon Jesus...Annes. Pixler thinks that the Essenes influenced the Davidic clan of Mary and Jesus, and that the Essenes had centers in Bethsaida...monastery at Qumrum. A rented Essene guest house on Mount Zion was...
5.
Apocalypse: The Great Jewish Revolt against Rome, 66-73 CE; Neil Faulkner Sees the Destruction of Jerusalem and Fall of Masada in the 1st Century as the Result of a Millenarian Movement That Sought to Escape the Injustices of an Evil Empire
Magazine article by Neil Faulker; History Today, Vol. 52, October 2002
Subjects: Battles, Masada Site, Israel--History, Masada Site, Israel--Military aspects, Peasant uprisings--History
...ceramic jars and hidden in caves around the Essene monastery at Qumran near the Dead Sea...safe from the Romans. They reveal the Essenes to have been a radical Jewish sect committed...their upper-class Jewish allies. The Essene vision of liberation revolved around the...
More magazine Results: 1-10 11-19 >>

Top...
 

newspaper articles on: Essenes  - 21 results

       More newspaper Results: 1-10 11-20 21-21 >>  
 
1.
Scrolls' Origins at Issue; Essenes Are Doubted as True Transcribers
Newspaper article; The Washington Times, August 28, 2004
Scrolls Origins at Issue; Essenes Are Doubted as True Transcribers...challenge the traditional view that the Essenes were members of a pious, ascetic sect...Qumran in 1994, have concluded that the Essenes were neither ascetics nor hermits...
2.
Pieces of Religious History
Newspaper article by Collette Placek; Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), March 19, 2000
Subjects: Dead Sea
...of Jews called the Essenes. With reed pens and ink, Essene scribes produced the...time to the age of the Essenes. Jastram was one of...ideas this group of Essene Jews already had...aspirations of the Essenes clearly were set on...
3.
Scrolls in the Desert; (Part 2)
Newspaper article; Manila Bulletin, July 23, 2006
...monks belonging to an obscure sect known as Essenes who lived in a monastery at Qumran. The Essenes were believed to have dedicated themselves...the Bible and practicing moral purity. The Essenes community was later destroyed by the Romans...
4.
Replicas of Dead Sea Scrolls on Display at Mormon Temple
Newspaper article; The Washington Times, July 19, 2003
...that Judaism and Christianity and the Essenes are all religious movements derived from...are believed to have been written by the Essenes, one of the three main branches of Judaism...scrolls," Mr. Reynolds said. "The Essenes are just sitting out there in the desert...
5.
The Dead Sea
Newspaper article; Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales), June 23, 2005
...history and daily lives of the mystical Essenes, a Jewish sect linked with Christ that...it has been claimed that Christ and the Essenes were part of a revolutionary political...California State University, to argue that the Essenes, Zealots and Nazarenes, or early Christians...
More newspaper Results: 1-10 11-20 21-21 >>

Top...
 

encyclopedia articles on: Essenes  - 9 results

       More encyclopedia Results: 1-9 >>  
 
1.
Essenes
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...cent. a.d. See D. Howlett, The Essenes and Christianity (1957); A. Dupont-Sommer, The Essene Writings from Qumran (tr. 1961...1978); P. R. Davies, Behind the Essenes: History and Ideology in the Dead...
2.
Dead Sea Scrolls
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...identified by some scholars with the Essenes , a Jewish religious sect living an...secreted library of a community, perhaps Essene, that lived at Qumran , and thus...scrolls with the Qumran ruins and the Essenes. Other Texts Other texts, not related...
3.
Josephus, Flavius
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...sources for the study of early Judaism and early Christianity. Having studied the tenets of the three main sects of Judaism Essenes, Sadducees, and Pharisees he became a Pharisee. At the beginning of the war between the Romans and Jews, he was made commander...
4.
Monasticism
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...Islam , and Christianity. Practitioners of monasticism in ancient times included the vestal virgins of Rome, the Jewish Essenes , the Therapeutae of Egypt, and the Peruvian virgins of the sun. The life of the Shakers had many analogies with monasticism...
5.
Celibacy
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...were celibates, and successful monasticism has everywhere been accompanied by celibacy as an ideal. Among ancient Jews the Essenes were celibates. In the Judaism of postexilic times, sexual activity in the married state was considered lawful and good...
More encyclopedia Results: 1-9 >>

Top...
 About Questia   ::   Privacy   ::   Contact