FREE ESSAY ON THE ESSENES AND QUMRAN

THE ESSENES AND QUMRAN

In 1947 an Arab shepherd boy was throwing stones at the opening of a cave above 
him near the shore of the Dead Sea. He heard a jar break and climbed up the cliff to
investigate. What he discovered has revolutionized the study of the Bible. There, in that
cave, stuffed in jars, were scores of papyrus scrolls covering almost every book of the
Old Testament. 
While other scrolls have been discovered since, in caves all along the Dead Sea, the
scrolls at Qumran are by far the most important as far as Christians are concerned
because they are the only ones throughout the Dead Sea region that pre-date or are
contemporary with Jesus Christ. 
They are, in fact, the only original writings of Hebrew scripture known to exist that are
as old or older than Jesus and John the Baptist. All the other Dead Sea Scrolls are later
works which bear the trademark of the Jewish Rabbinical School at Jamnia. 
These were written well after Christianity had converted great numbers of followers
throughout Judea, the Roman Empire, Greece and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. 
Unlike the scrolls at Qumran, the later scrolls were written after the Romans had
destroyed Herod's temple in Jerusalem and had either killed or taken into Roman slavery
millions of Jewish citizens. Because these later Dead Sea Scrolls were all penned after
these shattering events had taken place, one cannot be certain that they were not written
with an eye to counter and block the events and teachings that were swirling about them
at the time. 
The scrolls at Qumran, however, because they were written before any of these events
occurred, give us an unbiased picture of the original state of Jewish scripture at the
time of Jesus Christ. 
They show us, for instance, that there was not just one rescension of the Hebrew
scripture being used at the time of Christ -- there were dozens; and they show us that
the Greek (Septuagint) Old Testament was used extensively in Judea, and without the onus
that it later received from the Rabbinical scholars. 
It is for these reasons -- and especially because the Qumran scrolls are the oldest known
copies of Jewish scripture in existance -- that Qumran and the sect that produced these
scrolls are so vital to the study of Judaism and Christianity. 
Who wrote them? What kind of people occupied this monastic compound in the harsh, rocky
and barren Judean wilderness that overlooked the Dead Sea? 
A widely held theory is that Qumran was inhabited by the Hebrew sect called 'the
Essenes.' This was an ascetic Jewish religious community that existed in Palestine at the
time the occupation of the Qumran site flourished, and which was both contemporary with
and pre-dated John the Baptist, Jesus of Nazareth and the Roman destruction of the
Jerusalem temple in 70 A.D. 
The Essenes must have been quite important during these times because information
concerning them in the ancient literature is more prevalent than for the other two major
Jewish sects, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
First hand reports concerning the Essenes comes to us from the Jewish philosopher of the
Egytian dispersion, Philo of Alexandria, who lived between 30 B.C. and 40 A.D. 
Philo's writings about the Essenes comes down to us through two works, 'Quod omnis probus
Fiber sit' and 'Apologia pro Judais.' The second work has been lost but the information
was retained in Eusebius' 'Praeparatio Evangilica.' 
Another writer contemporary with the Essenes was Flavius Josephus, the famous Jewish
historian and priest-general at the time of the Jewish war. His most elaborate
description of this group is contained in 'The Jewish War', followed by an interesting,
but far less detailed account in 'Jewish Antiquities.' 
Josephus wrote his first work sometime between 70 and 75 A.D., and the second somewhat
later, but before 100 A.D., the year of his death. 
Another first-hand report concerning the Essenes comes from the Roman writer, Pliny the
Elder, who died in 79 A.D. Pliny incorporated information about the sect in his work
entitled 'Natural History.' 
A Greek orator and philosopher, Dio Chrysostom, also mentioned in passing the existence
of an Essene community near the Dead Sea. His report is dated somewhat later than Pliny.
(1.)
Writing two centuries later, Hippolytus of Rome detailed a long account of the Essenes
that, for the most part, is said to have paralleled Josephus' information, but in a few
instances provided unique material, though he was not an eyewitness of this sect.
The first reference to the Essenes comes from Josephus, writing about the death of
Antigonus in 103 B.C. Josephus relates that the Essenes had an uncanny ability to
successfully predict future events, and that the death of Antigonus at the hands of his
brother, Aristobulus, ruler of Judea, had been accurately forecast by an Essene named
Judas. (2.) 
Josephus states that 'Judas was an Essene born and bred, indicating that he had been born
into the movement at least a few decades earlier. (3.) 
On this occasion, according to Josephus, Judas was sitting in or near the Jerusalem
temple with a number or his pupils, showing that he was an Essene teacher of the Law and
that he was able to speak his views apparently quite freely in Jerusalem at the end of
the second century B.C. 
During the 30 years that followed this event, another Jewish party that struggled in
Jerusalem against Alexander Jannaeus, grew into great power with the ascendency of his
widow, Alexandra in 76 B.C. This, of course was the Pharisees, whom Josephus indicates at
that time was 'a Jewish sect that appeared more pious than the rest and stricter in the
interpretation of the Law.' (4.)
The information that Josephus provides concerning his perception of the Essenes -- at
least his perception of this movement at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in the
great war circa 70 A.D. -- is undoubtedly reinforced by personal contact with members of
this order. 
It would be difficult to assume that Josephus did not actually observe Essene behavior,
talk to Essenes, and discuss with them and others the philosophical finepoints of their
beliefs. Especially growing up as he did in an area where they abounded and where they
obviously would have been a topic of speculation and controversy particularly in such a
theocratic society. 
As an observer, Josephus is not without scholarly admirers. According to Benjamine Mazar
of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and one of the foremost archeologists involved in
excavations in Jerusalem, 'The progress of archeological investigation 
highlights more than ever the great importance of Josephus as a primary source for the
study of the topography and history of Jerusalem in Herodian times. All his observations
we were able to confirm on repeated occasions through our archeological investigations.'
(5.)
Both Josephus and Philo were impressed with the Essenes. Philo called them 'athletes of
virtue,' (6.) and Josephus saw them as saintly.' (7.)
There is, recorded in both Josephus and in the Talmud, the story of one Onias the
Righteous, a man who was stoned to death in about 65 B.C. who was particularly saintly
and who is believed to have been able to bring rain through his prayers. He is, according
to Millar Burrows, thought to have been an Essene. (8.)
There can be little doubt that Essenes were perceived by many in Palestine at the time of
the war to be symbols of righteous behaviour: an ethical adaptation of Judaism in a land
wracked by civil war, opportunism, banditry and external oppression.
The Essenes thrived in a country and at a time that saw the laws of Moses adapted to fit
a wide range of philosophies. Jewish, Persian, Iranian and Hellenistic thoughts
apparently competed with one another in a quagmire of Messianic fervor, banditry and
zealous terrorism. 
Internecine strife and external oppression brought violence almost everywhere throughout
the country. The ruling orthodoxy was losing control and there was a fierce promotion of
new rules by competing schools of thought. Only the Torah and the Temple itself could be
considered universally sacred in this period. Beyond these, intense and often violent
philosphic disagreement fluorished. 
The Sadducees were divided by competing families who fought bitterly with each other for
power. With the flow of Roman governors into Judea, the changing fortunes in the
aristocratic priestly party were frequent and hostile. 
During this period the common people were terribly mistreated and alienated more than
ever from the insensitive and competitive aristocracy that ruled them. The Pharisees,
according to Josephus, the popular party among the Jewish people, (9) were said to have
had seven subdivisions. (10.)
According to Burrows, L. Ginzberg was able to prove that there were both conservative and
liberal wings in Pharisaism, (11) and Marcus has argued that the Essenes formed a third
(left wing) Pharisaitic sect, just a shade less liberal than the Zealots. (12)
During this time there is information regarding the existance of numerous groups in
Palestine: The Qumran 'Covenanteers,' (13) Zealots, the followers of Judas the Galilean
and Saddoch the Pharisee, Sicarii, Bandits, Self-proclaimed Messiah's, Magharians, or
cave dwellers, (14) the Baptists, Genistae, Meristae, Hellenists and Nasaraioi. (15) 
Almost nothing is known about some of these groups; others were quite prominent. The
Galileans who rallied to Judas and Saddoch were termed 'a sect of their own' in Jewish
politics by Josephus. (16) 
It is not within the scope of this paper to investigate the interrelationships between
all these parties and sects, but they are mentioned to show that the situation in
Palestine during the time of the Essenes was immensly complex and confused. 
The Essenes appeared historically in Judea during the Hasmonean dynasty and continued
through Herodian times, disappearing abruptly shortly after the great war (circa 70
A.D.). 
Further complicating the picture, into this proliferation of Mosaic parties was born
Jesus of Nazareth, preceded by John the Baptist and setting forth in Palestine and
spreading throughout all the middle east, a potpourri of sects, each with their own
adherents and literature. Among these, of course, were the Gnostics and the
Judeo-Christian Ebionites. (17) 
It is safe to assume, therefore, that the theocratic politics of Judea leading up to the
time of the war, the environmental timeframe of the Essenes, was by no means simplistic.
In fact, the Essenes themselves were divided. Josephus indicates that there was a sect of
Essenes different from the other, which tolerated a kind of marriage between men and
women. (18.)
Where the Essenes came from is not known. It is most probable that they descended from
the Hasidim of pre-Hasmonean times who aligned with Judas Maccabbee against Antiochus
Epiphanies IV about 170 B.C. 
A rather remote possibility is that they might be a part of the priesthood, having broken
away from the Sadducees. Josephus indicates that the Essenes 'live in no way different
from, but as much as possible like those [Sadducees] who are called 'The Many'. (19.) 
Their teaching freed them from offering sacrifices in the Temple, but they sacrificed
among themselves. (20) Thus their relationship with the Jerusalem Temple is not at all
clear. 
The meaning of the name 'Essene' is another mystery. We have, coming down to us no Hebrew
word for these people, only the Greek. Dupont-Sommers suggests that the word 'Essene' may
come from Hebrew words 'Essenoi' or 'Essaioi', with his interpretation being the
expression 'Men of Council.' (21.) 
Through the development of this possible etymology, Dupont-Sommer was able to establish
additional correlation for his theory tying the Essenes to the community at Qumran. Until
a Hebrew document surfaces which specifically names this group, the mystery will
continue. 
Philo suggests that they 'merited the title 'Essenes' because of their holiness', (22)
implying that the name may be related in some way to 'saintliness'. In this regard,
Dupont-Sommers suggests that 'Philo seems here to play on the similarity between the
Greek words 'Essaioi', (Essaeans), and 'Osioi', 'holy' or 'pure'. (23.)
The philosophy and ideology of the Essenes as described in the contemporary literature of
their time is presented below. 
Philo's first account of the Essenes (24)
They do not offer animal sacrifice, judging it more fitting to render their minds truly
holy. They flee the cities and live in villages where clean air and clean social life
abound. They either work in the fields or in crafts that countribute to peace. They do
not hoard silver and gold and do not acquire great landholdings; procuring for themselves
only what is necessary for life. Thus they live without
goods and without property, not by missfortune, but out of preference. They do not make
armaments of any kind. They do not keep slaves and detest slavery. They avoid wholesale
and retail commerce, believing that such activity excites one to cupidity. With respect
to philosophy, they dismiss logic but have an extremely high regard for virtue. They
honor the Sabbath with great respect over the other days of the week. They have an
internal rule which all learn, together with rules on piety, holiness, justice and the
knowledge of good and bad. These they make use of in the form of triple definitions,
rules regarding the love of God, the love of virtue, and the love of men. They believe
God causes all good but cannot be the cause of any evil. They honor virtue by foregoing
all riches, glory and pleasure. Further, they are convinced they must be modest, quiet,
obedient to the rule, simple, frugal and without mirth. Their life style is communal.
They have a common purse. Their salaries they deposit before them all, in the midst of
them, to be put to the common employment of those who wish to make use of it. They do not
neglect the sick on the pretext that they can produce nothing. With the common purse
there is plenty from which to treat all illnesses. They lavish great respect on the
elderly. With them they are very generous and surround them with a thousand attentions.
They practice virtue like a gymnastic 
exercise, seeing the accomplishment of praiseworthy deeds as the means by which a man
ensures absolute freedom for himself.
Philo's second account of the Essenes (25)
The Essenes live in a number of towns in Judea, and also in many villages and in large
groups. They do not enlist by race, but by volunteers who have a zeal for righteousness
and an ardent love of men. For this reason there are no young children among the Essenes.
Not even adolescents or young men. Instead they are men of old or ripe years who have
learned how to control their bodily passions.
They possess nothing of their own, not house, field, slave nor flocks, nor anything which
feeds and procures wealth. They live together in brotherhoods, and eat in common
together. Everything they do is for the common good of the group. They work at many
different jobs and attack their work with amazing zeal and dedication, working from
before sunrise to almost sunset without complaint, but in
obvious exhilaration. Their exercise is their work. Indeed, they believe their own
training to be more agreeable to body and soul, and more lasting, than athletic games,
since their exercises remain fitted to their age, even when the body no longer possesses
its full strength. They are farmers and shepherds and beekeepers and craftsmen in diverse
trades. They share the same way of life, the same table, even the same tastes; all of
them loving frugality and hating luxury as a plague for both body and soul. Not only do
they share a common table, but common clothes as well. What belongs to one belongs to
all. Available to all of them are thick coats for winter and inexpensive light tunics for
summer. Seeing it as an obstacle to communal life, they have banned marriage. They view
women as selfish, excessively jealous, skillful in seduction and armed, like actors with
all sorts of masks designed to flatter and ensnare men, bewitching and capturing their
attention and finally leading them astray. They believe that where children are involved,
women become audacious, arrogant, swollen with pride, shamelessly violent and employ
attitudes dangerous to the good of the common life. The husband, bound by his wife's
spells, or anxious for his children from natural necessity, is no more the same to the
others, but becomes a different man; instead of a freeman, he becomes a slave.
Flavius Josephus' first account of the Essene philosophy (26)
The Essenes are Jews by race, but are more closely united among themselves by mutual
affection, and by their efforts to cultivate a particularly saintly life. They renounce
pleasure as an evil, and regard continence and resistance to passions as a virtue. They
disdain marriage for themselves, being content to adopt the children of others at a
tender age in order to instruct them. They do not abolish marriage, but are convinced
women are all licentious and incapable of fidelity to one man. They
despise riches. When they enter the sect, they must surrender all of their money and
possessions into the common fund, to be put at the disposal of everyone; one single
property for the whole group. Therefore neither the humiliation of poverty nor the 
pride of possession is to be seen anywhere among them. They regard oil as a defilement,
and should any of them be involuntarily anointed, he wipes his body clean. They make a
point of having their skin dry and of always being clothed in white garments. In their
various communal offices, the administrators are elected and appointed without
distinction offices. They are not just in one town only, but in every town several of
them form a colony. They welcome members from out of town as coequal brothers, and even
though perfect strangers, as though they were intimate friends. For this reason they
carry nothing with them ashen they travel: they are, however, armed against brigands.
They do not change their garments or shoes until they have completely worn out. They
neither buy nor sell anything among themselves. They give to each other freely and feel
no need to repay anything in exchange. Before sunrise they recite certain ancestral
prayers to the sun as though entreating it to rise. They work until about 11 A.M. when
they put on ritual loincloths and bathe for purification. Then they enter a communal
hall,where no one else is allowed,and eat only one bowlful of food for each man, !
together with their loaves of bread. They eat in silence. Afterwards they lay aside their
sacred garment and go back to work until the evening. At evening they partake dinner in
the same manner. During meals they are sober and quiet and their
silence seems a great mystery to people outside. Their food and drink are so measured out
that they are satisfied but no more. They see bodily pleasure as sinful. On the whole
they do nothing unless ordered by their superiors, but two things they are allowed to do
on their own discretion: to help those 'worthy of help', and to offer food to the needy.
They are not allowed, however, to help members of their own families without permission
from superiors. They are very careful not to exhibit their anger, carefully controlling
such outbursts. They are very loyal and are peacemakers. They refuse to swear oaths,
believing every word they speak to be stronger than an oath. They are scrupulous students
of the ancient literature. They are ardent students in the healing of diseases, of the
roots offering protection, and of the properties of stones. Those desiring to enter the
sect are not allowed immediate entrance. They are made to wait outside for a period of
one year. During this time each postulant is given a hatchet, a loincloth and a white
garment. The hatchet is used for cleanliness in stooling for digging and covering up the
hole. Having proved his constinence during the first year he draws closer to the way of
life and participates in the purificatory baths at a higher degree, but he is not yet
admitted into intimacy. His character is tested another two years and if 'ne proves
worthy he is received into the company permanently.
They are sworn to love truth and to pursue liars. They must never steal. They are not
allowed to keep any secrets from other members of the sect; but they are warned to reveal
nothing to outsiders, even under the pain of death. They are not allowed to alter the
'books of the sect, and must keep all the information secret, especially the names of the
angels. The name of the Lawgiver, after God, is a
matter of great veneration to them; if anyone blasphemed the name of the Lawgiver he was
sentenced to death. Those members convicted of grave faults are expelled from the order.
In matters of judgement Essene leaders are very exact and 
impartial. Their decisions are irrevocable. They are so scrupulous in matters pertaining
to the Sabbath day that they refuse even to go to stool on that day,
They always give way to the opinion of the majority, and they make it their duty to obey
their elders. They are divided into four lots according to the duration of thier
discipline, and the juniors are so inferior to their elders that if the latter touch
them, they wash themselves as though they had been in contact with a stranger. They
despise danger: they triumph over pain by the heroism of their convictions, and consider
death, if it comes with glory, to be better than the preservation of life. They died in
great glory amidst terrible torture in the war against the Romans. They believe that
their souls are immortal, but that their bodies are corruptible. They believe the soul is
trapped in the body and is freed with death. They believe that there is a place 'across
the ocean' where just souls gather, a place reserved for the immortal souls of the just.
The souls of the wicked, however, are relegated to a dark pit, shaken by storms and full
of unending chastisement. Some of the Essenes became expert in forecasting the future.
Josephus' second account of the Essenes (27)
The Essenes declare that souls are immortal and consider it necessary to struggle to
obtain the reward of righteousness. They send offerings to the Temple, but offer no
sacrifices since the purifications to which they are accustomed are different. For this
reason, they refrain from entering into the common enclosure, but offer sacrifice among
themselves. They are holy men and completely given up to agricultural labor.
Pliny the Elder's account of the Essenes (28)
To the west (of the Dead Sea) the Essenes have put the necessary distance between
themselves and the insalubrious shore. They are a people unique of its kind and admirable
beyond all others in the whole world; without women and renouncing love entirely, without
money and having for company only palm trees. Owing to the throng of newcomers, this
people is daily reborn in equal number; indeed, those whom, wearied by the fluctuations
of fortune, life leads to adopt their customs, stream in in great numbers. Thus,
unbeleivable though this may seem, for thousands of centuries a people has existed which
is eternal yet into which no one is born: so fruitful for them is the repentance which
others feel for their past lives!
In the accounts of Philo and Josephus above, I have paraphrased many of the quotations,
having tried to screen out duplicate material, and leave intact the skeletal framework of
the Essene beliefs as related by these authors. As can be seen on a few points they seem
to be in some disagreement. 
Josephus was born and raised in Judea where the Essenes actually dwelled. Philo, on the
other hand lived in Alexandria Egypt. Philo's somewhat more idealized report may reflect
his distance, but the close similarities between both reports suggests that much of the
material they relate must have been common knowledge. 
The fact of the existance of the Essenes and their major beliefs was probably not a great
secret among the people of Judea during this time period. 
The relationship between the Essenes and the Temple in Jerusalem is not well understood,
but they appear to have doted on the ancient writings and on the prophets, '...trained as
they are in the study of the holy books and the [sacred] writings, and the sayings of the
prophets...' (29.) 
'On (the Sabbath) they proceed to the holy places called synagogues, where they sit
attentive and well-behaved. One of them then takes up the books and reads, and another
from among the more learned steps forward and explains whatever is not easy to understand
in these books. Most of the time, and in accordance with an ancient method of inquiry,
instruction is given them by means of symbols.' (30.)
Both Josephus and Philo give the number of Essenes in Judea as around 4000 members; a
modest size to be sure, but certainly large enough to have been quite visible and
compelling, spread out as they were said to have been into every village.
For all practical purposes, the great war silenced most of the dissident Jewish voices
and this included, apparently, the Essenes. Through the destruction of the temple, the
war brought to a cataclysmic end the aristocratic priesthood, together with either the
death or enslavement of almost every Jew who had participated hostilly against the
Remans. Josephus specifically mentions the heroic death of the Essenes at the hands of
the Romans. (31.) 
In his expansive account of the Essenes in 'The Jewish War', Josephus seems to imply a
continuing major role for the Essenes in postwar Judea, but the fact that he mentions
them only briefly in a later work may indicate their rapidly declining numbers and
importance just a few decades later.
The only wing of Judean politics to survive the great war was a Pharisaitic branch built
largely under the auspices of Johanan ben Zakkai who obtained permission from Titus, the
Roman conqueror of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., to go to Jamnia and there set up a Rabbinical
school. 
The rabbinical school in Jamnia instrumented sweeping changes in Judean theology and
literature, creating what is called 'Rabbinic Judaism', the forerunner of Judaism as it
is known today. 
All avenues of thought and teaching that proliferated in Judea before the great war were
abolished by the Jamnia school in favor of this one Pharisaitic interpretation. Only a
single Hebrew rescension of the Holy Scriptures survived. 
The Sadducean priesthood and the Essenes simply disappeared as if they had never existed.
All literature that did not reflect the Jamnia party line was destroyed or abolished.
This included the exilic Septuagint version of the scriptures. 
The oral tradition was codified in writing and became an essential part of a new document
in Jewish literature called the Talmud. 
As we have already mentioned, what makes the Qumran documents so important to us is that
it consists of pre-Jamnian material. It presents us with a picture of Judaism as it
existed at, and before the days of Christ. 
From this material and using historical information, scholars have been able to
reconstruct a picture of Judea in the messianic age that is far more dimensional than
that stemming from the monolithic voice that arose a century later. 
The question of whether or not the community of Qumran or the scrolls found in the caves
there were products of the Essenes is a topic of debate. The similarities between the two
are striking and the weight of scholarship leans heavily to the idea that they are one
and the same.
But for most Christians, the scrolls at Qumran are living proof that the scriptures we
have today stem from documents that have changed little, if at all, over two thousand
years of copying and recopying by numberless unknown scribes. 
The 'Isaiah Scroll' which comes from Qumran and is displayed in its entirety at the very
center of the The Israel Museum in Jerusalem is at least 100 years older than Jesus. Its
very age absolute proof that Isaiah's words of prophecy ring out a truth that Christians
could not possibly have made up, or altered, during the course of their ministry. 
Bibliography
Bibliography
Books
1. Burrows, Millar, The Dead Sea Scrolls. The Viking Press; New York, N.Y., 1955.
2. Burrows, Millar, More Light on the Dead Sea Scrolls The Viking Press, New York, N.Y.,
1958.
3. DupontSommer, A., The Essene Writings From Qumran. World Publishing Company; New York,
N.Y. 1962.
4. Josephus, Flavius, The Jewish War. Penguin Books Ltd.; Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
England, 1959.
5. Mazar, Benjamine, The Mountain of the Lord. Doubleday and Company, Garden City, 1975.
6. MurphyO'Connor, J., Paul and Qumran. The Priory Press; Chicago, Ill., 1968.
7. Rowley, H.H., From Moses to Qumran. Association Press; New York, N.Y., 1975, pp.
211279.
8. Tyson, Joseph B., A Study of Early Christianity. Macmillan Publishing Co.; New York,
N.Y., 1973, pp.
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Periodicals
1. Tushingham, A.Douglas, 'The Men Who Hid the Dead Sea Scrolls'. National Geographic
Magazine, December
1958. 
Footnotes
1. DupontSommer, A., The Essene Writings From Qumran. World Publishing Co., New York,
1962. 38.
Letterman 16 
2. Josephus, Flavius, The Jewish War. Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
England, 1959. 3233.
3. Ibid., 32. 
4. Ibid., 36. 
5. Mazar, Benjamine, The Mountain of the Lord. Doubleday and Company, Garden City, 1975.
15. 
6. DupontSommer, A., The Essene Writings From Qumran. World Publishing Co., New York,
1962. 23.
7. Ibid., 27. 
8. Burrows, Millar, The Dead Sea Scrolls. The Viking Press, New York, 1955. 180. 
9. Josephus, Flavius, The Jewish War. Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
England, 1959. 129.
10. Burrows, Millar, The Dead Sea Scrolls. The Viking Press, New York, 1955. 278. 
11. Ibid., 294. 
12. Ibid., 293. 
13. Burrows, Millar, More Light on the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Viking Press, New York,
1958. 256. 
14. Burrows, Millar, The Dead Sea Scrolls. The Viking Press, New York, 1955. 117, 295. 
15. Tyson, Joseph B., A Study of Early Christianity. Macmillan Publishing Co., New York,
1973. 118. 
16. Josephus, Flavius, The Jewish War. Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
England, 1959. 125.
17. Yadin, Yagael, The Message of the Scrolls. Grosset and Dunlap, New York, 1957. 186.
18. Josephus, Flavius, The Jewish War. Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
England, 1959. 129.
19. DupontSummer, A., The Essene Writings From Qumran. World Publishing Co., New York,
1962. 36.
20. Ibid., 36. 
21. Ibid., 43. 
22. Ibid., 21. 
23. Ibid., 21, Footnote 3. 
24. Ibid., 21-24. 
25. Ibid., 2426. 
26. Josephus, Flavius, The Jewish War. Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
England, 1959.
27. DupontSummer, A., The Essene Writings From Qumran. World Publishing Co., New York,
1962. 36.
28. Ibid., 37. 
29. Ibid., 3435. 
30. Ibid., 22.
31. Josephus, Flavius, The Jewish War. Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
England, 1959. 128.