Chapter III (2)

[34] The four companies here mentioned most probably refer to the four different classes into which the Essenes were divided, described more minutely by Josephus. Vide infra, p. 47, note 45.

[35] So also the Apostle Paul recommends us not to be slothful in business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.—(Rom. xii, 11.)

[36] That is if he belongs to the class of Essenes who practised celibacy; for there were those among them who had wives and families. Vide infra p. 49.

[37] The Mosaic law regards conjugal intercourse as polluting, and enjoins bathing after it (Levit. xv. 18.) Hence, when the children of Israel had to sanctify themselves in the highest degree, so as to be fit to receive the law from Mount Sinai, they were commanded not to approach their wives (Exod. xix. 15). Hence, also, those who had the charge of the shew-bread polluted the sacred loaves by going to their wives (1 Sam. xxi. 4). And hence the remark of the Apostle Paul, that in order to give themselves to fasting and prayer, man and wife may keep aloof from each other by mutual consent (1 Cor. vii. 5). The same laws obtained among all nations of antiquity. Thus, among the Egyptians, Babylonians, Arabians, Greeks and Romans, both man and wife had to bathe after connubial intercourse (Herod., i. 198). No one was allowed to go after it to the temple without bathing (Herod., ii. 64; Suet. Aug. xciv. 5; Pers. ii. 50, &c.); and the priests had to abstain from approaching their wives when they were ministering in holy things (Porphyrius, de Abstinentia, lib. ii. 50; iv. 7; Plutarch. Sympos. iii. 6; Tibul. lib. ii. Eleg. 1, 11, &c.; Ovid. Metam. x. 434, &c.) Now, as the Essenes strove to be in a perpetual state of sanctification, regarded their refectory as a sanctuary and their meals as sacraments, and most anxiously avoided contact with every thing that defiled, they had of necessity to extend these Mosaic laws, which enjoin abstinence from connubial intercourse as a means of sanctification, and which regard those who indulged in it as defiled, to the whole course of their life; and they had therefore to be celibates. This extension of the Mosaic law was moreover deemed desirable in consequence of the general conviction which the Jews entertained, in common with other nations, that no woman remains faithful to her husband, and that they all defile the bed of marriage. Philo, in the passage before us, and Josephus, as we shall see afterwards (vide infra p. 41, § 2), only give the latter reason, to suit their Greek readers who could both understand it better and sympathise with it more than with the former.

[38] This is simply a repetition of what the Essenes themselves said about their origin, in accordance with a common practice among the Jews.—Vide supra p. 36, note 14.

[39] This representation of the three Jewish sects as different philosophical schools, and the supposed resemblance of the Essenes to the Pythagoreans, which he mentions afterwards, (vide infra Antiq. xv. 10; § 4, p. 50) and which have misled modern writers, are nothing but a desire on the part of Josephus to make the divers teachings of his co-religionists correspond to the different systems of Greek philosophy. It is this anxiety to shew the Gentiles, for whom he wrote, how much the Jews resemble them both in doctrine and practice, which detracts from the merits of Josephus’ history.

[40] This love for the brotherhood, which the Essenes possessed to so extraordinary a degree, was also urged by the Evangelists and Apostles on the early Christians (comp. John xiv. 17; Rom. xiii. 8; 1 Tim. iv. 9; 1 Peter i. 28; xi. 17; 1 John iii. 23; iv. 7, 11; v. 2).

[41] This does not contradict Philo’s remark (vide supra p. 37), as Herzfeld supposes, (Geschichte des Volkes Israel, vol. ii. p. 375); since the two statements refer to two different things. The former affirms that they do not receive children into the noviciate, whilst the latter speaks of their adopting and educating them, which is a distinct thing from becoming a novice.

[42] Vide supra, p. 39, note 19.

[43] So our Lord urged on the young man, who lived so exemplary a life in the performance of God’s law, and whom he loved, that unless he gave up his property he could not follow him (comp. Matth. xix. 21; Mark x. 21; Luke xviii. 22), and commanded his disciples to sell all their possessions and distribute the money among the poor (comp. Luke xii. 33.)

[44] Ointment being a luxury (comp. Eccl. ix. 8; Dan. x. 2), the Essenes regarded the use of it as extravagance, and contrary to the simplicity of their manner of life.

[45] The manner in which Christ commanded his disciples to depart on their journey (Mark vi. 8–10) is the same which these pious Essenes are here said to have adopted. This also explains the injunction given by our Saviour to his disciples in Luke xxii. 36, about taking arms with them, which has so greatly perplexed commentators who were unacquainted with the customs of the Essenes.

[46] The Pharisees, too, had a steward in every place to supply the needy with clothing and food. (Comp. Pea viii. 7; Baba Bathra 8 a; Sabbath 118.)

[47] Comp. also Luke x. 4, &c.

[48] Some translate it “they offer prayer (εἰς τὸν ἥλιον) to the sun.” But it is utterly inconceivable that the Essenes, who were such thorough Jews, and so exemplary for their adoration of the Holy One of Israel, would be guilty of idolatry by worshipping the sun. Besides, the prayer in question is described as one transmitted by the fathers. And can it be imagined that there existed among the Jews a national prayer to this luminary in direct violation of the first commandment, and of what is so expressly forbidden in Deut. iv. 10? The prayer therefore here spoken of is the well known national morning hymn of praise (המאיר לארץ) for the return of the light of the day, which still forms a part or the Jewish service to the present day. Comp. Berachoth 9 b; Rappaport in the Bikure Ha-Ittim, vol. x., Vienna 1829, p. 115, and infra p. 69.

[49] This practice of bathing before meals was also common among the Pharisees (comp. Chagiga, 18, b), and as the Essenes covered themselves with their aprons so the Pharisees put on their Talith during their baptisms. (Comp. Berachoth 24, b.)

[50] The Pharisees, too, regarded the refectory as a sanctuary, and compared its table to the altar in the temple, because the altar in the temple is represented as the table of the Lord (Ezekiel xli, 22). Hence, R. Jochanan and R. Eleazar remark—“As long as the temple stood the altar atoned for the sins of Israel, but now it is man’s table which atones for his sins.” (Talmud Berachoth, 55a). Hence the Chaldee paraphrase of Ezekiel xii. 22, and the remarks of Rashi and Kimchi on this passage, which cannot be understood unless this traditional interpretation is borne in mind. Comp. also Aboth iii, 3.

[51] This was also the practice of the Pharisees, and is to the present day the custom among the orthodox Jews.

[52] This paragraph almost embodies the sentiments uttered by our Saviour in Matth. chap. v.

[53] These ancient books on magical cures and exorcisms were the reputed works of Solomon, who, according to the Talmud as well as the Byzantine and Arabian writers, composed treatises on miraculous cures and driving out evil spirits. (Comp. Pesachim 56 a; Fabricius, Codex pseudepigraphus Vet. Test. p. 1042, &c.; Weil, Biblische Legenden der Muselmänner, p. 225–279). Josephus tells us elsewhere that some of these Solomonic productions still existed in his own days, and that he had actually seen demons driven out and people cured by their aid. (Comp. Antiq. book viii. chap. ii. § 5.) This account most strikingly illustrates what Christ says in Matth. xii. 27.

[54] This custom has its origin in the extension of a Mosaic law. The hosts of the Lord are commanded in Deut. xxiii 13, 15, to have spades among the martial instruments in order to bury therewith their excrements without the camp, and thus to keep themselves pure from every pollution, and to be a holy camp, because the Holy One of Israel dwells in the midst thereof. Now as the Essenes strove to be, in a pre-eminent sense, the spiritual hosts of the Lord, every one of them was obliged to have this spade in order to guard their sacred camp from defilement. For this reason the apron was also given to cover their nakedness in their numerous baptisms, and thus to keep their thoughts from dwelling upon anything which might lead to impurity; whilst the white garment was the symbol of their holiness. This, however, was not peculiar to the Essenes, as the Talmud tells us that when any one applied to become a member of the Pharisaic order (חבר), he had to pass through a noviciate of twelve months, at the expiration of which he received a sort of garment called כנפים, and having duly qualified himself in this stage, he was afterwards admitted to the holier lustrations (מקבלין לכנסּים ואחר כד מקבלין לטהרות). (Comp. Tosifta Demai e. 11; Jerusalem Demai ii. 3; Babylonian Becharoth 30, 6).

[55] This was the only occasion on which the Essenes were permitted to take an oath.

[56] This does not refer to governments generally, as Gfrörer will have it (Philo und die jüdisch-alexandrinische Theosophie, vol. ii, p. 333, &c.), but to the office of overseer or steward among the brotherhood, as is evident from the immediately following statement, which most unquestionably pledges every Essene to retain his simplicity of character if he should ever attain to any official position or stewardship in the order.

[57] This is not peculiar to the Essenes. The Pharisees, too, would not indiscriminately propound the mysteries of the cosmogony and the theosophy, which, according to them, are contained in the history of the Creation and in the vision of Ezekiel, except to those who were regularly initiated in the order. Comp. Mishna Chagiga, ii, 1.

[58] This evidently refers to the secrets of the Tetragrammaton, and the angelology which played so important a part among the Jewish mystics from time immemorial. Comp. Wisdom of Solomon vii. 20; Mishna Chagiga, ii, 1.

[59] The reason why he ate herbs and not bread, or the simple dish which the order generally took, is that, being bound by an oath to observe the practices of the brotherhood, he could only accept meals from those who lived according to the highest degree of purity (על טהרת חטאת), and who, as a matter of course, kept their meals according to this degree. But as such a mode of life was of very uncommon occurrence, the excommunicated Essene was obliged to live on herbs or vegetables which he had to pluck himself; for, according to the Talmud, plants are only then considered unclean when they are cut off and water is poured upon them (משהוכשרו לקבל טומאה משנתלשו). As for Josephus’ saying that he died a miserable death, and that he could only eat grass (ποιηφάγων), this is simply another instance of his exaggerating and colouring his subject.

[60] The Pharisees, too, regarded ten persons as constituting a complete number for divine worship, held the assembling of such a number as sacred, and would not spit in their presence. (Comp. Berâchoth 51 a; Jerusalem Berachoth iii. 5; Aboth iii. 6.)

[61] This is not peculiar to the Essenes; for the Pharisees, too, would not remove a vessel on the Sabbath (comp. Tosifta Succa, iii); and the orthodox Jews, to the present day, will not even carry a handkerchief on the Sabbath; they tie it round the body to serve as a girdle, so that it might not be said that they carry the weight of even so small a thing on the sacred day. Comp. also Mark xi, 16.

[62] Neither is this peculiar to the Essenes; for not only did the Pharisees of old do the same (comp. Ioma 28, a); but the orthodox Jews of the present day wash after performing the duties of nature.

[63] This division of the brotherhood into four classes, as well as the impurity contracted by the higher class when touching one who belonged to a lower class of purity, also existed among the Pharisees. (Vide supra, p. 7, note 1.)

[64] Philo, too, speaks of this fact. (Vide supra p. 36.)

[65] This is another instance of the anxiety of Josephus to make the different phases of Judaism harmonise with the Greek mode of thinking.

[66] It is evident that Josephus, as an orthodox and pious Jew, cannot mean by εἱμαρμένη the Fatum of the Stoics, which was above the deities; but intends to convey thereby the idea of eternal counsels and predestination spoken of in the Bible. Indeed, elsewhere Josephus tells us distinctly that “the doctrine of the Essenes delights to leave all things to God” (vide infra p. 52); so that that which is in the one case ascribed to fate, is in the other ascribed to God.

[67] No more regard is to be paid to this remark, that the Essenes are like the Pythagoreans, than to the assertion which Josephus makes afterwards that they are related in their manner of life to the Polistae, (vide infra p. 53), as his aim was to shew how much the Jewish sects resembled the Greek systems of philosophy. Comp. p. 41, note 21.

[68] The fact that Menahem saw Herod in Jerusalem, and that the Essene Judah, as Josephus tells us elsewhere (comp. Jewish War, book i. chap. iii. § 5; Antiq. book xiii. chap. xi. § 2), foretold in the temple the death of Antigones, clearly shows that the Essenes did not at first form a separate community, but lived together with the rest of their Jewish brethren.

[69] Pliny, whom Solinus copies, simply says that the Essenes live in the society of palm-trees (socia palmarum), to form an antithesis with the appellation a solitary community (sola gens); and this is perfectly correct. But Solinus’ alteration of it into “palm-berries are their food” (palmis victitant) is incorrect, inasmuch as they lived from the cultivation of the land, bees, &c.

[70] This is simply a reiteration of what Pliny says about the antiquity of the Essenes.

[71] This work of Josephus, addressed to the Greeks, is no longer extant.

[72] This is simply imaginary; the real reason for it was, that they could not dig on the Sabbath the hole that was requisite for it without, as they thought, violating the sanctity of the day, as to do so was considered a labour.

[73] This unjust remark about the Essenes, whose exemplary virtues and self-denying life elicited the unqualified admiration of Jews, Greeks, and Romans, is just what might be expected from the bigoted persecutor of heretics, amongst whom he put no less a person than St. Chrysostom.

[74] This name may be derived from the Hebrew Shemesh (שמש) sun, and was most probably given to the Essenes, because of the erroneous notion that they worshipped the sun.

[75] The whole of this account is worse than useless, inasmuch as it not only gives us no information whatever about this interesting order, but is positively misleading.

[76] Comp. Meor Enajim, edit. Mantua. 1547, fol. 88 b.

[77] אנטיגנוס איש סוכו קבל משמעון הצדיק הוא היה אמר אל תהיו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב על מנת לקבל פרס אלא היו כעברים המשמשים את הרב שלא על מנת לקבל פרס ויהי מורא שמיס עליכם כדי שיהיה שכרכם כפול: לעתיד לבא: אנטיגנוס איש סוכו היו לו שני תלמידים שהיו שונין בדבריו שונין היו לתלמידים ותלמידים לתלמידיהם עמרו ודקדקו אחריהן ואמרו מה ראו אבותינו לומר אפשר שיעשה פועל מלאכה כל היום ולא יטול שכרו ערבית אלא אילו יודעין אבותינו שיש העולם (אחר) ויש תחיית המתים לא היו אומרים כך עמדו ופירשו מי התורה ונפרצו מהם שתי פרצות צדוקים וביתוסין צדוקים על שום צדוק ביתוסין על שום ביתוס שהיה משתמש בכלי זהב וכלי כסף כל ימיו לא היתה דעתו גסה עליו אלא צדוקים אומרים מסורה בית פרושים שהן מצערין עצמן בעולם הזה ובעולם הבא אין להם כלום

[78] Comp. Moses and Aaron: Civil and Ecclesiastical Rites used by the Ancient Hebrews, eighth edition (London, 1672), book i, chap, xii, p. 50–59.

[79] The Court of the Gentiles. Pt. ii of “Philosophy,” Oxford, 1671, p. 147, &c.

[80] The Old and New Testaments Connected, seventeenth editions, vol. iii. London, 1815, part ii, book v, p. 406–431.

[81] The History of the Jews, from Jesus Christ to the present day. London, 1708, p. 125–137.

[82] Jewish Antiquities; or a Course of Lectures on the two first books of Godwyn’s Moses and Aaron, ninth edition. London, 1837, book i., chap. xii, p. 281–287.

[83] Geschichtliche Nachrichten aus dem Alterthume über Essäer und Therapeuten. Berlin, 1821.

[84] General History of the Christian Religion and Church, English Translation, Clark’s Theological Library, vol. i, Edinburgh, 1851, p. 58–66.

[85] Rappaport, in the Hebrew Annual, entitled Bikure Ha-Ittim, vol. x, Vienna, 1829, p. 118 ff.

[86] Comp. Kritische Geschichte des Urchristenthums. 1 Theil Philo und die jüdish-alexandrianische Theosophie, 11 Abtheilung. Stuttgart, 1835. p. 299–356.

[87] Diese Trennung nun aber unter ben Anhängern der jüdisch-alexandrinischen Religionsphilosophie selbst in solche, welche sich ausschliesslich dem beschaulichen und in Andere, welche sich vorzugsweise dem praktischen Leben widmeten, ist es eben, welche sich in unserem fraglichen Doppelorden auch äusserlich repräsentirte, sodass, wenn schon beide ganz auf derselben philosophischen Unterlage ruhten, die Therapeuten sich möglichst ausschliesslich und unmittelbar dem höchsten von ihnen angestrebten menschlichen Lebensziele, der Anschauung Gottes selbst, hingaben, während die Essäer gewissermassen freiwillig in dem Vorhofe zum Allerheiligsten zögernd, sich absichtlich und zum Besten der Brüder häufiger in Berührung setzten mit dem Sinnlichen, als es die Naturnothwendigkeit foderte und so ihre eigene höchste Vollkommenheit und Seligkeit zwar grossmuthig, aber gewiss auch unphilosophisch genug augenblicklich noch verkümmerten.

[88] Comp. Ersch und Gruber’s Allgemeine Encyklopädie, section i. vol. xxxviii, p. 173–192.

[89] Comp. Frankel, Zeitschrift für die religiösen Interessen des Judenthums, vol. iii. Berlin, 1846, p. 441–461.

[90] Comp. The Biblical Repository and Classical Review. New York, 1847, p. 162–173.

[91] Geschichte des Volkes Israel, Vierter Band. Göttingen, 1852, p. 419–428.

[92] Comp. Monatschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums, Zweiter Jahrgang. Leipzig, 1853, p. 30–40; 61–73.

[93] Ich nehme diese auf kritischer Forschung, beruhenden Resultate über diese Secte vollständig an und werde nur noch einige Pünkte nachträglich beleuchten.

[94] Die Eigenthümlichkeiten der Essäer lassen sich nicht genügend aus dem Wesen der im Talmud vorkommenden חסידים oder חסידים הראשנים und der in der Makkabäerzeit auftretenden “Assidäer” erklären; man muss auch auf das nasiräische Wesen Rücksicht nehmen. Nasiräer gab es in der nachexilischen Zeit eine grosse Menge (Tosifta Nasir c. iv. Babli Berachot 48 a. 1 Makkab. ii, 49. Jos. Alterth. xviii, 6, 1). Aber sie trugen zugleich einen andern Charakter, als die der biblischen Zeit: sie waren Nasiräer fürs ganze Leben נזיר עולם (Nasir 4 a). Die Mischna setzt das Vorhandensein solcher ohne Weiteres voraus, und das Magische an dem Nasiräerthum, das sich bei den biblischen Nasiräern an den Haarwuchs knüpfte, tritt immer mehr zurück, oder hat vielmehr gar keine Bedeutung mehr. נזיר עולם הכביד שערו מיקל בשער (das.). Hingegen tritt bei den lebenslänglichen Nasiräern das Levitische, die Hut vor Verunreinigung, immer mehr in den Vordergrund (das.). Die Essäer werden also solche Nasiräer gewesen sein, welche in ihrem Privatleben die höchste priesterliche Weihe darstellen wollten. Den Zusammenhang zwischen Nasiräern and Essäern deutet schon eine dunkle talmudische Stelle an, dass Jemand sich dadurch schon dem vollständigen Nasireat weiht, wenn er auch nur insofern Nasiräer sein will, um die Geheimnisse entehrender Familienverhältnisse bewahren zu können: הריני נזיר אם לא אגלה משפחות הרי זו נזיר ולא יגלה משפחות (Tosifta Nasir c. 1 b Kiduschim 71 a). Die Erklärung dieser Stelle durch den Essenismus hat schon Edeles (מהרש״א) in seinem Agadacommentar z. St. geahnt. Diesen Zusammenhang zwischen Nasiräerthum und Essenismus haben Epiphanius und die arabischen Schriftsteller Makrisi und Abulfarag’ geahnt; wenn auch Epiphanius die Ναζαραῖοι von den Ὀσσηνοί unterscheidet, so sind die Eigenheiten, die er von den Erstern berichtet, doch ganz essäisch. Ebenso hat Makrisi die Essäer in drei Secten zerspalten, in die Täufer (מנטהרון = ἡμεροβαπτισταί), die Essäer (אסאניון) und in die Nasiräer (מתחשפון) (in de Sacy Chrestomathie Arabe Ausgabe von 1806, arabischer Theil 172 und tome ii, 218). Das arabische Makkabäerbuch bezeichnet die Essäer durch Chassidäer (c. xxv); in Josippon fehlen an der Stelle, wo er von den drei Secten spricht, gerade die Essäer (iv, 6, Breithaupt) Die Identität von Nasiräern, Essäern und Assidäern wird also von vielen Seiten bestätigt. Auch aus Josephus’ Angabe, die Essäer hätten eigne Bücher gehabt (jüd. Kr. ii, 8, 7), lässt sich ihre Identität mit den Assidäern erweisen. Im Talmud (Jeruschalmi Barachot, Ende) wird aus einem Buchs der Chassidäer der Satz mitgetheilt: “Verlässt du sie einen Tag, so verlässt sie dich zwei Tage”: כתוב בספר חסידים אם תעובה יום יומים תעובך

[95] Geschichte der Juden, vol. iv. Leipzig, 1856, p. 96–106; 518–528.

[96] Geschichte des Judenthums und seiner Secten, vol. 1. Leipzig, 1857, p. 207–215.

[97] Die Essäer waren die Baitusim, wie schon R. Asarja de’ Rossi vermuthet hat; es muss dies nur besser begründet werden, als von ihm geschehen ist. Ich bemerke zu dem Ende erstens, dass wie das vorgesetzte בית auch in den Benennungen Bet-Schammaj, Bet-Hillel Schule oder Fraction bedeutet, so Tosifta Kelim ii, 6 בית הכותים, Chulin 6, a בי כותאי für die Sekte oder das Land der Cutim vorkommt; sodann dass Tosifta Succa, K. iii zweimal und Tosifta Menachot K. z. für Baitusim בית סין stehet: kann dies wohl etwas Anderes als Haus, Sekte der Essener bedeuten? Als אסי (Arzt) Sektenname wurde, konnte man den Essäer nicht gut mehr schlechthin אסי nennen, ohne undeutlich zu werden, man umschrieb ihn daher wohl als Einen vom בית אסי, bildete danach auch mit Zugrundelegung der Form Essener, das nachgewiesene בית סין and zog dann Jenes zusammen, um den einzelnen Essäer zu bezeichnen, gab aber dieser Form den u-Laut, entweder nachdem man das syrische Wort אסי zuweilen nach syrischer Weise ôsseh, also dunkel ausgesprochen hatte, woher die Aussprache Ossener bei Epiphanius herrühren mag, oder was mir noch wahrscheinlicher ist, indem man dem Worte Peruschim conform Zedukim und Baitusim bildete.

[98] Nach allem diesen scheint es, dass ein Jude, welcher mit der unter den alexandrinischen Juden aufblühenden allegorischen Exegese und mit deren Erzeugerin, der griechischen Weisheit, bekannt geworden war, daneben aber auch Gelegenheit gefunden hatte, von ägyptischen Priestern Manches zu lernen, wie Pythagoras selbst, Platon und Herodot, den Plan gefasst und ausgeführt habe, eklektisch hieraus und aus dem Judenthume ein speculatives und asketisches System sowie nach demselben aus judäischen Asketen eine Sekte zu bilden. Dass es an Solchen nicht gefehlt habe, verbürgt das Vorkommen von Nasiräern, z. B. nach Tosifta Nasir K. iv unter Schimon dem Gerechten, ferner 1 Mack. iii, 49, und von ihrer 300 auf einmal unter Schimon ben Schatach nach Nasir jer. v, 3. Dass er aber nicht mit jüdischen Asketen in Ägypten diesen Versuch machte, geschah vielleicht, weil es damals dort noch an solchen Asketen fehlte, oder weil er selbst aus Judäa gebürtig sein mochte.

[99] Geschichte des Volkes Israel von Vollendung des Zweiten Tempels bis zur Einsetzung des Mackabäers Schimon zum hohen Priester und Fürsten, Zweiter Band. Nordhausen, 1857, p. 368–377; 387–409.

[100] Die jüdische Apokalyptik in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwickelung. Jena, 1857, p. 245–278.

[101] Geschichte der Juden, Dritter Band Zweite Auflage. Leipzig, 1863, p. 216–252.

[102] The History of the Jews from the earliest period down to modern times. London, 1863, vol. ii. p. 110–115.

[103] “Sie lieferte zwar nicht wissenschaftliche Resultate, aber ihr Leben deutet sattsam darauf hin, dass ihre Bestrebungen darauf gerichtet waren, wie in Alexandrien, nur von einem andern Standpunct ans, die Religion und die Wissenschaft zu versöhnen.” Der Geist der ersten Schriftauslegungen order: Die hagadische Exegese. Berlin, 1847, p. 114, &c.