XIII. The novice among the Essenes received Xiii. The novice among the Essenes received an apron (7repq'faAa) the first year of his probation so the Chaber among the Pharisees (comp. Bell. .Yud., ii. 8. 7, with Tosifia Bernal, c. ii.; Yerusalem Demai, ii. 3, b • Bechoroth 30, b).
XIV. The Essenes delivered the Theosophical books, and the sacred names, to the members of their society, similarly the Pharisees (comp. Bell.
ii. 8. 7, with Chagiga ii. 1; Kiddushim 71, a).
The real differences between the Essenes and the Pharisees, developed themselves in the course of time, when the extreme rigour with which they sought to perform the laws of Levitical purity, made them withdraw from intercourse with their fellow men, and led them—r. To form an isolated order ; z. To keep from marriage, because of the perpetual pollutions to which women are subject in menstruum and child-birth, and because of its being a hindrance to a purely devotional state of mind ; 3. To abstain from frequenting the Temple and offering sacrifices (comp. Antiq. xviii. 1. 5); and 4. Though they firmly believed in the immortality of the soul, yet they did not believe in the resurrection of the body (Bell. yud., ii. 8. I r).
As to their connection with Christianity, there can be no difficulty in admitting that Christ and the Apostles recognised those principles and prac tices of the Essenes, which were true and useful. Though our Saviour does not mention them by the name Essenes, which Philo and Josephus coined for the benefit of the Greeks, yet there can be no doubt he refers to them in Matt. xix. 12, when he speaks of those 'who abstain from marriage for the kingdom of heaven's sake,' since they were the only section of Jews who voluntarily imposed upon themselves a state of celibacy, in order that they might devote themselves more closely to the service of God. And r Cor. vii. can hardly be understood without bearing in mind the notions about marriage entertained by this God-fearing and self-denying order. Matt. v. 34, etc., and James v. 12, urge the abstinence from using oaths which was especially taught by the Essenes. The manner in which Christ commanded his disciples to depart on their journey (Mark vi. 8-10), is the same which these
pious men adopted when they started on a mission of mercy. The primitive Christians, like the Essenes, sold their land and houses, and brought the prices of the things to the apostles, and they had all things in common (Acts iv. 32-34). John the Baptist must have belonged to this holy order, as is evident from his ascetic life (Luke xi. 22), and when Christ pronounced him to be Elias (Matt. xi. 14), he declared that the Baptist had really attained to that spirit and power which the Essenes strove to obtain in their highest stage of purity (vide supra, sec. 2).
4. The Date, Settlements, and Number of this Order. —The fact that the Essenes developed themselves gradually, and at first imperceptibly, through intensifying the prevalent religious notions, renders it impossible to say with exactness at what degree of intensity they are to be considered as detached from the general body. The Saviour, and the ancient Jewish writers do not speak of them as a separate body. Josephus, however, speaks of them as existing in the days of Jonathan the Maccabwan, i.e., 143 B.C. (Antiq. xiii. 5. g); he then mentions Judas, an Essene, who delivered a prophecy in the reign of Aristobulus I., i.e., to6 B.C. (Bell. 7ud. i. 3. 5; Antiq. xiii. r r. 2). The third mention of their existence occurs in con nection with Herod (Antiq. xv. IO. 5). These accounts distinctly skew that the Essenes at first lived among the people, and did not refrain from frequenting the court, as Menachem the Essene was a friend of Herod who was kindly disposed towards this order (Ibid.) This is, moreover, evident from the fact that there was a gate at Jerusalem which was named after them ('E0-0-71 71-0.77, Bell. -ud. v. 4. 2). When they ulti mately withdrew themselves from the rest of the Jewish nation, the majority of them settled on the north-west shore of the Dead Sea, and the rest lived in scattered communities throughout Palestine and other places. Their number is estimated both by Philo and Josephus at 4000.