Editing Essenes (section)

==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]].<ref>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.</ref> Many of the Essene groups appear to have been [[Celibacy|celibate]], but Josephus speaks also of another "''order'' of Essenes" that observed the practice of being engaged for three years and then becoming married.<ref>[[Josephus]] ({{c.|lk=no|75}}). ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]''. book II, chap. 8, para. 13.</ref> According to Josephus, they had customs and observances such as collective ownership,<ref>[[Josephus]] ({{c.|lk=no|75}}). ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]''. 2.122.</ref><ref>[[Josephus]] ({{c.|lk=no|94}}). ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]''. 18.20.</ref> electing a leader to attend to the interests of the group, and obedience to the orders from their leader.<ref>[[Josephus]] ({{c.|lk=no|75}}). ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]''. 2.123, 134.</ref> Also, they were forbidden from [[Oath|swearing oaths]]<ref name="josephus-war-2.135">[[Josephus]] ({{c.|lk=no|75}}). ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]''. 2.135.</ref> and from [[animal sacrifice|sacrificing animals]].<ref>Philo, §75: ου ζωα καταθυοντες [= not sacrificing animals]</ref> They controlled their tempers and served as channels of peace,<ref name="josephus-war-2.135"/> carrying [[weapon]]s only for protection against robbers.<ref>[[Josephus]] ({{c.|lk=no|75}}). ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]''. 2.125.</ref> The Essenes chose not to possess [[slavery|slaves]] but served each other<ref>Philo of Alexandria, ''Every Good Man is Free'', 75-79.</ref> and, as a result of communal ownership, did not engage in [[trade|trading]].<ref>[[Josephus]] ({{c.|lk=no|75}}). ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]''. 2.127.</ref> Josephus and Philo provide lengthy accounts of their communal meetings, meals, and religious celebrations. This [[Religious communism|communal living]] has led some scholars to view the Essenes as a group practicing social and material egalitarianism.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Service|first=Robert|title=Comrades: A History of World Communism|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0674046993|location=Cambridge|pages=14–15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://anarchyinaction.org/index.php?title=Essenes|title =Essenes|access-date=12 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5867-essenes#anchor10|title=Jewish Encyclopedia - Essenes|date=1906|author=Kaufmann Kohler}}</ref>

Despite their prohibition on swearing oaths, after a three-year [[Probation (workplace)|probationary]] period,<ref>[[Josephus]] ({{c.|lk=no|75}}). ''[[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.</ref> new members would take an oath that included a commitment to practice piety to God and righteousness toward humanity; maintain a pure lifestyle; abstain from criminal and immoral activities; transmit their rules uncorrupted; and preserve the books of the Essenes and the names of the angels.<ref>[[Josephus]] ({{c.|lk=no|75}}). ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]''. 2.139–142.</ref> Their theology included belief in the immortality of the [[Soul (spirit)|soul]] and that they would receive their souls back after death.<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref>[[Josephus]] ({{c.|lk=no|75}}). ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]''. 2.153–158.</ref> Part of their activities included purification by [[Mikveh|water rituals]] which was supported by rainwater catchment and storage. According to the [[Community Rule]], [[repentance]] was a prerequisite to water purification.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Furstenberg |first1=Yair |title=Initiation and the Ritual Purification from Sin: Between Qumran and the Apostolic Tradition |journal=Dead Sea Discoveries |date=8 November 2016 |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=365–394 |doi=10.1163/15685179-12341409}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kittle|first=Gerhardt |title=Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Volume 7|page=814, note 99}}</ref> Purity and cleanliness was considered so important to the Essenes that they would refrain from [[defecation]] on the Sabbath.<ref name="google2">{{Cite book|title=The Shabbat Elevator and other Sabbath Subterfuges: An Unorthodox Essay on Circumventing Custom and Jewish Character|author=Dundes, A.|date=2002|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=9781461645603|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_a4hAQAAQBAJ|page=109|access-date=27 October 2014}}</ref>

According to [[Joseph Lightfoot]], the [[Church Fathers|Church Father]] [[Epiphanius of Salamis|Epiphanius]] (writing in the 4th century CE) seems to make a distinction between two main groups within the Essenes:<ref name=lightfoot1875/> "Of those that came before his [Elxai, an Ossaean prophet] time and during it, the Ossaeans and the [[Nazarene (sect)#Nasoraean Mandaeans|Nasaraeans]]." {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150906041916/http://www.masseiana.org/panarion_bk1.htm#18 Part 18]}}<ref name="panarion1-19">[[Epiphanius of Salamis]] ({{c.|lk=no|378}}). ''[[Panarion]]''. 1:19.</ref> Epiphanius describes each group as following:

{{Blockquote|The Nasaraean—they were Jews by nationality—originally from Gileaditis, Bashanitis and the Transjordan&nbsp;... 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&nbsp;...<ref>[[Epiphanius of Salamis]] ({{c.|lk=no|378}}). ''[[Panarion]]''. 1:18.</ref>}}
{{Blockquote|After this Nasaraean sect in turn comes another closely connected with them, called the Ossaeans. These are Jews like the former&nbsp;... originally came from Nabataea, Ituraea, Moabitis, and Arielis, the lands beyond the basin of what sacred scripture called the Salt Sea&nbsp;... 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.<ref name="panarion1-19"/>}}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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mulder |first=Martin-Jan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6eZ5DwAAQBAJ&dq=Essenes+canon&pg=PA70 |title=The Literature of the Jewish People in the Period of the Second Temple and the Talmud, Volume 1 Mikra: Text, Translation, Reading and Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity |date=1988-01-01 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-27510-2 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Fitzmyer |first=Joseph A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlwB8K0hiLIC&dq=Essenes+canon&pg=PA54 |title=The Impact of the Dead Sea Scrolls |date=2009 |publisher=Paulist Press |isbn=978-0-8091-4615-4 |language=en}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Essenes in Judaean Society: The sectarians of the Dead Sea Scrolls|last=Lim |first=Timothy |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press's Academic Insights for the Thinking World}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://blog.oup.com/2021/01/essenes-in-judaean-society-the-sectarians-of-the-dead-sea-scrolls/ | title=Essenes in Judaean Society: The sectarians of the Dead Sea Scrolls | date=17 January 2021 }}</ref>