longed to such bodies as had not yet withdrawn from intercourse with their fellow-men. But the practice of the extreme section was afterwards regarded as characteristic of the whole class, and the isolated com- munities of Essenes furnished the tj'pe which is pre- served in the popular descriptions.
The character of Essenism limited its spread. Out of Palestine, Levitical purity was impossiljle, for the very land was impure ; and thus there is no trace of the sect in Babylonia. The case was different in Egypt, where Judaism assumed a new shape from its intimate connection with Greece. Here the original form in which it was moulded was represented, not bj' direct copies, but by analogous forms, and the tcnd- encj' which gave birth to the Essenes found a fresh development in the pure speculation of the Therapeutae (q. v.). These Alexandrine mystics abjured the prac- tical labors which rightly belonged to the Essenes, and gave themselves up to the study of the inner meaning of the Scriptures. The impossibility of ful- filling the law naturally led them to substitute a spir- itual for a literal interpretation ; and it was their ob- ject to ascertain its meaning bj' intense labor, and then to satisfy its requirements by absolute devotion. The " whole day, from sunrise to sunset, was spent in men- tal discipline." Bodily wants were often forgotten in the absorbing pursuit of wisdom, and "meat and drink" were at all times held to be unworthy of the light (Philo, De fit. contempl. § 4).
According to Credner, Ueler Essener und Ehionilen (in "Winer's Zeitschr. I, ii-iii, 217 sq.), the Ebionites descended from the Essenes. Griisse says (Jb. p. C53) that the Therapeutre, who lived in Egypt (Fabricius, Bibl. Gr. ii, 138 sq., 725), were a class of the Essenes (see Biild, Diss. Essceos Pythagorissantes delineatura, Upsal. 174G) ; and he presumes that they existed as early as the time of Alexander the Great, and, spread- ing from Egypt to Palestine, there became acquainted with the Pythagorean or Oriental philosophy (comp. Josephus, Ant. xv, 13). Dr. Wise thinks that the founder of the Essenes must have been an Egyptian Jew who was acquainted with the Pythagoi-ean order, and came to Palestine about B.C. 200; and says far- ther that the Therapeuts (founded about B.C. 170) of Egypt and elsewhere were in name and essence an im- itation of the Essenes. He asserts also that no posi- tive traces of their messianic views are left either by Josephus or Philo, or even by the Talmud, but that, in consideration of their numerous similarities to ths Egyptian Jews, thej' may be supposed to have enter- tained messianic hopes similar to the Egyptians {The Israelite, Nov. 1, 1867).
V. Literature. — The oldest accounts we have of the Essenes are those given bj' Josephus, War, ii, 8, 2-15 ; Ant. xii, 5, 9; xv, 10, 4 sq. ; xviii, 1, 2 sq. ; Philo, Quod omnis prohus liber, § 12 sq. ; Pliny, Hid. Natur. V, c. xvi, xvii ; Solinus, Pohjhist. c. xxxv ; Porphj'ry, De Ahstinentia, p. 381; Epiphanius, adv. Hcer. lib. i; Eusebius, Histor. Eccles. ii, c. xvii. Of modern pro- ductions we have Bellermann, GeschichtUche Nuchrich- ton mis dem Allerthume iiber Essaer und Theraj)euien (Berlin, 1821), who has studiously collected all the de- scriptions of this order ; Gfriirer, Philo imd die jiid Sch- eie randrim'sche Theosoph'e (Stuttgart, 1835), p. 299 sq. ; Prideanx, Connection of the 0. and N. T., part ii, bk. v, 5 ; Diilme, GeschichtUche Darstcllunf/ der jiidisch-alex- andrinischen Rdigions Philosophic, i, 467 sq. ; and by the same author, the article Essaer, in Ei'sch und Gruber's Enci/ldopwiie ; Neander, Histor?/ of the Church, ed. Bohn, vol. i. The Essays of Frankel, in his Ze'.tschrift filr die relif/ldsen Jntcressen d. Judenthvms (Lpz. 1848), p. 441 sq. ; and Mo7iatsschrift fur Geschichte u. Wissen- srhrft d. Jmlenthums, ii, 30 sq., 61 sq., are most impor- tant, and may be considered as having created a new epoch in tlie treatment of the history of this onler. Adopting the results of Frankel, and pursuing the same course still further, Griitz has given a masterly trea-
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tise upon the Essenes in his Geschichte der Juden (Leip- zig, 1856), iii, 96 sq., 518 sq. ; treatises of f,freat value are also given by Jost, Geschicli/e des Judenthitms und seiner Secteii (Leipzig, 1857), p. 207 sq. ; and Herzfeld, Geschichte d. V. Israd (Nordhausen, 1857), ii, 368, 388 sq. The accounts given by YjwM^Geschichle d. Volkes Israel (Gottingen, 185-'), iv, 420 sq., and Hilgenfeld, Diejiidische Apokalyptih (Jena, 1857), p. 245 sq., though based upon Fhilo and Josephus, are important contri- butions to the literature of the Essenes ; that of the latter is interesting and ingenious, but essentially one- sided and subservient to the writer's theory (compare Volkniar, Dns vierte B. Ezra, p. 60). To these must be added the very interesting and important relics of the Essenes, published hy Jellinek, with instructive notices by the learned editor, in Beth Ha- Midrash, vol. li (Leipzig, 1853), p. xviii sq. ; vol. iii (Leipzig, 1855), p. XX sq. — Kitto, s. v. ; Smith, s. v.
See also Ginsburg, History and Doctrines of the Es- senses (Lond. 1864) ; Hennes, De Kssais (Ha'l. 1720) ; Lund, De Phar. Sadd. et Esseeis (Aboffi, 1689) ; Sauer, De Essenis et Therapeiitis (Vratisl. 1829) ; Willemer, De Essenis (Viteb. 1680) ; Zeller, Ueb. d. Zusammenh. d. Essiiismus mit Griechenthum (in the Ti'ib. theol. Jahrh. 1856, p. 401-433) ; Roth, Ziei'ssfrnV (Jen. 1669) ; Wille- mer, id. (Viteb. 1680) ; Lange, id. (Hal. 1721) ; Tresen- reuter, De Essetorum nomine (Alt. 1743) ;' Van der Hude, Niim discif-uK Juh. Bapt. fuerunt Esscei (Helmst. 1754); Carpzov, Dank-cpfer an Gotf. p. 282 sq. ; Ernesti, Ueb. '■'■ Pinphyrius de Absfinerilia" (in his Theol. Bibl. ix, 63 sq.) ; Grave, De Pijthagor. et Essenor. discipUna (Giitt. 1808) ; Bielcke, De Essccis et Therapeiitis (Starg. 1755) ; Biittner, De Essms (Jen. 1670) ; Credner, Ueb. Essaer und Ehioniten (in Winer's Zeitschr. J", uissensch. Theol. ii, 211-264); Grossmann,Z)e ascetis Judaorum(^Altenh. 1833); Zinck, De Therapeiitis (Lips. 1724). On the supposed relations of Essenism to Christianitj', there are special treatises in Latin bj^ Zorn (in his Opusc. Sacr. ii, 62 sq.), Kaiser (in his Question. Synodal. [Cu- ria-, 1801], p. 25 sq.), Dorfmiiller (Wunsiedel, 1803), Tinga (Groning. 1805); in German by Luderwald (in Henke's Magaz. iv, 371 sq.), Bengel (in Flatfs Magaz. vii, 126 sq.). See likewise the *S'^?/(/. ii. Kiit. 1845, iii, 549 ; Jour. Sac. Lit. Oct. 1852, p. 176-186 ; April, 1853, p. 170 sq. ; Blackwood" s Magazine, 1840, p. 105, 463, 639 ; Amer. Bibl. Repos. Jan. 1849, p. 162 sq. ; Hilgen- feld's Zeitschr. filr uissensch. Theolngie, 1867, i, art. 6; Illgen's Zeitschr. fur hist. Theol. 1841, ii, 3 sq. ; the Strasb. Rerue de theol. 1867, p. 221 sq. ; Zeller's Theol. Jahrb. 1855, p. 315 sq. ; 1850, p. 401 sq. ; Meth. Quart. Rer. July, 1867, p. 450 ; North British Rev. Dec. 1867, p. 151; Pvessense, Religions before Christ, p. 231-234; Schaff, Apostolic Church, p. 175, 657 sq. ; Ilolzmann, Gesch. d. Volkes Israel, i, 206 sq. Comp. Sects, Jew- ish.