EBIONITES. The Dbionites were an early Jewish Christian sect. The name was derived from a Hebrew word ('ebhyon) meaning " poor." It was not chosen, it would seem, because there existed a leader of the sect named Ebion. The Ebionites were so called because they accepted the principle, " Blessed are the poor! " They seem to have arisen after the fall of Jerusalem (79 A.D.). J. M. Fuller (Diet. of Christ. Biogr.) rightly distinguishes between two types of Ebionism, an earlier type, Pharisaic Ebionism, and a •later type, Essene or Gnostic Ebionism. Pharisaic Ebionism is described in the writings of Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Tertul lian, and others; Essene or Gnostic Ebionism more especi ally in the writings of Epiphanius. The Pharisaic Ebion ites were far more Jewish than Christian. They attached more importance to the Old Testament than to the New, and looked forward to a millennial kingdom of the Messiah, in which the earthly Jerusalem would be re stored. Their ideal of perfection was legal righteous ness. They held that Jesus was the Son of Joseph and Mary according to the ordinary course of human genera tion. But at his baptism, which was the turning-point in his life, be was anointed by election and then became Christ. He was the Christ of God in virtue of his perfect fulfilment of the Law. Naturally therefore all Ebionites must strictly observe the law, for " when Ebionites thus fulfil the law, they are able to become Christs " (Hippolytus, quoted by J. M. Fuller). This observance of the Law included circumcision, the sab bath, the sacrificial offerings, the distinction between clean and unclean food, etc. The Apostle Paul was re garded by the Ebionites as an apostate from the Law, and his Epistles were rejected by them. Their Gospel they called the " Gospel according to the Hebrews." This was a Chaldee version written in Hebrew characters, and is identified by Eusebius with the original Gospel of St. Matthew. The story of the miraculous birth of Jesus is excluded. It has been suggested that the Gospel according to the Hebrews, which was known in Egypt in the time of Trajan, was so called to dis tinguish it from the Gospel according to the Egyptians, which was in use among the Christians of Alexandria.
The Ebionites in course of time even had their own Greek version of the Old Testament. This was made towards the end of the second century by Symmachus. Like the version of Aquila, it follows the Hebrew text exclusively and seems to have been intended for those " who declined the LXX adopted by the orthodox Christians, or the Greek versions of Aquila and Theodot ion accepted by the Jews " (Diet. of Christ. Biogr.). After Symmachus we sometimes find the Ebionites called by Latin authors of the fourth and fifth centuries Sym machians. It is not always easy to distinguish between Pharisaic and Gnostic Ebionism, but in general the latter is characterised by features due to external influence. They accepted only the Pentateuch as authoritative, dividing the prophets of the Old Testament into two classes. The important class included Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Aaron, Moses, and Jesus. As to Jesus or Christ, " some affirmed that He was created (not born) of the Father, a Spirit, and higher than the angels: that He had the power of coming to this earth when He would, and in various modes of manifestation; that He had been incarnate in Adam, and had appeared to the patriarchs in bodily shape; others identified Adam and Christ. In these last days He had come in the person of Jesus. Jesus was therefore to them a successor of Moses, and not of higher authority " (Diet. of Christ. Biogr.). The Gnostic Ebionites did not eat flesh or drink wine. Instead of wine in the Holy Communion, they used water. They practised frequent ablutions, were circumcised, and observed the Lord's Day of the Christians as well as the Sabbath of the Jews. On the other hand, they rejected the sacrifices of the altar. They did not abjure married life. In the time of Epiphanius (d. 403 A.D.) the Ebionites are represented as living in Rome, Cyprus, and particularly in the regions along the Dead Sea. They are sometimes called Peratici on account of their settlement at Peraea. See Schaff-Herzog; J. H. Blunt; Louis Duchesne, Hiss.; Wace and Piercy.