LlTEEATURE.— For the literature on Kschalology in general or on Scriptural Eschatolofjy see the art. * Eschatology ' in Hastings' DB and in Encyc. Biblica. It is indispensable for the student of the Gospels to understand the genesis and scope of Jewish apocalyptic literature, and for this purpose the Intro- ductions in Driver's Daniel (in the 'Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges') and Scott's Revelation (in the 'Century liible') will be found sulficient by most English readers. Of German works there may be mentioned, in this connexion, Hilgenfeld, Jiidische Apokalyptik, 1857 (still a standard work) ; Gunkel, Sahop/uiuj u. Chaos, and his Zmti fe!iiti<"is<i.'^rlin-httiche3i Vcr- sUindniss des NT, 1895 and 19u:5 ; i: . i- ! , /^ - A:'','fhrist, etc.,
1895, and his Die jUd. Apokali/pi i!\ i •■' " d -li must now
be added Gressmann, Der Wrey;,,. l.<hntotogie,
1905. On OT Eschatology sec \r, i I; Davidson's
Theology of the Old Testaments. .\ I i 1 i i I ), ;§ \i.andxii.
In regard to the Eschatology of ilie c.os|.cl3 a good list of books will be found in Motlntfs Uisluriad Atuu Tistamait {T. & T. Clark), p. 639 1 , bearing especially on the theory of the ' Little Apocalypse,' which many scholars, following Colaiii and Weiffenbach, suppose to be incorporated in Mk 13, Mt 24. Be- yond the works of Haupt, Titius, Job. Weiss, etc., mentioned in this article, the most comprehensive work, strictly ad rem, is probably Baldensperger's Das Selbstbeiuusstsein Jesu, of which only the First Part of the 3rd 'vollig umgearbeitete ' edition, entitled ' Die Messianisch-Apok. Hoffnungen des Judenthums' (Strassburg, 1903), has as yet (1906) been published A discus- sion of the matters speoialh emphasized by Job Weiss and Baldensperger will be found in a volume of the ' Decennial Pub- lications of the Unuersiti of C hicago,' entitled The MtsbtaJiio Hope m the AT, h\ Professor Shailer Mathevvs, Chicago, 1905 See also Portei s Mtssa(}ts of the Apocalypses, and his art •Revelation in Hastings DB For illustrations of Rabbinical views and iiiteipretations, current more or less in the time of our Lord see \ er> speciallj the latest edition of Edershenu s Life and fimes ot Jet,us the Messiah (London 1 )(H ) \ 1 ii A] pend ixes 5, 8 9 13, 14, 17 19 also Weber s Ju / // / I i /i„',
1897 In P W Schmidt 3 Die Gesehichti I (II III/
1900), there is a section entitled ' Zukunfts] ill t
which are defended in vol li of the sanu \ il (1 On 1 360 Of older works the following ma\ I 1 i \
Dorner, de Oratwne Chnsti Eschatoloqi i i
gart, 1844 , Herm Cremer, Dio e'sehat /i / /
24 and 25, Stuttgart, 1860, E J MaM;i / eschat Rede, Mtth 24 and 25, 1 Theil I > I furt a 0 1857 Rud Hofmann, Die n a I Zeichen des Menschensohns am II ; (Ml I l t
Preisschnfl, Leipzig, 1849 Wil
Friedberg, 1901 Of pani) tion to the last nanu I fjiu.nzen de) Reden i iTentht m 'Progrmmt I ' L enseignement dt 1 et de PhihMph lb 111 (i | in the same Review) km pp lli7-173 Pfleiderer 24« ' in /on
Jesu Mtth 24 ib 1801 pp 706-709 Job W eiss ' Die Com- position der Sj nop Wiedcrkunftsrede' m i/i 1892 pp '46 270_ In regard to the Tewish Apocahpses
Dillmanns Ethiopn on ' Son of Min as Man Its Origin i Since the ]iiiblicali
I this the discussion 1 md 'The Son of \ P) pp 212-317
ESLI
ETERNAL FIRE
See Muirhead'8 Eschatoloqy of Jesus (Melrose, 1904), Lecture jv., and Kiehm's Messianic Prophecy, 2nd Eng. ed. (T. & T.
Clark, 1900) pp. 354-366. Lewis A. Muirhead.
ESLI.— An ancestor of Jesus, Lk 3^.
ESSENES.— The Essenes were an ascetic com- munity among the Jews, the existence of which can be traced for over two centuries, from about B.C. 150 to the Fall of Jerusalem. For original information regarding them we are dependent on Josephus {B.J II. viii.; Ant. XVIII. i. 5, XV. x. 4, 5, XIII. V. 9) and Philo (Qtiod omnis probtts liber, chs. 12, 13, ed. Mangey, pp. 457-459). Josephus has also scattered references to individual Essenes, and the elder Pliny (HN v. 17) an appreciative notice of them, for which he was probably indebted to Alexander Polyhistor and his work ' On the Jews.' Other ancient authorities are either secondary or untrustworthy.
Josephus introduces the Essenes as one of the three ' sects of pliilosophy ' which were influential amongst the Jews, the others being the Sadducees and the Pharisees ; but from the descriptions given of their practices and organization, they .seem to have corresponded more closely to a monastic order than to a sect or a religious party. Their name is probably, tliough not certainly, derived from the Aramaic form of the Hebrew word IMsidim ( ' pious ones '), and this already suggests a close relation, especially in their origin, between the Essenes and the Pliarisees. Their numbers are estimated by Jos. (Ant. XVIII. i. 5) and Philo at 4000 ; and while tliere is no evidence of their existence as an order outside Palestine, within its area they were widely distributed, being found in a great many of the villages and small towns, as well as in Jerusalem, where there was a 'Gate of the Essenes.' The members of the order were celibates, living in com- munity houses and owning nothing as individuals, but ha^ang everything in common. Tliey are ex- tolled for their piety, their industry, which was confined to agricultural pursuits, the simplicity of their food, and their scrupulous cleanliness. Further characteristics of their life were that they had no slaves, used no oil for the purpose of anointing, dressed in white, and rigidly prohibited the use of oaths except on the admission of a new member to the order.