D. Falk, 2002
1. Sectarianism
1.1. Samaritans
1.1.1. Resettling Samaria. 2 Kings 17
(RSV) The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria in place of the people of Israel; they took possession of Samaria, and settled in its cities. 25 When they first settled there, they did not worship the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them; they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there; let him go and live there, and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel; he taught them how they should worship the LORD.
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the people of Samaria had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived; 30 the people of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the people of Cuth made Nergal, the people of Hamath made Ashima; 31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They also worshiped the LORD and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 So they worshiped the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. 34 To this day they continue to practice their former customs.
They do not worship the LORD and they do not follow the statutes or the ordinances or the law or the commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 The LORD had made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not worship other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36 but you shall worship the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm; you shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to observe. You shall not worship other gods; 38 you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not worship other gods, 39 but you shall worship the LORD your God; he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40 They would not listen, however, but they continued to practice their former custom.
41 So these nations worshiped the LORD, but also served their carved images; to this day their children and their children’s children continue to do as their ancestors did.
1.1.2. Opposition from Samaria. Ezra 4:7-16; 1 Esdras 2:16
[Ezra 4:7 described local opposition to the rebuilding of Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah:]
And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to King Artaxerxes of Persia.
[The opponents are described as representing:]
. . . the judges, the envoys, the officials, the Persians, the people of Erech, the Babylonians, the people of Susa, that is, the Elamites, 10 and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River.
[Their letter makes the following accusation:]
To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the people of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now 12 may it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city; they are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now may it be known to the king that, if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be reduced.
(1 Esdras is a Greek version of the same story written in the second century BCE)
1 Esdras 2:16 In the time of King Artaxerxes of the Persians, Bishlam, Mithridates, Tabeel, Rehum, Beltethmus, the scribe Shimshai, and the rest of their associates, living in Samaria and other places, wrote him the following letter, against those who were living in Judea and Jerusalem . . . (RSV)
1.1.3. Samaritan Opponents. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 11.84-88
[Josephus, a Jewish historian writing about 70 CE, retells the story of the rebuilding of Jerusalem at the time of Nehemiah. He follows 1 Esdras in blaming the opposition on “Samaritans”]
But when the Samaritans, who were still enemies to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, heard the sound of the trumpets, they came running together, and desired to know what was the occasion of this tumult; and when they perceived that it was from the Jews, who had been carried captive to Babylon, and were rebuilding their temple, they came to Zorobabel and to Jeshua, and to the heads of the families, and desired that they would give them leave to build the temple with them, and to be partners with them in building it; for they said, “We worship their God, and especially pray to him, and are desirous of their religious settlement, and this ever since Shalmanezer, the king of Assyria, transplanted us out of Cuthah and Media to this place.” When they said thus, Zorobabel and Jeshua the high priest, and the heads of the families of the Israelites, replied to them, that it was impossible for them to permit them to be their partners, whilst they [only] had been appointed to build that temple at first by Cyrus, and now by Darius, although it was indeed lawful for them to come and worship there if they pleased, and that they could allow them nothing but that in common with them, which was common to them with all other men, to come to their temple and worship God there.
When the Cutheans heard this, for the Samaritans have that appellation, they had indignation at it, and persuaded the nations of Syria to desire of the governors, in the same manner as they had done formerly in the days of Cyrus, and again in the days of Cambyses afterwards, to put a stop to the building of the temple, and to endeavor to delay and protract the Jews in their zeal about it. [adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]
1.1.4. Origin of the Samaritan Temple. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 11.302-312
[Josephus describes the origin of the Samaritan Temple on Mt. Gerizim during the time of Alexander the Great in the late 4th c. BCE)
Now when John had departed this life, his son Jaddua succeeded in the high priesthood. He had a brother, whose name was Manasseh. Now there was one Sanballat, who was sent by Darius, the last king [of Persia], into Samaria. He was a Cuthean by birth; of which stock were the Samaritans also. This man knew that the city Jerusalem was a famous city, and that their kings had given a great deal of trouble to the Assyrians, and the people of Celesyria; so that he willingly gave his daughter, whose name was Nicaso, in marriage to Manasseh, as thinking this alliance by marriage would be a pledge and security that the nation of the Jews should continue their good-will to him. . . .
But the elders of Jerusalem being very uneasy that the brother of Jaddua the high priest, though married to a foreigner, should be a partner with him in the high priesthood, quarreled with him; for they esteemed this man’s marriage a step to such as should be desirous of transgressing about the marriage of [foreign] wives . . . so they commanded Manasseh to divorce his wife, or not to approach the altar, the high priest himself joining with the people in their indignation against his brother, and driving him away from the altar. Whereupon Manasseh came to his father-in-law, Sanballat, and told him, that although he loved his daughter Nicaso, yet was he not willing to be deprived of his priestly dignity on her account, which was the principal dignity in their nation, and always continued in the same family. And then Sanballat promised him not only to preserve to him the honor of his priesthood, but to procure for him the power and dignity of a high priest, and would make him governor of all the places he himself now ruled, if he would keep his daughter for his wife. He also told him further, that he would build him a temple like that at Jerusalem, upon Mount Gerizzim, which is the highest of all the mountains that are in Samaria; and he promised that he would do this with the approbation of Darius the king [Darius III, 336-331 BCE[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]
1.1.5. Jewish – Samaritan dispute. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 12.7–10; 13.74–79
[Josephus describes a dispute between Jews and Samaritans in Egypt in the early 3rd c. BCE over the proper place to send sacrifices: Jerusalem or Mt. Gerizim]
However, there were disoders among their posterity [i.e., among the Jews], with relation to the Samaritans, on account of their resolution to preserve that conduct of life which was delivered to them by their forefathers, and they thereupon contended one with another, while those of Jerusalem said that their temple was holy, and resolved to send their sacrifices thither; but the Samaritans were resolved that they should be sent to Mount Gerizzim.
Now it came to pass that the Alexandrian Jews, and those Samaritans who paid their worship to the temple that was built in the days of Alexander at Mount Gerizzim, did now make a sedition one against another, and disputed about their temples before Ptolemy himself; the Jews saying that, according to the laws of Moses, the temple was to be built at Jerusalem; and the Samaritans saying that it was to be built at Gerizzim.
[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]
1.1.6. Desecration of the Temples at Jerusalem and Mt. Gerizim. 2 Maccabees 6:1-2
[Describes Jewish persecution by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, 175-164 BCE]
Not long after this, the king [Antiochus IV Epiphanes] sent an Athenian senator to compel the Jews to forsake the laws of their ancestors and no longer to live by the laws of God; 2 also to pollute the temple in Jerusalem and to call it the temple of Olympian Zeus, and to call the one in Gerizim the temple of Zeus-the-Friend-of-Strangers, as did the people who lived in that place. [RSV]
1.1.7. Destruction of the Temple on Mt. Gerizim. Josephus, Antiquities 13.254-6
But when Hyrcanus [John Hyrcanus, the Hasmonean ruler134-104 BCE], heard of the death of Antiochus, he presently made an expedition against the cities of Syria . . . After this he took Samega, and the neighboring places; and besides these, Shechem and Gerizzim, and the nation of the Cutheans, who dwelt at the temple which resembled that temple which was at Jerusalem, and which Alexander permitted Sanballat, the general of his army, to build for the sake of Manasseh, who was son-in-law to Jaddua the high priest, as we have formerly related; which temple was now deserted two hundred years after it was built. [adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]
1.1.8. Benefaction to the Samaritan Temple. Delos Inscription, 150-50 BCE.
[Translation by K. C. Hanson; http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/greek/samben.html]
The Israelites of Delos, who donate to the temple of Mt. Gerezim, crown with a golden crown Sarapion, son of Jason, from Knossos on account of the benefaction towards them.
1.1.9. Exclusion of Samaritans. Bavli Kuthim 2:7
[a supplementary tractate]
Why are Samaritans (kuthim) excluded from entering Israel?
–Because they were mixed up with the priests of the high places.
Rabbi Ishmael said:
“They were righteous proselytes in the beginning.”
Why are they excluded?
–Because they marry illegitimate women but not a brother’s widow.
When will they be accepted?
–When they deny Mount Gerizim and confess Jerusalem and the resurrection of the dead. After this, he who robs a Samaritan is like one who robs an Israelite.
[Translation by Mahlon H. Smith, http://religion.rutgers.edu/iho/samaria.html#exclusion]
1.2. Diversity of Judaism
1.2.1. Comparison chart of Jewish Sects in the Second Temple period:
http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/J_Transp/J06_2ndTempSects.html
1.2.2. Rival Jewish Groups. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 18.11-23
The Jews had for a great while had three sects of philosophy peculiar to themselves; the sect of the Essenes, and the sect of the Sadducees, and the third sort of opinions was that of those called Pharisees . . .
[see below under each group]
[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]
1.2.3. Essay on Jewish Sects
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/judaism.html
1.3. Hasidim
1.3.1. 1 Maccabees 2:27-30, 42-48
(RSV) 27 Then Mattathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: “Let every one who is zealous for the law and supports the covenant come out with me!” 28 And he and his sons fled to the hills and left all that they had in the city.
29 Then many who were seeking righteousness and justice went down to the wilderness to dwell there, 30 they, their sons, their wives, and their cattle, because evils pressed heavily upon them.
42 Then there united with them a company of Hasideans, mighty warriors of Israel, every one who offered himself willingly for the law. 43 And all who became fugitives to escape their troubles joined them and reinforced them. 44 They organized an army, and struck down sinners in their anger and lawless men in their wrath; the survivors fled to the Gentiles for safety. 45 And Mattathias and his friends went about and tore down the altars; 46 they forcibly circumcised all the uncircumcised boys that they found within the borders of Israel. 47 They hunted down the arrogant men, and the work prospered in their hands. 48 They rescued the law out of the hands of the Gentiles and kings, and they never let the sinner gain the upper hand.
1.4. Pharisees and Sadducees
[There are no documents that can be attributed with certainty to either Pharisees or Sadducees. Both groups are known from descriptions in Josephus, the New Testament, and rabbinic writings]
1.4.1. Josephus on Pharisees vs. Sadducees.
Josephus, Antiquities 13:297–8
[Josephus describes the animosity that arose between Pharisees and Sadducees during the reign of John Hyrcanus, ca. 134–104 BCE]
What I would now explain is this, that the Pharisees have delivered to the people a great many observances by succession from their fathers, which are not written in the laws of Moses; and for that reason it is that the Sadducees reject them, and say that we are to esteem those observances to be obligatory which are in the written word, but are not to observe what are derived from the tradition of our forefathers. And concerning these things it is that great disputes and differences have arisen among them, while the Sadducees are able to persuade none but the rich, and have not the populace obsequious to them, but the Pharisees have the multitude on their side. But about these two sects, and that of the Essenes, I have treated accurately in the second book of Jewish affairs.
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 18.11-23
Now, for the Pharisees, they live meanly, and despise delicacies in diet; and they follow the conduct of reason; and what that prescribes to them as good for them they do; and they think they ought earnestly to strive to observe reason’s dictates for practice. They also pay a respect to such as are in years; nor are they so bold as to contradict them in any thing which they have introduced; and when they determine that all things are done by fate, they do not take away the freedom from men of acting as they think fit; since their notion is, that it hath pleased God to make a temperament, whereby what he wills is done, but so that the will of man can act virtuously or viciously. They also believe that souls have an immortal rigor in them, and that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments, according as they have lived virtuously or viciously in this life; and the latter are to be detained in an everlasting prison, but that the former shall have power to revive and live again; on account of which doctrines they are able greatly to persuade the body of the people; and whatsoever they do about Divine worship, prayers, and sacrifices, they perform them according to their direction; insomuch that the cities give great attestations to them on account of their entire virtuous conduct, both in the actions of their lives and their discourses also.
But the doctrine of the Sadducees is this: That souls die with the bodies; nor do they regard the observation of any thing besides what the law enjoins them; for they think it an instance of virtue to dispute with those teachers of philosophy whom they frequent: but this doctrine is received but by a few, yet by those still of the greatest dignity. But they are able to do almost nothing of themselves; for when they become magistrates, as they are unwillingly and by force sometimes obliged to be, they addict themselves to the notions of the Pharisees, because the multitude would not otherwise bear them.
The doctrine of the Essenes is this: That all things are best ascribed to God. They teach the immortality of souls, and esteem that the rewards of righteousness are to be earnestly striven for; and when they send what they have dedicated to God into the temple, they do not offer sacrifices (3) because they have more pure lustrations of their own; on which account they are excluded from the common court of the temple, but offer their sacrifices themselves; yet is their course of life better than that of other men; and they entirely addict themselves to husbandry. It also deserves our admiration, how much they exceed all other men that addict themselves to virtue, and this in righteousness; and indeed to such a degree, that as it hath never appeared among any other men, neither Greeks nor barbarians, no, not for a little time, so hath it endured a long while among them. This is demonstrated by that institution of theirs, which will not suffer any thing to hinder them from having all things in common; so that a rich man enjoys no more of his own wealth than he who hath nothing at all. There are about four thousand men that live in this way, and neither marry wives, nor are desirous to keep servants; as thinking the latter tempts men to be unjust, and the former gives the handle to domestic quarrels; but as they live by themselves, they minister one to another. . .
[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]
Josephus, War 2.164–6
But then as to the two other orders at first mentioned, the Pharisees are those who are esteemed most skillful in the exact explication of their laws, and introduce the first sect. These ascribe all to fate [or providence], and to God, and yet allow, that to act what is right, or the contrary, is principally in the power of men, although fate does co-operate in every action. They say that all souls are incorruptible, but that the souls of good men only are removed into other bodies, – but that the souls of bad men are subject to eternal punishment. But the Sadducees are those that compose the second order, and take away fate entirely, and suppose that God is not concerned in our doing or not doing what is evil; and they say, that to act what is good, or what is evil, is at men’s own choice, and that the one or the other belongs so to every one, that they may act as they please. They also take away the belief of the immortal duration of the soul, and the punishments and rewards in Hades. Moreover, the Pharisees are friendly to one another, and are for the exercise of concord, and regard for the public; but the behavior of the Sadducees one towards another is in some degree wild, and their conversation with those that are of their own party is as barbarous as if they were strangers to them. And this is what I had to say concerning the philosophic sects among the Jews.
[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]
1.4.2. Resurrection. Acts 23:6–9
(RSV) But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead I am on trial .” 7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 Then a great clamor arose; and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended, “We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?”
1.4.3. Disputes between Pharisees and Sadducees. Mishnah Yadayim 4:6-8
4:6. The Sadducees say: We complain against you, Pharisees, because you say that the holy scriptures defile the hands, but the books of Homer do not defile the hands. R. Johanan b. Zakkai said: have we nothing against the Pharisees besides this? Behold they say that the bones of an ass are clean, yet the bones of Johanan the high priest are unclean. They [the Sadducees] said to him: proportionate to the love for them, so is their uncleanness, so that nobody should make spoons out of the bones of his father or mother. He said to them: so also the holy scriptures; proportionate to the love for them, so is their uncleanness. The books of Homer which are not precious do not convey uncleanness to the hands.
4:7. The Sadducees say: we complain against you, Pharisees, that you declare an uninterrupted flow of a liquid to be clean.
The Pharisees say: we complain against you, Sadducees, that you declare a stream of water which flows from the burial-ground to be clean.
The Sadducees say: we complain against you, Pharisees, in that you say, my ox or ass which has done injury is liable, yet my manservant or maidservant who has done injury is not liable’. Now if in the case of my ox or my ass’ for which I am not responsible if they do not fulfil religious duties, yet I am responsible for their damage, in the case of my manservant or maidservant for whom I am responsible to see that they fulfil religious duties, how much more so that I should be responsible for their damage?
They [the Pharisees] said to them: no, if you argue about my ox or my ass’ which have no understanding, can you deduce anything therefrom concerning my manservant or maidservant who have understanding? So that if I were to anger either of them they would go and burn another person’s stack and I should be liable to make restitution?
4:8. A Galilean Sadducee said: I complain against you, Pharisees, that you write the name of the ruler and the name of Moses together on a bill of divorcement.
The Pharisees said: We complain against you, Galilean Sadducee, that you write the name of the ruler together with the divine name on a single page And furthermore that you write the name of the ruler above and the divine name below. As it is said, “And pharoah said, who is the Lord that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go?” But when he was smitten what did he say? “The Lord is righteous.”
[adapted from Soncino Classics translation]
1.4.4. Grades of Purity. Mishnah Hagigah 2:7
For Pharisees the clothes of an Am ha-aretz* count as suffering midras-uncleanness**. For those [priests] that eat the priestly portion, the clothes of Pharisees count as suffering madras-uncleanness. For those [priests] that eat sacrifices, the clothes of them that eat priestly portions count as suffering madras-uncleanness.
For those [priests] that prepare the sin-offering water, the clothes of them that eat sacrifices count as suffering madras-uncleanness.
[adapted from Danby translation]
[* Am ha-aretz: literally “people of the land”; refers to the common person not skilled in Torah, who the Pharisees do not trust to properly observe laws of purity and tithing.]
[** Midras-uncleanness: uncleanness by contact with a source of impurity (e.g. a cushion becomes unclean when sat on by menstrua
ting woman)].
1.4.5. Purification Dispute. Mishnah, Parah 3:7
And the elders of Israel used to go forth before them [the priests who prepared the burning of the red heifer, Numbers 19] on foot to the Mount of Olives. There was a place of immersion there; and they used to defile the priest who was to burn the heifer, because of the Sadducees, so that they would not be able to say, “It must be performed only by them on whom the sun has set.”
[adapted from Danby Translation]
1.5. Zealots, Sicarii. Josephus, Antiquities 18.23
But of the fourth sect of Jewish philosophy, Judas the Galilean was the author. These men agree in all other things with the Pharisaic notions; but they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is to be their only Ruler and Lord. They also do not value dying any kinds of death, nor indeed do they heed the deaths of their relations and friends, nor can any such fear make them call any man lord. [adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]
1.6. Essenes
[The Essenes were described by Philo and Josephus as an important group of highly educated and pious Jews that lived throughout Judea. Most scholars believe that the settlement at Qumran was an Essene settlement, and that the many scrolls found in the nearby caves (the Dead Sea Scrolls) constitute a sort of library of this community, containing some texts written by Essenes and others merely preserved and/or copied by the members at this community)
1.6.1. Josephus on Essenes.
Josephus, Antiquities 18.18–22
The doctrine of the Essenes is this: That all things are best ascribed to God. They teach the immortality of souls, and esteem that the rewards of righteousness are to be earnestly striven for; and when they send what they have dedicated to God into the temple, they do not offer sacrifices because they have more pure lustrations of their own; on which account they are excluded from the common court of the temple, but offer their sacrifices themselves; yet is their course of life better than that of other men; and they entirely addict themselves to husbandry. It also deserves our admiration, how much they exceed all other men that addict themselves to virtue, and this in righteousness; and indeed to such a degree, that as it hath never appeared among any other men, neither Greeks nor barbarians, no, not for a little time, so hath it endured a long while among them. This is demonstrated by that institution of theirs, which will not suffer any thing to hinder them from having all things in common; so that a rich man enjoys no more of his own wealth than he who hath nothing at all. There are about four thousand men that live in this way, and neither marry wives, nor are desirous to keep servants; as thinking the latter tempts men to be unjust, and the former gives the handle to domestic quarrels; but as they live by themselves, they minister one to another. They also appoint certain stewards to receive the incomes of their revenues, and of the fruits of the ground; such as are good men and priests, who are to get their corn and their food ready for them. They none of them differ from others of the Essenes in their way of living, but do the most resemble those Dacae who are called Polistae [dwellers in cities].
[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]
Josephus, War 2.119–161
For there are three philosophical sects among the Jews. The followers of the first of which are the Pharisees; of the second, the Sadducees; and the third sect, which pretends to a severer discipline, are called Essenes. These last are Jews by birth, and seem to have a greater affection for one another than the other sects have. These Essenes reject pleasures as an evil, but esteem continence, and the conquest over our passions, to be virtue. They neglect wedlock, but choose out other persons children … They do not absolutely deny the fitness of marriage, and the succession of mankind thereby continued; but they guard against the lascivious behavior of women, and are persuaded that none of them preserve their fidelity to one man.
(122) These men are despisers of riches … Nor is there any one to be found among them who hath more than another; for it is a law among them, that those who come to them must let what they have be common to the whole order, – insomuch that among them all there is no appearance of poverty, or excess of riches, but every one’s possessions are intermingled with every other’s possessions; and so there is, as it were, one patrimony among all the brethren. They think that oil is a defilement; and if any one of them be anointed without his own approbation, it is wiped off his body … as they do also to be clothed in white garments. They also have stewards appointed to take care of their common affairs, who every one of them have no separate business for any, but what is for the uses of them all.
(124) They have no one certain city, but many of them dwell in every city; and if any of their sect come from other places, what they have lies open for them, just as if it were their own; and they go in to such as they never knew before, as if they had been ever so long acquainted with them. … Nor do they either buy or sell any thing to one another; but every one of them gives what he hath to him that wanteth it, and receives from him again in lieu of it what may be convenient for himself …
(128) And as for their piety towards God, it is very extraordinary; for before sun-rising they speak not a word about profane matters, but put up certain prayers which they have received from their forefathers, as if they made a supplication for its rising. After this every one of them are sent away by their curators, to exercise some of those arts wherein they are skilled, in which they labor with great diligence till the fifth hour. After which they assemble themselves together again into one place; and when they have clothed themselves in white veils, they then bathe their bodies in cold water. And after this purification is over, they every one meet together in an apartment of their own, into which it is not permitted to any of another sect to enter; while they go, after a pure manner, into the dining-room, as into a certain holy temple, and quietly set themselves down; upon which the baker lays them loaves in order; the cook also brings a single plate of one sort of food, and sets it before every one of them; but a priest says grace before meat; and it is unlawful for any one to taste of the food before grace be said. The same priest, when he hath dined, says grace again after meat; and when they begin, and when they end, they praise God, as he that bestows their food upon them; after which they lay aside their [white] garments, and betake themselves to their labors again till the evening; then they return home to supper, after the same manner; and if there be any strangers there, they sit down with them. Nor is there ever any clamor or disturbance to pollute their house, but they give every one leave to speak in their turn; which silence thus kept in their house appears to foreigners like some tremendous mystery; the cause of which is that perpetual sobriety they exercise, and the same settled measure of meat and drink that is allotted them, and that such as is abundantly sufficient for them.
(134) And truly, as for other things, they do nothing but according to the injunctions of their curators; only these two things are done among them at everyone’s own free-will, which are to assist those that want it, and to show mercy; for they are permitted of their own accord to afford succor to such as deserve it, when they stand in need of it, and to bestow food on those that are in distress; but they cannot give any thing to their kindred without the curators. They dispense their anger after a just manner, and restrain their passion. They are eminent for fidelity, and are the ministers of peace; whatsoever they say also is firmer than an oath; but swearing is avoided by them, and they esteem it worse than perjury for they say that he who cannot be believed without [swearing by] God is already condemned. They also take great pains in studying the writings of the ancients, and choose out of them what is most for the advantage of their soul and body; and they inquire after such roots and medicinal stones as may cure their distempers.
(137) But now if any one hath a mind to come over to their sect, he is not immediately admitted, but he is prescribed the same method of living which they use for a year, while he continues excluded’; and they give him also a small hatchet, and the fore-mentioned girdle, and the white garment. And when he hath given evidence, during that time, that he can observe their continence, he approaches nearer to their way of living, and is made a partaker of the waters of purification; yet is he not even now admitted to live with them; for after this demonstration of his fortitude, his temper is tried two more years; and if he appear to be worthy, they then admit him into their society. And before he is allowed to touch their common food, he is obliged to take tremendous oaths, that, in the first place, he will exercise piety towards God, and then that he will observe justice towards men, and that he will do no harm to any one, either of his own accord, or by the command of others; that he will always hate the wicked, and be assistant to the righteous; … and that he will neither conceal any thing from those of his own sect, nor discover any of their doctrines to others … and will equally preserve the books belonging to their sect, and the names of the angels. These are the oaths by which they secure their proselytes to themselves.
(143) But for those that are caught in any heinous sins, they cast them out of their society; and he who is thus separated from them does often die after a miserable manner; for as he is bound by the oath he hath taken, and by the customs he hath been engaged in, he is not at liberty to partake of that food that he meets with elsewhere, but is forced to eat grass, and to famish his body with hunger, till he perish; for which reason they receive many of them again when they are at their last gasp, out of compassion to them, as thinking the miseries they have endured till they came to the very brink of death to be a sufficient punishment for the sins they had been guilty of.
(145) But in the judgments they exercise they are most accurate and just, nor do they pass sentence by the votes of a court that is fewer than a hundred. And as to what is once determined by that number, it is unalterable. What they most of all honor, after God himself, is the name of their legislator [Moses], whom if any one blaspheme he is punished capitally. They also think it a good thing to obey their elders, and the major part. Accordingly, if ten of them be sitting together, no one of them will speak while the other nine are against it. They also avoid spitting in the midst of them, or on the right side. Moreover, they are stricter than any other of the Jews in resting from their labors on the seventh day; for they not only get their food ready the day before, that they may not be obliged to kindle a fire on that day, but they will not remove any vessel out of its place, nor go to stool thereon. Nay, on other days they dig a small pit, a foot deep, with a paddle (which kind of hatchet is given them when they are first admitted among them); and covering themselves round with their garment, that they may not affront the Divine rays of light, they ease themselves into that pit, after which they put the earth that was dug out again into the pit; and even this they do only in the more lonely places, which they choose out for this purpose; and although this easement of the body be natural, yet it is a rule with them to wash themselves after it, as if it were a defilement to them.
(150) Now after the time of their preparatory trial is over, they are parted into four classes; and so far are the juniors inferior to the seniors, that if the seniors should be touched by the juniors, they must wash themselves, as if they had intermixed themselves with the company of a foreigner. …
(159) There are also those among them who undertake to foretell things to come, by reading the holy books, and using several sorts of purifications, and being perpetually conversant in the discourses of the prophets; and it is but seldom that they miss in their predictions.
(160) Moreover, there is another order of Essenes, who agree with the rest as to their way of living, and customs, and laws, but differ from them in the point of marriage, as thinking that by not marrying they cut off the principal part of human life, which is the prospect of succession; nay, rather, that if all men should be of the same opinion, the whole race of mankind would fail. However, they try their spouses for three years; and if they find that they have their natural purgations thrice, as trials that they are likely to be fruitful, they then actually marry them. But they do not use to accompany with their wives when they are with child, as a demonstration that they do not many out of regard to pleasure, but for the sake of posterity. Now the women go into the baths with some of their garments on, as the men do with somewhat girded about them. And these are the customs of this order of Essenes.
1.6.2. Qumran (pictures)
See http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dfalk/courses/ejud/qumran.htm
1.6.3. Halakhic Letter (MMT)
[Dead Sea Scrolls, ca. 1st c. BCE.]
This document looks like a letter addressed by a leader of a group to a national leader
It contains:
-a calendar;
-a list of purity laws that agree with the position held by Sadducees against the Pharisees; begins “These are some of our pronouncements concerning works of the law that we have determined … and all of them concern defiling mixtures and the purity of the sanctuary …”
-an admonition, that reads like a letter to a national leader:
“But you know that we have separated from the majority of the people and from all their uncleanness and from being party to or going along with them in these matters. And you know that no unfaithfulness, deception, or evil are found in our hands …
Indeed, we have written to you so that you might understand the book of Moses, the books of the Prophets, and David …
In the book of Moses it is written … that when all these things happen to you in latter days, the blessing and the curse, that you call them to mind and return to Him with all your heart and with all your soul (Deut 30:1-2) … at the end of the age, then you shall live. …
It is also written in the book of Moses and in the books of the prophets that the blessings and curses shall come upon you … And so we see that some of the blessings and curses have already come that are written in the book of Moses. Now this is the Last Days, when those of Israel shall return to the Law of Moses with all their heart and will never turn away again. But the wicked will increase in wickedness …
Remember David, he was a pious man, and indeed he was delivered from many troubles and forgiven.
Now we have written to you some of the works of the Law, those which we determined would be beneficial for you and your people, because we have seen that you possess insight and knowledge of the Law. Understand all these things and beseech Him to set your counsel straight and so keep you away from evil thoughts and the counsel of Belial. Then you shall rejoice at the end time when you find the essence of our words to be true. And it will be reckoned to you as righteousness, in that you have done what is right and good before Him, to your own benefit and to that of Israel”
[Translation adapted from M. Wise, M. Abegg, and E. Cook, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation (1996), 358–64]
1.6.4. Damascus Document
[Dead Sea Scrolls, ca. 1st c. BCE. The work known as Damascus Document is effectively a sermon to members of a community or movement of pious Jews who regard themselves as penitents seeking to live as God’s people in the “last days” (that is, the end of the epoch dominated by evil, when God will destroy evil and establish an age of peace): this “sermon” recites the history of God’s dealings with Israel and the origins of this penitent movement; it admonishes the members to remain faithful, and lists laws that the members are to keep]
CD A col. 1
… “So listen, all you who recognize righteousness, and consider the deeds of God. When He has a dispute with any mortal, He passes judgment on those who spurn Him. For when Israel abandoned Him by being faithless, He turned away from them and from His sanctuary and gave them up to the sword. But when he called to mind the covenant He made with their forefathers, He left a remnant for Israel and did not allow them to be exterminated. In the era of wrath–390 years after having delivered them up into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, he visited them and caused to sprout from Israel and from Aaron a shoot of the planting, in order to possess his land and to become fat with the good things of this soil. And they realised their iniquity and knew that they were guilty; but they were like blind persons and like those who grope for a path over twenty years. And God appraised their deeds, because they sought him with an undivided heart, and raised up for them a Teacher of Righteousness, in order to direct them in the path of his heart.”
[Translation adapted from M. Wise, M. Abegg, and E. Cook, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation (1996)]
1.6.5. The Community Rule
[Dead Sea Scrolls, ca. 2nd or 1st c. BCE. The Community Rule is a constitution for a “union” or “community” (in the broad sense) of pious Jews trying to live faithfully to their understanding of God’s will.]
Col. 1
A text belonging to [the Instructor, who is to teach the Ho]ly Ones how to live according to the book of the Community’s Rule. He is to teach them to seek God with all their heart and with all their soul, to do that which is good and upright before Him, just as He commanded through Moses and all His servants the prophets. He is to teach them to love everything He chose and to hate everything He rejected, to distance themselves from all evil and to hold fast to all good deeds; to practice truth, justice, and righteousness in the land, and to walk no longer in a guilty, willful heart and lustful desires, wherein they did every evil thing. He is to induct all who volunteer to live by the laws of God into the Covenant of Mercy, so as to be joined to God’s society and walk faultless before Him, according to all that has been revealed for the times appointed them. He is to teach them both to love all the Children of Light–each commensurate with his rightful place in the council of God–and to hate all the Children of Darkness, each commensurate with his guilt stand the vengeance due him from God.
All who volunteer for His truth are to bring the full measure of their knowledge. strength, and wealth into the Community of God. Thus will they purify their knowledge in the verity of God’s laws, properly excercise their strength according to the perfection of His ways, and likewise their wealth by the canon of His righteous counsel. They are not to deviate in the smallest detail from any of God’s words as these apply to their own nme. They are neither to advance their holy times nor to postpone any of their prescribed festivals. They shall turn aside from His unerring laws neither to the right nor the left. …
Col. 5
This is the rule for the men of the Community who volunteer to repent from all evil and to hold test to all that He, by His good will, has commanded.
They are to separate from the congregation of perverse men. They are to come together as one with respect to Law and wealth. Their discussions shall be under the oversight of the Sons of Zadok–priests and preservers of the Covenant–and according to the majority rule of the men of the Community, who hold fast to the Covenant. These men shall guide all decisions on matters of Law, money, and judgment.
They are to practice truth together with humility, charity, justice, loving-kindness, and modesty in all their ways. Accordingly, none will continue in a willful heart and thus be seduced, not by his heart, neither by his eyes nor yet by his lower nature. Together they shall circumcise the foreskin of this nature, this stiff neck, and so establish a foundation of truth for Israel–that is to say, for the Community of the Eternal Covenant. They are to atone for all those in Aaron who volunteer for holiness, and for those in Israel who belong to truth, and for Gentile proselytes who join them in community. Both by trial and by verdict they are to condemn any who transgress a regulation.
These are the regulations that govern when they are gathered together as a Community. Every initiant into the society of the Community is to enter the Covenant in full view of all the volunteers. He shall take upon himself a binding oath to return to the Law of Moses (according to all that He commanded) with all his heart and with all his mind, to all that has been revealed from it to the Sons of Zadok—priests and preservers of the covenant, seekers of his will …
Col. 6
… By these rules they are to govern themselves wherever they dwell, in acccordance with each legal finding that bears upon communal life. Inferiors must obey their ranking superiors as regards work and wealth. They shall eat, pray, and deliberate communally.Wherever ten men belonging to the society of the Community are gathered, a priest must always be present. The men shall sit before the priest by rank, and in that manner their opinions will be sought on any matter.When the table has been set for eating or the new wine readied for drinking, it is the priest who shall stretch out his hand first, blessing the first portion of the bread or the new wine. In any place where is gathered the ten-man quorum, someone must always be engaged in study of the Law, day and night, continually, each one taking his turn. The general membership will be diligent together for the first third of every night of the year, reading aloud from the Book, interpreting Scripture, and praying together. …
Col. 9
… When, united by all these precepts, such men as these come to be a community in Israel, they shall establish eternal truth guided by the instruction of His holy spirit. They shall atone for the guilt of transgression and the rebellion of sin, becoming an acceptable sacrifice for the land through the flesh of burnt offerings. the fat of sacrificial portions, and prayer, becoming–as it were–justice itself, a sweet savor of righteousness and blameless behavior, a pleasing freewill offering. At that time the men of the Community shall withdraw, the holy house of Aaron uniting as a Holy of Holies, and the synagogue of Israel as those who walk blamelessly. The sons of Aaron alone shall have authority in judicial and financial matters. They shall decide on governing precepts tor the men of the Community and on money matters for the holy men who walk blamelessly. Their wealth is not to be admired with that of rebellious men, who have failed to cleanse their path by separating from perversity and walking blamelessly. They shall deviate trom none of the teachings of the Law, whereby they would walk in their willful heart completely. They shall govern themselves using the original precepts by which the men of the Community began to be instructed, doing so until there come the Prophet and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel.
[Translation of M. Wise, M. Abegg, and E. Cook, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation (1996); adapted from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/community.html]
1.6.6. The War Scroll
[Dead Sea Scrolls, ca. 2nd or 1st c. BCE. The War Scroll is a document describing an eschatological (that is, at the climax of a history predetermined by God) battle between the forces of good (the sons of light) and evil (the sons of darkness), both human and heavenly.]
Col. 1
For the In[structor, the Rule of] the War. The first attack of the Sons of Light shall be undertaken against the forces of the Sons of Darkness, the army of Belial: the troops of Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the [Amalekitesl, Philistia, and the troops of the Kittim of Asshur. Supporting them are those who have violated the covenant. The sons of Levi, the sons of Judah, and the sons of Benjamin, those exiled to the wilderness, shall fight against them with [ . . . ] against all their troops, when the exiles of the Sons of Light return from the Wilderness of the Peoples to camp in the Wilderness of Jerusalem. Then after the battle they shall go up from that place a[nd the king of] the Kittim [shall enter] into Egypt. In his time he shall go forth with great wrath to do battle against the kings of the north and in his anger he shall set out to destroy and eliminate the strength of I[srael. Then there shall be a time of salvation for the People of God, and a time of dominion for all the men of His forces, and eternal annihilation for all the forces of Belial.
There shall be g[reat] panic [among] the sons of Japheth. Assyria shall fall with no one to come to his aid, and the supremacy of the Kittim shall cease, that wickedness be overcome without a remnant. There shall be no survivors of [all the Sons of] Darkness.
Then [the Sons of Rig]hteousness shall shine to all ends of the world, continuing to shine forth until end of the appointed seasons of darkness. Then at the time appointed by God, His great excellence shall shine for all the times of e[ternity;] for peace and blessing, glory and joy, and long life for all Sons of Light. On the day when the Kittim fall there shall be a battle and horrible carnage before the God of Israel, for it is a day appointed by Him from ancient times as a battle of annihilation for the Sons of Darkness. On that day the congregation of the gods and the congregation of men shall engage one another, resulting in great carnage. The Sons of Light and the forces of Darkness shall fight together to show the strength of God with the roar of a great multitude and the shout of gods and men: a day of disaster. It is a time of distress fo[r al]l the people who are redeemed by God. In all their afflictions none exists that is like it, hastening to its completion as an eternal redemption. On the day of their batlle against the Kittim, they shall g[o forth for] carnage in battle. In three lots the Sons of Light shall stand firm so as to strike a blow at wickedness, and in three the army of Belial shall strengthen themselves so as to force the retreat of the forces [of Light. And when the] banners of the infantry cause their hearts to melt. then the strength of God will strengthen the he[arts of the Sons of Light.] In the seventh lot the great hand of God shall overcome [Belial and al]1 the angels of his dominion, and all the men of [his forces shall be destroyed forever].
[Translation of M. Wise, M. Abegg, and E. Cook, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation (1996); adapted from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/scrolltranslation.html]
1.6.7. Thanksgiving Hymns
[Dead Sea Scrolls, ca. 2nd or 1st c. BCE. This is a collection of hymns to God characterized by their frequent opening line “I give thanks to you, O Lord …” Frequent motifs are God’s election of His people, predestination, the demonic nature of opposition to God’s people, deliverance, the corruptible nature of humans in contrast to God’s holiness.]
Col. 9
By Your wisdom [You have establish]ed the successive [generations] and before You created them You knew all their works for ever and ever. [For apart from You no]thing is done, and without Your will nothing is known. You have formed every spirit and [You determined their] de[eds] and judgment for all their works. …
…in the wisdom of Your knowledge You determined their destiny before they came into existence and according [to Your will] everything come[s to pass], and nothing happens apart from You.
These things I know through Your understanding, for You have opened my ears to wonderful mysteries even though I am a vessel of clay and kneaded with water, a foundation of shame and a spring of filth, a melting pot of iniquity and a structure of sin, a spirit of error, perverted without understanding and terrified by righteous judgments. What can I say that is not known and declare that is not told? Everything is engraved before You with the ink of remembrance for all the times of eternity, for the numbered seasons of eternal years in all their appointed times. Nothing is hidden, nor does anything exist apart from Your presence. …
Col. 11
… I give thanks to You, O Lord, for you have redeemed my soul from the pit. From Sheol and Abaddon You have raised me up to an eternal height, so that I might walk about on a limitless plain, and know that there is hope for him whom You created from the dust for the eternal council. The perverse spirit You have cleansed from great transgression, that he might take his stand with the host of the holy ones, and enter together with the congregation of the sons of heaven. And for man, You have allotted an eternal destiny with the spirits of knowledge, to praise Your name together with shouts of joy, and to recount Your wonders before all Your creatures. But I, a creature of clay, what am I? Kneaded with water … what is my strength? For I have taken my stand within the domain of wickedness, and I am with the wretched by lot. The soul of the poor dwells with great tumults, thus great disasters accompany my steps. When all the traps of the pit open, and all the wicked snares and the net of the wretched ones are spread out … when the outpouring of wrath upon the pretenders and the time of anger for all which belongs to Belial [name of the leader of evil angels], when the snares of death have surrounded with no escape, then the torrents of Belial shall go over all the high banks … so as to destroy … The earth shouts out, because of the disaster which comes about in the world … All who are upon it behave as if mad, and they melt away in the great disaster. For God thunders with the roar of His strength … Then the heavenly hosts shall raise their voice and the everlasting foundations shall melt and quake. The war of the heroes of heaven shall spread over the world and shall not return until an annihilation that has been determined from eternity is completed. Nothing like this has ever occurred.
Col 12.
What is mortal man in comparison with this? And where is the vessel of clay that is able to carry out wondrous deeds? For he is sinful from the womb and in the guilt of unfaithfulness until old age. I know that man has no righteousness, nor does the son of man walk in the perfect way. All the works of righteousness belong to God Most High. The way of man does not last except by the spirit which God created for him …
[Translation adapted from M. Wise, M. Abegg, and E. Cook, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation (1996), 91–7]