{rjpixo<Tdtn)y, lit. 'joined you unto,' and here the ref. seems to be to marri.age, not betrothal, ' I have given you in marriage,' thougli the betrothal, which was also carried out by the bridegroom's friend, may be meant). Espousal is found Ca 3" 'in tlie day of his espousals ' (wjnq 017, ' on the dav of his marriage,' undoubtedly) ;' and Jer 2' ' the love of thine espousals' (TnSiVj njqN, as Cheyne, ' tliy bridal state'). Thus it is probable that Av (following older VSS.*) used these words indis- criminately, or at least with a less clear distinc- tion than now obtains between betrothal and marriage. For the solemnity of betrothal in Italy ( = England) in Shakespeare's day, see Twelfth Night, IV. iii. 26 : it enables Olivia to speak of Seba.stian as 'husband' (v. 146). It was not less solemn and binding in Israel. See Mabriaoe. j. Hastings.
ESPY. — The verb to ' espy ' occurs only six times in AV, Gn 42'", Jos 14', Jer 48", Ezk 20», To 11»,
1 Mac 5**, while the mod. form to ' spy ' is found eighteen times, and RV turns ' espy ' of Jos 14' into 'spy.' The word is apparently of Teutonic origin (Old High Ger. spehon), though it is con- nected with Lat. specere, to look, Gr. aKiTrro^iai, and entered Eng. through the Old Fr. espier.
1. The most common and the oldest meaning is to inspect (secretly) a place, as Nu 21^'^ ' Moses sent to spy out Jaazer,' when the Heb. is Sj-i, except Nu 13"- " (Tn), and the Eng. is always '.spy (Jos 14' AV 'espy') out,' except Jos 2' 'to spy secretly' (O'ln w^no, RV 'as spies secretly'), and Ezk 20° ' a land that I had espied for them ' {^r^h •rnrr-i-sK). Once the ref. is not to land but to liberty, Gal 2* ' false brethren . . . who came in privily to spy out our liberty' (Tindale's tm. ; Wye. 'to asjiie oure fredom,' Gr. (tarocricoTr^o-oi). 2. but we also find the sense of keep ivatch, as Jer 48" ' O, inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy ' ("55;). 3. More fren. is the idea of suddenly perceiving anything, as Gn 42-'' ' And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass pro- vender in the inn, he e.spied his money ' ; so Ex 2",
2 K 9" 13^1 23'" (all hnt 'see'). 4. Fm.ally, simply to discover ot perceive, as 2 K 23" 'All the abomina- tions that were spied in the land of Judah . . . did Josiah put away ' ("!!<■]). Cf. Barlowe, Dialogs (Lunn's ed. p. 73), ' Woulde God they were as prest to remoue ye balk out of their owne eyes, as they be prompte to aspye a lytle mote in other mens.'
The subst. is always plu. 'spies,' except Sir ll" 'spy.' The Heb. is generally D-^;-!n (Gn 42»- "■ '<• 16. 34. 81. S4_ Jos (ja 1 s 26^, 2 S l,')'") ; also wy^V (Jg 1«, RV 'watchers'), Dirii (Nu 21', RV ' Atharim ' as place-name, wh. see). The Gr. words are KardirKOTros (Sir ll*", 1 Mac 12«, He U»»), the usual LXX tr. of mirnggllim ; and iyKddei-ot (Lk 20*, lit. ' sent down into, and so, as I'lummer, ' suborned to lie in wait.' The word is not found elsewhere in NT).
J. Hastings.
ESSENES. — In regard to the origin and nature of this sect very various views liave been held. It is therefore best to confine oneself to stating succinctly what is known about them from ancient authors.
Our earliest witness is Philo of Alexandria, who, having visited .Jenisalem in his youth, may have come into personal contact witli tliem. In his treatise Quod Omnis Probiis Liber, which is one of
•TIndale, In his tr. published in 1525-2fl, rendered the dr. fA*nrT%vthi<nii (Mt I'") by ' inaried,' and in tins he \» followed by Coverdale. In the ed. of 1M4, however, ho alteriKl it to ' hetroutheil." In 2 S 9* Gov. has ' ni:iric d,' and so have the Geneva and Bishops' lllbles. In the NT our translatorw were probably influenced by the Rbemish Version, which in Mt 1*8 hns 'siwused,' or by Udall's tr. ot Erasmus' PsnpbrVM (1&48! which nas ' esiH>use.
768
ESSENES
ESSENES
his earlier works, written probably before a.d. 20, he describee them as follows : —
They were % sect of Jews, and lived In Syria Palestine, over 4000 in number, and called Esstei, because of their saintliness ; for /io(ao« = 8aintIy, U the same word aa Essaeus. Worshippers of God, they yet did not eacriflce animals, re^rdinp a reverent miod as the only true sacrifice. At first they lived in villages and avoided cities, in order to escape the contagion of evils rife tnereiu. They pursued affriculture and other peaceful arts ; but accumulated not gold or silver, nor o\\'nea mines. No maker of warlike weapons, no huckster or trader by land or sea, was to be found among them. Least of all were any slaves found among them ; for they saw In slavery a violation of the law of nature, which made all men free brethren, one of the other.
Abstract philosophy and logic they eschewed, except so far as it could sutwerve ethical truth and practice. Natural philosophy they only studied so far as it teaches that there is a Gwl who made and watches over all things. Moral philosophy or ethic waa their chief preoccupation, and their conduct was regulated by their national (Jewish) laws. These laws they esp. studied on the seventh day, which they held holy, leaving oCF all work upon it and meeting in their synagogues, as these places of resort were called. In them they sat down in ranks, the older ones above the younger. Then one took and read the Bible, while the rest hstenwi attentively ; and another, who was very learned in the Bible, would expound whatever was obscure in the lesson read, explaining most things in their time-honoured fashion by means of symbols. They were taught piety, holiness, justice, the art of regulating home and cit^y, knowledge of what is really good and bad and of what is mdiCferent, what ends to avoid, what to pursue, — in short, love of Ood, of virtue, and of man.