The Community Rule is also known as The Manual of Discipline and is the longest of seven scrolls that were found in Cave 1 of Qumran in 1947. Between that year and 1954, over 350 scrolls were found in eleven caves which are now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. The caves are located on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea in the Judean desert in Israel. 1QS stands for Cave 1 / Qumran / Serekh (Hebrew: ‘rule’).

The Community Rule is a communal document describing the way of life that was lead by the Essenes (a Greek variation for the term Nazarenes), whom were the first century apostolic Christians founded by Yahushua himself and carried on by Paul and Peter. The sect was the Order of Melchizedek, which means the Essenes were Nazarites, and therefore, strict vegetarians. The Essene sect was not a Jewish one, but a preservation of the tradition of the Zadokite sect and a continuation of it—the sect where Yahushua hailed from—which was founded by King David’s high priest Zadok, in whom the priesthoods of Aaron and Melchizedek were merged.

Before the discovery of this document, little was known about the Essenes—only given through the classical sources of Flavius Josephus, Philo and Pliny. The document provides a whole lot more information and describes the strict and ascetic rules of the community of believers. If the reader thinks the way of life practiced by Buddhist monks or by Anabaptist Christians is intense, then this document will be a mind-blow. It sheds a lot of light on how the lifestyle of every Christian should be, and makes modern ecumenical Christianity a joke.

^{[Column 1]} The Master shall teach the saints to live according to the Book of the Community Rule, that they may seek God with a whole heart and soul. and do good and right before Him as He commanded by the hand of Moses and all His servants the Prophets; that they may love all that He has chosen and hate all that he has rejected; that they may abstain from all evil and hold fast to all good [1 Thessalonians 5:21-22]; that they may practice truth, righteousness, and justice upon earth and no longer stubbornly follow a sinful heart and lustful eyes committing all manner of evil.

He shall admit into the Covenant of Grace all those who have freely devoted themselves to the observance of God’s precepts, that they may be joined to the counsel of God and may live perfectly before Him in accordance with all that has been revealed concerning their appointed times, and that they may love all the sons of light, each according to his lot in God’s design, and hate all the sons of darkness, each according to his guilt in God’s vengeance.

All those who freely devote themselves to His truth shall bring all their knowledge, powers, and possessions into the Community of God, that they may purify their knowledge in the truth of God’s precepts and order their powers according to His ways of perfection and all their possessions according to His righteous counsel.

They shall not depart from any command of God concerning their times; they shall be neither early nor late for any of their appointed times, they shall stray neither to the right nor to left of any of His true precepts. All those who embrace the Community Rule shall enter into the Covenant before God to obey all His commandments so that they may not abandon Him during the dominion of Satan because of fear or terror or affliction.

On entering the Covenant, the Priests and Levites shall bless the God of salvation and all His faithfulness, and all those entering the Covenant shall say after them, “Amen, Amen!”

Then the Priests shall recite the favors of God manifested in His mighty deeds and shall declare all His merciful grace to Israel, and the Levites shall recite the iniquities of the children of Israel, all their guilty rebellions and sins during the dominion of Satan. And after them, all those entering the Covenant shall confess and say: “We have strayed! We have disobeyed! We and our fathers before us have sinned and done wickedly in walking counter to the precepts of truth and righteousness [1 John 1:8-10].

And God has judged us and our fathers also; ^{[Column 2]} but He has bestowed His bountiful mercy on us from everlasting to everlasting.” And the Priests shall bless all the men of the lot of god who walk perfectly in all His ways, saying: “May He bless you with all good and preserve you from all evil [Psalm 121:7]! May He lighten your heart with life-giving wisdom and grant you eternal knowledge! May he raise His merciful face towards you for everlasting bliss [Numbers 6:23- 27]!”

And the Levites shall curse all the men of the lot of Satan, saying: ‘Be cursed because of all your guilty wickedness! May He deliver you up for torture at the hands of the vengeful Avengers! May He visit you with destruction by the hand of all the Wreakers of Revenge! Be cursed without mercy because of the darkness of your deeds! Be damned in the shadowy place of everlasting fire! May God not heed when you call on Him, nor pardon you by blotting out your sin! May He raise His angry face towards you for vengeance! May there be no “Peace” for you in the mouth of those who hold fast to the Fathers [Jeremiah 6:14; Ezekiel 13:10; Isaiah 48:22]!’ And after the blessing and the cursing, all those entering the Covenant shall say, “Amen, Amen!”

And the Priests and Levites shall continue, saying: “Cursed be the man who enters this Covenant while walking among the idols of his heart, who sets up before himself his stumbling-block of sin so that he may backslide! Hearing the words of this Covenant, he blesses himself in his heart and says, “Peace be with me, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart” [Deuteronomy 24:18-19], whereas his spirit, parched for lack of truth and watered with lies, shall be destroyed without pardon.

God’s wrath and His zeal for His precepts shall consume him in everlasting destruction. All the curses of the Covenant shall cling to him and God will set him apart for evil. He shall be cut off from the midst of all the sons of light, and because he has turned aside from God on account of his idols and his stumbling-block of sin, his lot shall be among those who are cursed forever.” And after them, all those entering the Covenant shall answer and say, “Amen, Amen!”

Thus shall they do, year by year, for as long as the dominion of Satan endures. The Priests shall enter first, ranked one after another according to the perfection of their spirit; then the Levites; and thirdly, all the people one after another in their Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties, and Tens, that every Israelite may know his place in the Community of God according to the everlasting design. No man shall move down from his place nor move up from his allotted position. For according to the holy design, they shall all of them be in a Community of truth and virtuous humility, of loving kindness and good intent one towards the other, and they shall all of them be sons of the everlasting Company.

No man shall be in the Community of His truth who refuses to enter the Covenant of God so that he may walk in the stubbornness of his heart, for ^{[Column 3]} his soul detests the wise teaching of just laws. He shall not be counted among the upright for he has not persisted in the conversion of his life. His knowledge, powers, and possessions shall not enter the Council of the Community, for whoever ploughs the mud of wickedness returns defiled.

He shall not be justified by that which his stubborn heart declares lawful, for seeking the ways of light he looks towards darkness. He shall not be reckoned among the perfect; he shall neither be purified by atonement, nor cleansed by purifying waters, nor sanctified by seas and rivers, nor washed clean with any ablution. Unclean, unclean shall he be. For as long as he despises the precepts of God he shall receive no instruction in the Community of His counsel.

For it is through the spirit of true counsel concerning the ways of man that all his sins shall be expiated that he may contemplate the light of life. He shall be cleansed from all his sins by the spirit of holiness uniting him to His truth, and his iniquity shall be expiated by the spirit of uprightness and humility. And when his flesh is sprinkled with purifying water and sanctified by cleansing water, it shall be made clean by the humble submission of his soul to all the precepts of God.

Let him them order his steps to walk perfectly in all the ways commanded by God concerning the times appointed for him, straying neither to right nor to left and transgressing none of His words, and he shall be accepted by virtue of pleasing atonement before God and it shall be to him a Covenant of the everlasting Community.

The Master shall instruct all the sons of light and shall teach them the nature of all the children of men according to the kind of spirit which they possess, the signs identifying their works during their lifetime, their visitation for chastisement, and the time of their reward.

From the God of Knowledge comes all that is and shall be. Before ever they existed He established their whole design, and when, as ordained for them, they come into being, it is in accord with His glorious design that they accomplish their task without change. The laws of all things are in His hand and He provides them with all their needs.

He has created man to govern the world, and has appointed for him two spirits in which to walk until the time of His visitation: the spirits of truth and falsehood. Those born of truth spring from a fountain of light, but those born of falsehood spring from a source of darkness. All the children of righteousness are ruled by the Prince of Light and walk in the ways of light, but all the children of falsehood are ruled by the Angel of Darkness and walk in the way of darkness.

The Angel of Darkness leads all the children of righteousness astray, and until his end, all their sin, iniquities, wickedness, and all their unlawful deeds are caused by his dominion in accordance with the mysteries of God. Every one of their chastisements, and every one of the seasons of their distress, shall be brought about by the rule of his persecution; for all his allotted spirits seek the overthrow of the sons of light.

But the God of Israel and His Angel of Truth will succor all the sons of light. For it is He who created the spirits of Light and Darkness and founded every action upon them and established every deed upon their ways. And He loves the one ^{[Column 4]} everlastingly and delights in its works forever; but the counsel of the other He loathes and forever hates its ways.

These are their ways in the world for the enlightenment of the heart of man, and that all the paths of true righteousness may be made straight before him, and that the fear of the laws of God may be instilled in his heart: a spirit of humility, patience, abundant charity, unending goodness, understanding, and intelligence; a spirit of mighty wisdom which trusts in all the deeds of God and leans on His great lovingkindness; a spirit of discernment in every purpose, of zeal for just laws, of holy intent with steadfastness of heart, of great charity towards all the sons of truth, of admirable purity which detests all unclean idols, of humble conducts spring from an understanding of all things, and of faithful concealment of the mysteries of truth. These are the counsels of the spirit to the sons of truth in this world.

And as for the Visitation of all who walk in this spirit, it shall be healing, great peace in a long life, and fruitfulness, together with every everlasting blessing and eternal joy in life without end, a crown of glory and a garment of 8majesty in unending light.

But the ways of the spirit of falsehood are these: greed, and slackness in the search for righteousness, wickedness and lies, haughtiness and pride, falseness and deceit, cruelty and abundant evil, ill-temper and much folly and brazen insolence, abominable deeds committed in a spirit of lust, and ways of lewdness in the service of uncleanness, a blaspheming tongue, blindness of eye and dullness of ear, stiffness of neck and heaviness of heart, so that man walks in all the ways of darkness and guile.

And the Visitation of all who walk in this spirit shall be a multitude of plagues by the hand of all the destroying angels, everlasting damnation by the avenging wrath of the fury of God, eternal torment and endless disgrace together with shameful extinction in the fire of the dark regions. The times of all their generations shall be spent in sorrowful mourning and in bitter misery and in calamities of darkness until they are destroyed without remnant or survivor.

The nature of all the children of the men is ruled by these two spirits, and during their life all the hosts of men have a portion of their divisions and walk in both their ways. And the whole reward for their deeds shall be, for everlasting ages, according to whether each man’s portion in their two divisions is great or small. For God has established the spirits in equal measure until the final age, and has set everlasting hatred between their divisions. Truth abhors the works of falsehood, and falsehood hates all the ways of truth. And their struggle is fierce in all their arguments for they do not walk together.

But in the mysteries of His understanding, and in His glorious wisdom, God has ordained an end for falsehood, and at the same time of the visitation He will destroy it forever. Then truth, which has wallowed in the ways of wickedness during the dominion of falsehood until the appointed time of judgment, shall arise in the world forever. God will then purify every deed of man with this truth; He will refine for Himself the human frame by rooting out all spirit of falsehood from the bounds of his flesh.

He will cleanse him of all wicked deeds with the spirit of holiness; like purifying waters He will shed upon him the spirit of truth to cleanse him of all abomination and falsehood. And he shall be plunged into the spirit of purification that he may instruct the upright in the knowledge of the Most High and teach the wisdom of the sons of heaven to the perfect of way. For God has chosen them for an everlasting Covenant and all the glory of Adam shall be theirs. There shall be no more lies and all the works of falsehood shall be put to shame.

Until now the spirits of truth and falsehood struggle in the hearts of men and they walk in both wisdom and folly. According to his portion of truth so does man hate falsehood, and according to his inheritance in the realm of falsehood so is he wicked and so hates truth. For God has established the two spirits in equal measure until the determined end, and until the Renewal, and He knows the reward of their deeds from all eternity. He has allotted them to the children of men that they may be according to the spirit within them at the time of the visitation.

^{[Column 5]} And this is the rule for the men of the community who have freely pledged themselves to be converted from all evil and to cling to all his commandments according to his will.

They shall separate from the congregation of the men of falsehood and shall unite, with respect to the Law and possessions, under the authority of the sons of Zadok, the Priests who keep the Covenant, and of the multitude of the men of the Community who hold fast to the Covenant. Every decision concerning doctrine, property, and justice shall be determined by them.

They shall practice truth and humility in common, and justice and uprightness and charity and modesty in all their ways. No man shall walk in the stubbornness of his heart so that he strays after his heart and eyes and evil inclination, but he shall circumcise in the Community the foreskin of evil inclination and of stiffness of neck that they may lay a foundation of truth for Israel, for the Community of the everlasting Covenant.

They shall atone for all those in Aaron who have freely pledged themselves to the House of Truth, and for those who join them to live in community and to take part in the trial and judgment and condemnation of all those who transgress the precepts.

On joining the Community, this shall be their code of behavior with respect to all these precepts.

Whoever approaches the Council of the Community shall enter the Covenant of God in the presence of all who have freely pledged themselves. He shall undertake by a binding oath to return with all his heart and soul to every commandment of the Law of Moses in accordance with all that has been revealed of it to the sons of Zadok, the Keepers of the Covenant and Seekers of His will, and to the multitude of the men of their Covenant who together have freely pledged themselves to His truth and to walking in the way of His delight. And he shall undertake by the Covenant to separate from all the men of falsehood who walk in the way of wickedness.

For they are not reckoned in His Covenant. They have neither inquired nor sought after Him concerning His laws that they might know the hidden things in which they have sinfully erred; and matters revealed they have treated with insolence. Therefore Wrath shall rise up to condemn, and Vengeance shall be executed by the curses of the Covenant, and great chastisement of eternal destruction shall be visited on them, leaving no remnant. They shall not enter the water baptism to partake of the pure Meal of the saints, for they shall not be cleansed unless they turn from their wickedness: for all who transgress His word are unclean.

Likewise, no man shall consort with him with regard to his work or property lest he be burdened with the guilt of his sin. He shall indeed keep away from him in all things, as it is written [Exodus 23:7], keep away from all that is false. No member of the Community shall follow him in matters of doctrine and justice, or eat or drink anything of his, or take anything from him except for a price; as it is written [Isaiah 2:22], keep away from the man in whose nostrils is breath, for wherein is he counted?

For all those not reckoned in His Covenant are to be set apart, together with all that is theirs. None of the saints shall lean upon works of vanity [Belial]: for they are all vanity who know not His Covenant, and He will blot from the earth all them that despise His word. All their deeds are defilement before Him, and all their possessions unclean.

But when a man enters the Covenant to walk according to all these precepts that he may join the holy Congregation, they shall examine his spirit in community with respect to his understanding and practice of the Law, under the authority of the sons of Aaron who have freely pledged themselves in the Community to restore His Covenant and to heed all the precepts commanded by Him, and of the multitude of Israel who have freely pledged themselves in the Community to return His Covenant.

They shall inscribe them in order, one after another according to their understanding and their deeds, that every one may obey his companion, the man of lesser rank obeying his superior. And they shall examine their spirit and deeds yearly, so that each man may be advanced in accordance with his understanding and perfection of way, or moved down in accordance with the offences committed by him.

They shall rebuke one another in truth, humility, and charity. Let no man address his companion with anger, or ill-temper, or obduracy, or with envy prompted by the spirit of wickedness. Let him not hate him because of his uncircumcised heart, but let him rebuke him on the very same day lest ^{[Column 6]} he incur guilt because of him. And furthermore, let no man accuse his companion before the Congregation without having first admonished him in the presence of witnesses [Matthew 18:15-17].

These are the ways in which all of them shall walk, each man with his companion, wherever they dwell.

The man of lesser rank shall obey the greater in matters of work and money.

They shall eat in common and pray in common and deliberate in common.

Wherever there are ten men of the Council of the Community there shall not lack a Priest among them. And they shall all sit before him according to their rank and shall be asked their counsel in all things in that order. And when the table has been prepared for eating, and the new wine for drinking, the Priest shall be the first to stretch out his hand to bless the first-fruits of the bread and new wine.

And where the ten are, there shall never lack a man among them who shall study the Law continually, day and night concerning the right conduct of a man with his companion. And Congratulation shall watch in community for a third of every night of the year, to read the book and to study Law and to pray together.

This is the rule for an Assembly of the Congregation.

Each man shall sit in his place: the Priests shall sit first, and the elders second, and all the rest of the people according to their rank. And thus shall they be questioned concerning the Law, and concerning any counsel or matter coming before the congregation, each man bringing his knowledge to the Council of the Community.

No man shall interrupt a companion before his speech has ended, nor speak before a man of higher rank; each man shall speak in his turn. And in an Assembly of the Congregation no man shall speak without the consent of the Congregation, nor indeed of the Guardian of the Congregation. Should any man wish to speak to the Congregation, yet not be in a position to question the Council of the Community, let him rise to his feet and say: “I have something to say to the Congregation.” If they command him to speak, he shall speak.

Every man born of Israel, who freely pledges himself to join the Council of the Community shall be examined by the Guardian at the head of the Congregation concerning his understanding and his deeds. If his is fitted to the discipline, he shall admit him into the Covenant that he may be converted to the truth and depart from all falsehood; and he shall instruct him in all the rules of the Community.

And later, when he comes to stand before the Congregation, they shall all deliberate his case, and according to the decision of the Council of the Congregation he shall either enter or depart. After he has entered the Council of the Community he shall not touch the pure Meal of the Congregation until one full year is completed, and until he has been examined concerning his spirit and deeds; nor shall he have any share of the property of the Congregation.

Then when he has completed one year within the Community, the Congregation shall deliberate his case with regard to his understanding and observance of the law. And if it be his destiny, according to the judgment of the Priests and the multitude of the men of their Covenant, to enter the company of the Community, his property and earnings shall be handed over to the Bursar of the Congregation who shall register it to his account and shall not spend it for the Congregation.

He shall not touch the Drink of the Congregation until he has completed a second year among the men of the Community. But when the second year has passed, he shall be examined, and if it be his destiny, according to the judgment of the Congregation, to enter the Community, then he shall be inscribed among his brethren in the order of his rank for the Law, and for justice, and for the pure Meal; his property shall be merged and he shall offer his counsel and judgment to the Community.

These are the rules by which they shall judge at a Community court of inquiry according to the cases.

If one of them has lied deliberately in matters of property, he shall be excluded from the pure Meal of the Congregation for one year and shall do penance with respect to one quarter of his food.

Whoever has answered his companion with obstinacy, or has addressed him impatiently, going so far as to take no account of the dignity of his fellow by disobeying the order of a brother inscribed before him, he has taken the law into his own hand; therefore he shall do penance for one year and shall be excluded.

If any man has uttered the Most Venerable Name ^{[Column 7]} even though frivolously, or as a result of shock or for any other reason whatever, while reading the Book or praying, he shall be dismissed and shall return to the Council of the Community no more.

If he has spoken in anger against one of the Priests inscribed in the Book, he shall do penance for one year and shall be excluded for his soul’s sake from the pure Meal of the Congregation. But if he has spoken unwittingly, he shall do penance for six months.

Whoever has deliberately lied shall do penance for six months.

Whoever has deliberately insulted his companion unjustly shall do penance for one year and shall be excluded.

Whoever has deliberately deceived his companion by word or by deed shall do penance for six months.

If he has failed to care for his companion, he shall do penance for three months. But if he has failed to care for the property of the Community, thereby causing its loss, he shall restore it in full. And if he be unable to restore it, he shall do penance for sixty days.

Whoever has borne malice against his companion unjustly shall do penance for six months/one year; and likewise, whoever has taken revenge in any matter whatever.

Whoever has spoken foolishly: three months.

Whoever has interrupted his companion whilst speaking: ten days.

Whoever has lain down to sleep during an Assembly of the Congregation: thirty days. And likewise, whoever has left, without reason, an Assembly of the Congregation as many as three times during one Assembly, shall do penance for ten days. But if he has departed whilst they were standing he shall do penance for thirty days.

Whoever has gone naked before his companion, without having been obliged to do so, he shall do penance for six months.

Whoever has spat in an Assembly of the Congregation shall do penance for thirty days.

Whoever has been so poorly dressed that when drawing his hand from beneath his garment his nakedness has been seen, he shall do penance for thirty days.

Whoever has guffawed foolishly shall do penance for thirty days.

Whoever has drawn out his left hand to gesticulate with it shall do penance for ten days.

Whoever has gone about slandering his companion shall be excluded from the pure Meal of the Congregation for one year and shall do penance. But whoever has slandered the Congregation shall be expelled from among them and shall return no more.

Whoever has murmured against the authority of the Community shall be expelled and shall not return. But if he has murmured against his companion unjustly, he shall do penance for six months.

Should a man return whose spirit has so trembled before the authority of the Community that he has betrayed the truth and walked in the stubbornness of his heart, he shall do penance for two years. During the first year he shall not touch the pure Meal of the Congregation, and during the second year he shall not touch the Drink of the Congregation and shall sit below all the men of the Community. Then when his two years are completed, the Congregation shall consider his case, and if he is admitted he shall be inscribed in his rank and may then question concerning the Law.

If, after being in the Council of the Community for ten full years, the spirit of any man has failed so that he has betrayed the Community and departed from the Congregation to walk in the stubbornness of his heart, he shall return no more to the Council of the Community. Moreover, if any member of the Community has shared with him his food or property which … of the Congregation, his sentence shall be the same; he shall be expelled.

^{[Column 8]} In the Council of the Community there shall be twelve men and three Priests, perfectly versed in all that is revealed of the Law, whose works shall be truth, righteousness, justice, loving kindness and humility. They shall preserve the faith in the Land with steadfastness and meekness and shall atone for sin by the practice of justice and by suffering the sorrows of affliction. They shall walk with all men according to the standard of truth and the rule of time.

When these are in Israel, the Council of the Community shall be established in truth. It shall be an Everlasting Plantation, a House of Holiness for Israel, an Assembly of Supreme Holiness for Aaron. They shall be eyewitnesses to the truth at the Judgment, and shall be the elect of Goodwill who shall atone for the Land and pay to the wicked their reward. It shall be that tried wall, that PRECIOUS CORNER-STONE, whose foundations shall neither rock nor sway in their place [Isaiah 28:16].

It shall be a Most Holy Dwelling for Aaron with everlasting knowledge of the Covenant of justice, and shall offer up sweet fragrance. It shall be a House of Perfection and Truth in Israel that they may establish a Covenant according to the everlasting precepts. And they shall be an agreeable offering, atoning for the Land and determining the judgment of wickedness, and there shall be no more iniquity.

When they have been confirmed for two years in perfection of way by the authority of the Community, they shall be set apart as holy within the Council of the men of the Community. And the Interpreter shall not conceal from them, out of fear of the spirit of apostasy, any of those things hidden from Israel which have been discovered by him.

And when these become members of the Community in Israel according to all these rules, they shall separate from the habitation of ungodly men and shall go into the wilderness to prepare the way of Him; as it is written [Isaiah 40:3], prepare in the wilderness the way of … , make straight in the desert a path for our god. This path is the study of the Law which He commanded by the hand of Moses, that they may do according to all that has been revealed from age to age, and as Prophets have revealed by His Holy Spirit.

And no man among the members of the Covenant of the Community who deliberately, on any point whatever, turns aside from all that is commanded, shall touch the pure Meal of the men of holiness or know anything of their counsel until his deeds are purified from all falsehood and he walks in perfection of way. And then, according to the judgment of the Congregation, he shall be admitted to the Council and shall be inscribed in his rank. This rule shall apply to whoever enters the Community.

And these are the rules which the men of perfect holiness shall follow in their commerce with one another:

Every man who enters the Council of Holiness, the Council of those who walk in the way of perfection as commanded by God, and who deliberately or through negligence transgresses one word of the Law of Moses, on any point whatever, shall be expelled from the Council of the Community and shall return no more; no man of holiness shall be associated in his property or counsel in any matter at all.

But if he has acted inadvertently, he shall be excluded from the pure meal and the Council and they shall interpret the rule as follows. For two years he shall take no part in judgment or ask for counsel; but if, during that time, his way becomes perfect, then he shall return to the Court of the Congregation, provided that he commit no further inadvertent sin during two full years.

^{[Column 9]} For one sin of inadvertence alone he shall do penance for two years. But as for him who has sinned deliberately, he shall never return; only the man who has sinned inadvertently shall be tried for two years that his way and counsel may be made perfect according to the judgment of the congregation. And afterwards, he shall be inscribed in his rank in the Community of Holiness.

When these become members of the Community in Israel according to all these rules, they shall establish the spirit of holiness according to everlasting truth. They shall atone for guilty rebellion and for sins of unfaithfulness that they may obtain lovingkindness for the Land without the flesh of holocausts [burnt offerings] and the fat of sacrifice. And prayer rightly offered shall be as an acceptable fragrance of righteousness, and perfection of way as a delectable free-will offering [Psalm 141:2; Hosea 14:2]. At the time, the men of the Community shall set apart a House of Holiness in order that it may be united to the most holy things and a House of Community for Israel, for those who walk in perfection. The sons of Aaron alone shall command in matters of justice and property, and every rule concerning the men of the Community shall be determined according to their word.

As for the property of the men of holiness who walk in perfection, it shall not be merged with that of the men of falsehood who have not purified their life by separating themselves from iniquity and walking in the way of perfection. They shall depart from none of the counsels of the Law to walk in the stubbornness of their hearts, but shall be ruled by the primitive precepts in which the men of the Community were first instructed until there shall come the Prophet and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel.

These are the precepts in which the Master shall walk in his commerce with all the living, according to the rule proper to every season and according to the worth of every man.

• He shall do the will of God according to all that has been revealed from age to age.
• He shall measure out all knowledge discovered throughout the ages, together with the Precept of the age.
• He shall separate and weigh the sons of righteousness according to their spirit.
• He shall hold firmly to the elect of the time according to His will, as He has commanded.
• He shall judge every man according to his spirit.
• He shall admit him accordance with the cleanness of his hands and advance him in accordance with his understanding. And he shall love and hate likewise.
• He shall not rebuke the men of the Pit nor dispute with them.
• He shall conceal the teaching of the Law from men of falsehood, but shall impart true knowledge and righteous judgment to those who have chosen the Way. He shall guide them all in knowledge according to the spirit of each and according to the rule of age, and shall thus instruct them in the mysteries of marvelous truth that in the midst of the men of the Community that they may walk perfectly together in all that has been revealed to them. This is the time for the preparation of the way into the wilderness, and he shall teach them to do all that is required at that time and to separate from all those who have not turned aside from all ungodliness.

These are the rules of conduct for the Master in those times with respect to his loving and hating.

Everlasting hatred in a spirit of secrecy for the men of perdition! He shall leave to them wealth and earnings like a slave to his lord and like a poor man to his master.

He shall be a man zealous for the Precept whose time is for the Day of Revenge. He shall perform the will of God in all his deeds, and in all his dominion as He has commanded. He shall freely delight in all that befalls him and nothing shall please him save God’s will. He shall delight in all the words of His mouth and shall desire nothing except His command. He shall watch always for the judgment of God, and shall bless his Maker for all His goodness and declare His mercies in all that befalls.

He shall bless Him with the offering of the lips ^{[Column 10]} at the times ordained by Him: at the beginning of the dominion of light, and at its end when it retires to its appointed place; at the beginning of the watches of darkness when He unlocks their storehouse and spreads them out, and also at their end when they retire before the light; when the heavenly lights shine out from the dwelling-place of Holiness, and also when they retire to the place of glory; at the entry of the monthly seasons on the days of the new moon, and also at their end when they succeed to one another. Their renewal is a great day for the Holy of Holies, and a sign for the unlocking of everlasting mercies at the beginning of seasons in all times to come.

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A description of the Essenes by Josephus in his book, On the Judean War, which describes their discipline to be more severe than the Pharisees or the Sadducees.

For there are three philosophical sects among the Judeans, 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 Judeans 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 peoples’ children, while they are pliable and fit for learning, and esteem them to be of their kindred, and form them according to their own manners. 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. These men are despisers of riches, and so very communicative as raises our admiration. Nor is there any one to be found among them who has 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 everyone’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, for they think to be sweaty is a good thing, as they do also to be clothed in white garments. They also have stewards [deacons] 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.

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, for which reason they carry nothing at all with them when they travel into remote parts, though still they take their weapons with them, for fear of thieves. Accordingly, there is, in every city where they live, one appointed particularly to take care of strangers, and to provide garments and other necessaries for them, but the habit and management of their bodies is such as children use who are in fear of their masters. Nor do they allow the change of garments or of shoes until the first is torn to pieces or worn out by time. Nor do they either buy or sell anything to one another, but every one of them gives what he has to him that wants it, and receives from him again in lieu of it what may be convenient for himself, and although there be no requital made, they are fully allowed to take what they want of whomsoever they please.

And as for their piety towards God, it is very extraordinary, for before sunrise they do not speak 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 all 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 until 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 all 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 the food, and it is unlawful for anyone to taste of the food before grace is said. The same priest, when he has dined, says grace again after the food, 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 take to their labors again until 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. The 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 food and drink that is allotted them, and that is abundantly sufficient for them.

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: 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 anything 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 advantageous for their soul and body, and they inquire after such roots and medicinal stones as may cure their distempers.

But now if anyone has 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 also give him a small hatchet and the fore-mentioned girdle, and the white garment. And when he has 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 [i.e. he is baptized], 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 anyone, either of his own accord, or by the command of others; that he will always hate the wicked and be assistant to the righteous; that he will always show fidelity to all men, and especially to those in authority, because no one obtains the government without God’s assistance, and that if he be in authority, he will at no time whatever abuse his authority, nor endeavor to outshine his subjects either in his garments or any other finery; that he will be perpetually a lover of truth and propose to himself to reprove those that tell lies; that he will keep his hands clear from theft and his soul from unlawful gains; and that he will neither conceal anything from those of his own sect, nor disclose any of their doctrines to others, no, not though anyone should compel him so to do at the hazard of his life. Moreover, he swears to communicate their doctrines to no one except how he received them himself; that he will abstain from robbery, and will equally preserve the books belonging to their sect, and the names of the messengers. These are the oaths by which they bind their proselytes to themselves.

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 has 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 until he perishes, for which reason they receive many of them again when they are at their last gasp, out of compassion for 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.

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 lawgiver, 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 are sitting together, none 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 Judeans in resting from their labors on the seventh day, for they not only get their food ready the day before, so that they are 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 {of the kind of hatchet that is given them when they are first admitted among them), and covering themselves with their garment, so that they do 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 for this purpose, and although this easement of the body is natural, yet it is a rule with them to wash themselves after it, as if it were a defilement to them.

Now, after the time of their preparatory trial is over, they are parted into four classes [prophets, evangelists, shepherds and emissaries—the novices were initiates, which is to say, still in their preparatory phase: the novices are not to be confused with the prophets, who were full members of the sect], 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. They are long-lived also, insomuch that many of them live above a hundred years, by means of the simplicity of their diet—nay, as I think, by means of the regular course of life they observe also. They contemn the miseries of life, and are above pain, by the generosity of their mind. And as for death, if it will be for their glory, they esteem it better than living always, and indeed our war with the Romans gave abundant evidence what great souls they had in their trials, wherein, although they were tortured and distorted, burnt and torn to pieces, and went through all kinds of instruments of torment, that they might be forced either to blaspheme their lawgiver or to eat what was forbidden them, yet could they not be made to do either of them, no, nor once to flatter their tormentors or to shed a tear, but they smiled in their very pains and laughed those to scorn who inflicted the torments upon them, and resigned up their souls with great alacrity, expecting to receive them again.

For their doctrine is this: That bodies are corruptible, and that the matter they are made of is not permanent, but that souls are immortal and continue forever, and that they come out of the most subtle air and are united to their bodies as to prisons, into which they are drawn by a certain natural enticement, but that when they are set free from the bonds of the flesh, they then, as released from a long bondage, rejoice and mount upward. And this is like the opinions of the Greeks, that good souls have their habitations beyond the ocean in a region that is neither oppressed with storms of rain or snow, or with intense heat, but that this place is such as is refreshed by the gentle breathing of a west wind that is perpetually blowing from the ocean, while they allot to bad souls a dark and tempestuous den, full of never-ceasing punishments. And indeed the Greeks seem to me to have followed the same notion, when they allot the islands of the blessed to their brave men, whom they call heroes and demi-gods, and to the souls of the wicked, the region of the ungodly, in Hades, where their fables relate that certain people such as Sisyphus and Tantalus and Ixion and Tityus are punished, which is built on this first supposition, that souls are immortal, and thence are those exhortations to virtue and dehortations from wickedness collected, whereby good men are bettered in the conduct of their life by the hope they have of reward after their death, and whereby the vehement inclinations of bad men to vice are restrained by the fear and expectation they are in, that although they should lie concealed in this life, they should suffer immortal punishment after their death. These are the divine doctrines of the Essenes about the soul, which lay an unavoidable bait for such as have once had a taste of their philosophy.

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.

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, to see whether they are likely to be fruitful, they then actually marry them. But they do not have intercourse with their wives when they are with child, as a demonstration that they do not marry out of regard for pleasure, but for the sake of posterity. Now, the women go into the baths with some of their garments on, as the men do somewhat dressed. And these are the customs of this order of Essenes.

We have thought it proper to relate these facts to our readers, however strange they are, and to declare what has happened among us, because many of these Essenes have, by their excellent virtue, been thought worthy of this knowledge of divine revelations. Josephus

A description of the Essenes from Antiquities of the Jews (15.10.4-5) by the same author:

4. At which time Herod released to his subjects the third part of their taxes, under pretense indeed of relieving them, after the dearth they had had; but the main reason was, to recover their good-will, which he now wanted; for they were uneasy at him, because of the innovations he had introduced in their practices, of the dissolution of their religion, and of the disuse of their own customs; and the people every where talked against him, like those that were still more provoked and disturbed at his procedure; against which discontents he greatly guarded himself, and took away the opportunities they might have to disturb him, and enjoined them to be always at work; nor did he permit the citizens either to meet together, or to walk or eat together, but watched every thing they did, and when any were caught, they were severely punished; and many there were who were brought to the citadel Hyrcania, both openly and secretly, and were there put to death; and there were spies set every where, both in the city and in the roads, who watched those that met together; nay, it is reported that he did not himself neglect this part of caution, but that he would oftentimes himself take the habit of a private man, and mix among the multitude, in the night time, and make trial what opinion they had of his government: and as for those that could no way be reduced to acquiesce under his scheme of government, he prosecuted them all manner of ways; but for the rest of the multitude, he required that they should be obliged to take an oath of fidelity to him, and at the same time compelled them to swear that they would bear him good-will, and continue certainly so to do, in his management of the government; and indeed a great part of them, either to please him, or out of fear of him, yielded to what he required of them; but for such as were of a more open and generous disposition, and had indignation at the force he used to them, he by one means or other made away, with them. He endeavored also to persuade Pollio the Pharisee, and Satneas, and the greatest part of their scholars, to take the oath; but these would neither submit so to do, nor were they punished together with the rest, out of the reverence he bore to Pollio. The Essens also, as we call a sect of ours, were excused from this imposition. These men live the same kind of life as do those whom the Greeks call Pythagoreans [‘Pythagorean’ is synonymous with vegetarian], concerning whom I shall discourse more fully elsewhere. However, it is but fit to set down here the reasons wherefore Herod had these Essens in such honor, and thought higher of them than their mortal nature required; nor will this account be unsuitable to the nature of this history, as it will show the opinion men had of these Essens.

5. Now there was one of these Essens, whose name was Manahem, who had this testimony, that he not only conducted his life after an excellent manner, but had the foreknowledge of future events given him by God also. This man once saw Herod when he was a child, and going to school, and saluted him as king of the Jews; but he, thinking that either he did not know him, or that he was in jest, put him in mind that he was but a private man; but Manahem smiled to himself, and clapped him on his backside with his hand, and said,” However that be, thou wilt be king, and wilt begin thy reign happily, for God finds thee worthy of it. And do thou remember the blows that Manahem hath given thee, as being a signal of the change of thy fortune. And truly this will be the best reasoning for thee, that thou love justice [towards men], and piety towards God, and clemency towards thy citizens; yet do I know how thy whole conduct will be, that thou wilt not be such a one, for thou wilt excel all men in happiness, and obtain an everlasting reputation, but wilt forget piety and righteousness; and these crimes will not be concealed from God, at the conclusion of thy life, when thou wilt find that he will be mindful of them, and punish time for them.” Now at that time Herod did not at all attend to what Manahem said, as having no hopes of such advancement; but a little afterward, when he was so fortunate as to be advanced to the dignity of king, and was in the height of his dominion, he sent for Manahem, and asked him how long he should reign. Manahem did not tell him the full length of his reign; wherefore, upon that silence of his, he asked him further, whether he should reign ten years or not? He replied, “Yes, twenty, nay, thirty years;” but did not assign the just determinate limit of his reign. Herod was satisfied with these replies, and gave Manahem his hand, and dismissed him; and from that time he continued to honor all the Essens. We have thought it proper to relate these facts to our readers, how strange soever they be, and to declare what hath happened among us, because many of these Essens have, by their excellent virtue, been thought worthy of this knowledge of Divine revelations.

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A description of the Essenes by Joan Taylor in her book, Philo of Alexandria on the Essenes: A Case Study on the Use of Classical Sources in the Discussion of the Qumran-Essene Hypothesis:

Philo mentions the Essenes briefly also at the beginning of De Vita Contemplativa [‘On the Contemplative Life’] as being the subject of a lost, preceding treatise on the active life of philosophy. … On the very first page [of Quod omnis probus liber, a.k.a. Probus], there is a reference to “the most sacred company of Pythagoraeans” (Prob. 2) and later “the most holy Plato” (Prob. 13). Sophocles’ words are “as any from the Pythian god” (Prob. 19). Moses gets a mention as “the law-giver of the Jews” (Prob. 29), but—strangely—without quite the same dazzling compliments, and one senses that Philo is trying to impress, by wit, language, intelligence and erudition, a largely non-Jewish audience skilled in Stoic philosophy, who hide behind the ostensible addressee “Theodotos” (Prob. 1).

The Hypothetica is very fragmentary and the rhetorical dimensions are therefore difficult to ascertain, but as a whole it seems to have been designed to make a case for the Jews against the “Greek” lobby in Alexandria who were determined to present Alexandrian Jews—and Judaism—in the foulest light. Both the “Greeks” and the Jews of Alexandria sent delegations to Gaius Caligula, in 39 C.E., and then again to Claudius, in 4 C.E., in which they presented their cases before the emperors.

In both cases, the Essenes are not shown as some peculiar sect that is unrepresentative of what most Jews think, but as a kind of apogee of excellence within the Jewish philosophia. As such, while it is important to Philo that his claims be true, more or less, he has no interest in giving us the warts-and-all introduction to the Essenes, but rather he presents them in ways that will strike positive chords of recognition in terms of the philosophically-educated audience he seems, in both works, keen to impress.

Probus on the whole does not contain many references to Essene particularities that are not immediately recognizable as examples of philosophical perfection within the Greek tradition. Therefore we would expect to hear that the Essenes love virtue, do not care about money or reputation or pleasure, that they are pious, ascetic, controlled, orderly, enduring, frugal, simple, loving, content, humble, respectful of the law, steady and humanity-loving (77, 83-4). We would also expect that they spurn property-ownership and hoarding of money (Prob. 76), and had a sense of community. The pooling of possessions was not an uncommon philosophical ideal: Plato advocated it already for the guardians of the city in his Republic (3.416d, 5.462c), and the Pythagoreans apparently practiced this (Iamblichus, De Pyth. Vita 167-9). There is also the sense that Philo is describing what he knew of all pious Jews: going to synagogue on the Sabbath, studying the law, practicing virtue, and so on (Prob. 80-81).

Still, there are a few points to note within Philo’s glowing resumé where Philo is drawing some attention to peculiarities. A number of these are strongly related material in Josephus. The Essenes do not own slaves (Prob. 79; cf. Ant. 18.21). They practice allegorical exegesis, according to ancient tradition (Prob. 82; cf. Ant. 18:11, 20). The Essenes do not swear oaths (Prob. 84 cf. War 2.135). They are particularly concerned with purity (Prob. 84 cf. Ant. 18:19; War 2.129). They live by themselves in separate communes (Prob. 85; Hypoth. 11.1, 5; Ant. 18:21). They have common clothes and meals (Prob. 86, cf. 91; Hypoth. 11.4-5, 10, 12; Ant. 18- 20; War 2.122, 129-32). They look after the sick and elderly as parents (Prob. 87; Hypoth. 11.13, cf. Ant. 18.21). Overall there is nothing particularly problematic in terms of reading Philo’s text concerning these features. Elsewhere, however, Philo’s language can be ambiguous.

At the very beginning of the description of the Essenes, for example, Philo has pointed out a common observation that philosophical goodness is found all over the world. He then notes:

And also not devoid of goodness is Syria Palestina, which is inhabited by no small part of the populous nation of the Jews. They refer to certain people among them, over 4000 in number, by the name of ᾿Εσσαῖοι. According to my opinion this is not an accurate form of Greek language, but it would derive from ὁσιότηϛ, “holiness,” because with them they have become above all attendants of God (θεραπευταὶ θεοῦ) not by sacrificing animals, but by being worthy to render their minds holy (ἱεροπρε-πε͂ιϛ τὰϛ ἑαυτῶν διανοίαϛ κατασκευάζειν ἀξιοῦντεϛ) (Prob.75). Joan Taylor

In both cases [of Philo and Josephus], the Essenes are not shown as some peculiar sect that is unrepresentative of what most Jews think, but as a kind of apogée of excellence within the Jewish philosophia. … While the Essenes are identified as being part of a tradition so ancient as to trace its origins to Moses (i.e. fundamental Judaism), Philo notes that new members come into an Essene community because of ‘a zeal for virtue and philanthropy.’ … Therefore, in Hypoth. 11.3 Philo links the Essenes’ sublimation of the body’s desires with this advanced age, not with exceptional virtue, whereby ‘they are no longer inundated by the flood of the body nor led by the passions.’ Joan Taylor

If we look at Philo’s text closely, it is apparent that the contrast that is made here is between two types of service offered by attendants of God. Philo distinguished between what priests do in the Temple (offer animal sacrifices) and what Essenes do in terms of their service (preparing their minds for God). This dichotomy differentiates Essenes as better servers of God, in Philo’s esoteric view, but it does not invalidate the need for sacrifices in the Temple, nor in fact does it mean that no Essenes were priests (cf. Josephus, Ant. 18:22; War 2.111, 131). We are here in the world of Philo’s poetic imagery: the Essenes are not in their daily living behaving as priests offering animal sacrifices to God in the Temple, and yet they are truly God’s attendants by continually offering the spiritual sacrifice of their minds.

Reading this from the perspective of rhetoric, it is also clear that Philo, in creating the Essenes as an example of “the good,” would have been highly unlikely to state at the outset that this pinnacle of goodness within Judaism spurned the entire sacrificial system of the Jerusalem Temple, if not the Temple itself. While Philo agreed with much of the exegesis of the extreme allegorisers of Alexandria who really did spurn Temple sacrifices and festivals, he did not accept their practice. Instead, Philo believed there should be a balance between outward action and inner meanings and advocated both: “we shall be ignoring the sanctity of the Temple and a thousand other things, if we are going to pay heed to nothing except what is shown us by the inner meanings of things” (Migr. 92), he wrote, against the extreme allegorisers. The Temple system was necessary as a kind of training (Her. 123), and one should participate in it so as not to cause any offence to others (Ebr. 87), even though Philo accepted that the real and true sacrifice was bringing oneself to God (Spec. 1.269-72) by piety (Mos. 2.107) because “God takes pleasure from altars on which no fire is burned, but which are visited by virtues” (Plant. 108). Philo’s words in Probus 75 are therefore consistent with what we find elsewhere in his work, where true spiritual sacrifice is emphasized, but Philo never accepted that this meant invalidating the need for actual sacrifice.

Additionally, an anti-animal sacrifice reading sets up an unnecessary dissonance with what Josephus writes in regard to the Essenes. In the most likely reading of Antiquities 18.19 Josephus states that “while sending votive offerings (a᾿ναθήµατα στελλοντεϛ) to the Temple, they [the Essenes] perform sacrifices with very different purifications (θυσίαϛ ἐπιτελοῦσιν διαφορότητι ἁγνειῶν), which they hold as a custom (ἅϛ νοµίζοιεν), and because of this they perform the sacrifices by themselves, keeping away (εἰργοµενοι) from the common precincts (τοῦ κοινοῦ τεµενίσµατοϛ).” Additionally, the Essenes are conspicuous by their presence in the Temple at certain points of Josephus’ narrative (War 1.78–80;2.562–7; Ant. 13.311–13). The sending of special gifts to the Temple indicates that, for Josephus, they wished to honour it (and had the money to do so in terms of sending votive gifts). In his view the Essenes kept away from the common precincts, τοῦ κοινοῦ τεµενίσµατοϛ—which would refer to the Court of the Gentiles where most people were permitted—but nevertheless not the Temple proper, and one is therefore led to imagine that Essene priests engaged in Essene sacrifices separately to one side of the altar. The main point was that the Essenes had particular practices of purification/purity (ἁγνεία) that entailed some kind of separation from others. Joan Taylor

In the Hypothetica Philo mentions cultivators, shepherds, and bee-keeping (11.8) as well as artisanal crafts (11.9). This coheres with Josephus, who would write, just after his comment that the Essenes have a different ritual of purification for their sacrifices in the Temple: “βέλτιστοι δὲ ἄλλωϛ [ὁι] ἄνδρεϛ τόν τρόπον καὶ τὸ πᾶν πονεῖν ἐπι γεωργία τετραµµένοι: “Otherwise, best are [the] men who have directed their way and all to work hard in agriculture” (Ant. 18.19). It is as if Josephus is announcing a truism, and he has characterised all good Jews as doing precisely this at the end of Against Apion: what could be better than “to attend to crafts and agriculture” (2.294)? Josephus tries to balance a possible negative concerning the Essenes’ peculiar Temple practice by emphasising they are best among men, by reference to an ideal of simple labour in agricultural cultivation. Hyperbole aside, Josephus did not think all Essenes everywhere were farmers and had no other occupations. He sees Essenes earning money (Ant. 18.22), and in War 2.129 he mentions τέχναι—crafts, artisanal skills—in which the Essenes were proficient. He cannot have imagined the Essenes living within “every city” (War 2.124) as farmers, and when Josephus writes of individual Essenes they are teacher-prophets (War 1.78; 2.113; Ant. 13.311–13; 15.370–9;17.346–8). In War 2.140 he notes their humility and honesty in public office. Both Philo and Josephus place information about Essene occupations within rhetorical structures in which the main emphasis is on the simplicity of the Essene lifestyle, uninvolved in the world of commerce, trade and gain.

—Joan Taylor

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The Gospel of the Ebionites

The Gospel of the Ebionites is a lost text. Only quotes of it survived which was quoted by Epiphanius of Salamis in his book Panarion. Epiphanius was a 4th century bishop and heresiologist and is also considered a saint and a Church father by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. He wrote against the Ebionites and collaborated to their destruction. “Ebionites” has the meaning “poor ones” which is a different term for Essenes (cf. “Blessed are the poor in spirit” Mt. 5:3) who were the Christians of the first century.

In his book, he argued that the Ebionites were wrong in their description of John’s diet; alleging that they substituted “locusts” for “a cake in oil”. It doesn’t make any sense for a 4th century bishop to charge a first century sect of changing the meaning of the text because they were the ones who recorded it in the first place! The subversion clearly happened later on by the Church which was already incorporated into the text by the 4th century, and Epiphanius knew about the subversion and openly supported it!

The Greek word that the Ebionites used to describe John’s food was egkris meaning “pancake”. It was then changed to akris later on, which means “locust”, Strong’s G200. There is no basis to suppose that John was eating grasshoppers. John’s food alludes to Elijah eating a “cake baked on coals” (1 Kings 19:2-8) and is also an allusion to manna, which is described as being “like the taste of cakes baked with oil” (Numbers 11:8) and “like wafers made with honey” (Exodus 16:31). John’s diet of pancakes is definitely in keeping of the spirit of the text.

Another possibility is that he was eating pods from a Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) which are shaped like locusts. These pods are known as “St. John’s bread” due to the association and were actually called akris back then. John grounded the pods up to make flour for his pancakes and turned them into a syrup which was the “wild honey” he was eating, considering that he lived out in the desert and was probably his only option for sustenance. In the Gospel of the Holy Twelve, it states “his meat was the fruit of the locust tree and wild honey”. The alternative is to believe that John the Baptist, a holy prophet of Yahweh, was a savage scavenging for bugs.

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In the Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis:

In the Gospel that is in general use among them which is called “according to Matthew”, which however is not whole and complete but forged and mutilated – they call it the Hebrews Gospel-it is reported:

There appeared a certain man named Jesus of about thirty years of age, who chose us. And when he came to Capernaum, he entered into the house of Simon whose surname is Peter, and opened his mouth and said: “As I passed the Lake of Tiberias, I chose John and James the sons of Zebedee, and Simon and Andrew and Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the Iscariot, and you, Matthew, I called as you sat at the receipt of custom, and you followed me. You, therefore, I will to be twelve apostles for a testimony unto Israel.”

(Epiphanius, Panarion 30.13.2-3)

And:

It came to pass that John was baptizing; and there went out to him Pharisees and were baptized, and all of Jerusalem. And John had a garment of camel`s hair and a leather girdle about his loins, and his food, as it is said, was wild honey, the taste if which was that of manna, as a cake dipped in oil.

Thus they were resolved to pervert the truth into a lie and put a cake in the place of locusts.
(Epiphanius, Panarion 30.13.4-5)

And the beginning of their Gospel runs:

It came to pass in the days of Herod the king of Judaea, when Caiaphas was high priest, that there came one, John by name, and baptized with the baptism of repentance in the river Jordan. It was said of him that he was of the lineage of Aaron the priest, a son of Zacharias and Elisabeth : and all went out to him.
(Epiphanius, Panarion 30.13.6)

And after much has been recorded it proceeds:

When the people were baptized, Jesus also came and was baptized by John. And as he came up from the water,  the heavens was opened and he saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove that descended and entered into him. And a voice sounded from Heaven that said: “You are my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased. “

And again:

“I have this day begotten you”. And immediately a great light shone round about the place. When John saw this, it is said, he said unto him: “Who are you, Master?” And again a voice from Heaven rang out to him: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” And then, it is said, John fell down before him and said: “I beseech you, Master, baptize me.” But he prevented him and said: “Suffer it; for thus it is fitting that everything should be fulfilled.”
(Epiphanius, Panarion 30.13.7-8)

Moreover, they deny that he was a man, evidently on the ground of the word which the Saviour spoke when it was reported to him:

“Behold, your mother and your brethren stand without.” namely: “Who is my mother and who are my brethren?” And he stretched his hand towards his disciples and said: “These are my brethren and mother and sisters, who do the will of my Father.”
(Epiphanius, Panarion 30.14.5)

They say that Christ was not begotten of God the Father, but created as one of the archangels … that he rules over the angels and all the creatures of the Almighty, and that he came and declared, as their Gospel, which is called Gospel according to Matthew, or Gospel According to the Hebrews?, reports:

“I am come to do away with sacrifices, and if you cease not sacrificing, the wrath of God will not cease from you.”
(Epiphanius,  Panarion 30.16,4-5)

But they abandon the proper sequence of the words and pervert the saying, as is plain to all from the readings attached, and have let the disciples say:

“Where will you have us prepare the passover?” And him to answer to that: “Do I desire with desire at this Passover to eat flesh with you?”
(Epiphanius, Panarion 30.22.4)

A translation by M.R. James:

All our knowledge of this is derived from Epiphanius, and he uses very confusing language about it (as about many other things). The passages are as follows:

And they (the Ebionites) receive the Gospel according to Matthew. For this they too, like the followers of Cerinthus and Merinthus, use to the exclusion of others. And they call it according to the Hebrews, as the truth is, that Matthew alone of New Testament writers made his exposition and preaching of the Gospel in Hebrew and in Hebrew letters.

Epiphanius goes on to say that he had heard of Hebrew versions of John and Acts kept privately in the treasuries (Geniza?) at Tiberias, and continues:

In the Gospel they have, called according to Matthew, but not wholly complete, but falsified and mutilated (they call it the Hebrew Gospel), it is contained that ‘There was a certain man named Jesus, and he was about thirty years old, who chose us. And coming unto Capernaum he entered into the house of Simon who was surnamed Peter, and opened his mouth and said: As I passed by the lake of Tiberias, I chose John and James the sons of Zebedee, and Simon and Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew, James the son of Alphaeus and Thomas Thaddaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the Iscariot: and thee, Matthew, as thou satest as the receipt of custom I called, and thou followed me. You therefore I will to be twelve apostles for a testimony unto (of) Israel.

And:

John was baptizing, and there went out unto him Pharisees and were baptized, and all Jerusalem. And John had raiment of camel’s hair and a leathern girdle about his loins: and his meat (it saith) was wild honey, whereof the taste is the taste of manna, as a cake dipped in oil. That, forsooth, they may pervert the word of truth into a lie and for locusts put a cake dipped in honey.

These Ebionites were vegetarians and objected to the idea of eating locusts. A locust in Greek is akris, and the word they used for cake is enkris, so the change is slight. We shall meet with this tendency again.

And the beginning of their Gospel says that: It came to pass in the days of Herod the king of Judaea when Caiaphas was high priest that there came a certain man John by name, baptizing with the baptism of repentance in the river Jordan, who was said to be of the lineage of Aaron the priest, child of Zecharias and Elisabeth, and all went out unto him.

The borrowing from St. Luke is very evident here. He goes on:

And after a good deal more it continues that:

After the people were baptized, Jesus also came and was baptized by John; and as he came up from the water, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Holy Ghost in the likeness of a dove that descended and entered into him: and a voice from heaven saying: Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased: and again: This day have I begotten thee. And straightway there shone about the place a great light. Which when John saw it saith he saith unto him: Who art thou, Master? and again there was a voice from heaven saying unto him: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And then (it saith) John fell down before him and said: I beseech thee, Master, baptize thou me. But he prevented him saying: Suffer it (or let it go): for thus it behoveth that all things should be fulfilled.

And on this account they say that Jesus was begotten of the seed of a man, and was chosen; and so by the choice of God he was called the Son of God from the Christ that came into him from above in the likeness of a dove. And they deny that he was begotten of God the Father, but say that he was created as one of the archangels, yet greater, and that he is Master of the angels and of all things made by the Almighty, and that he came and taught, as the Gospel (so called) current among them contains, that, ‘I came to destroy the sacrifices, and if ye cease not from sacrificing, the wrath of God will not cease from you’.

They have changed the saying, as is plain to all from the combination of phrases, and have made the disciples say: Where wilt thou that we make ready for thee to eat the Passover? and him, forsooth, say Have I desired with desire to eat this flesh of the Passover with you?