322. The well-known story of the encounter between St John and Cerinthus in the bath is related by Irenæus (iii. 3. 4) on the authority of Polycarp, who appears from the sequence of Irenæus’ narrative to have told it at Rome, when he paid his visit to Anicetus; ὃς καὶ ἐπὶ Ἀνικήτου ἐπιδημήσας τῄ Ῥώμῃ πολλοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν προειρημένων αἱρετικῶν ἐπέστρεψεν ... καὶ εἰσὶν οἱ ἀκηκοότες αὐτοû ὅτι Ἰωάννης κ.τ.λ.
323. Iren. iii. II. 1.
324. Church History II. p. 42 (Bohn’s Trans.).
325. See the Dialogue of Caius and Proclus in Euseb. H.E. iii. 28, Dionysius of Alexandria, ib. vii. 25, Theodoret. l.c., Augustin. Hær. 8.
327. Epiphan. Hær. xxviii. 4, 5, Philastr. Hær. 36, Augustin. l.c. The statements of these writers would not carry much weight in themselves; but in this instance they are rendered highly probable by the known Judaism of Cerinthus.
328. Epiphan. Hær. xxviii. 5, xxx. 14, Philastr. Hær. 36.
329. Epiphan. Hær. xxviii. 1 προσέχειν τῷ Ἰουδαϊσμῷ ἀπὸ μέρους.
330. Iren. i. 26. 1 ‘Non a primo Deo factum esse mundum docuit, sed a virtute quadam valde separata et distante ab ea principalitate quæ est super universa, et ignorante eum qui est super omnia Deum’; Hippol. Hær. vii. 33 ἔλεγεν οὐχ ὑπὸ τοῦ πρώτου Θεοῦ γεγονέναι τὸν κόσμον, ἀλλ’ ὑπὸ δυνάμέως τινος κεχωρισμένης τῆς ὑπὲρ τὰ ὅλα ἐξουσίας καὶ ἀγνοοῦσης τὸν ὑπὲρ πάντα Θεόν, x. 21 ὑπὸ δυνάμεώς τινος ἀγγελικῆς, πολὺ κεχωρισμένης καὶ διεστώσης τῆς ὑπὲρ τὰ ὅλα αὐθεντίας καὶ ἀγνοουσης τὸν ὑπὲρ πάντα Θεόν.
331. Pseudo-Tertull. Hær. 3 ‘Carpocrates præterea hanc tulit sectam: Unam esse dicit virtutem in superioribus principalem, ex hac prolatos angelos atque virtutes, quos distantes longe a superioribus virtutibus mundum istum in inferioribus partibus condidisse.... Post hunc Cerinthus hæreticus erupit, similia docens. Nam et ipse mundum institutum esse ab illis dicit’; Epiphan. Hær. xxviii. 1 ἕνα εἶναι τῶν ἀγγέλων τῶν τὸν κόσμον πεποιηκότων; Theodoret. H. F. ii. 3 ἕνα μὲν εἶναι τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεόν, οὐκ αὐτὸν δὲ εἶναι τοῦ κόσμου δημιουργόν, ἀλλὰ δυνάμεις τινὰς κεχωρισμένας καὶ παντελῶς αὐτὸν ἀγνοούσας; Augustin. Hær. 8. The one statement is quite reconcilable with the other. Among those angels by whose instrumentality the world was created, Cerinthus appears to have assigned a position of preeminence to one, whom he regarded as the demiurge in a special sense and under whom the others worked; see Neander Church History II. p. 43.
332. Pseudo-Tertull. l.c.; Epiphan. Hær. xxviii. 4 τὸν δεδωκότα νόμον ἕνα εἶναι τῶν ἀγγέλων τῶν τὸν κόσμον πεποιηκότων.
333. I am quite unable to see any reference to the Gnostic conception of an æon in the passages of the New Testament, which are sometimes quoted in support of this view, e.g., by Baur Paulus p. 428, Burton Lectures p. 111 sq.
334. Iren. i. 26. 1, Hippol. Hær. vii. 33, x. 21, Epiphan. Hær. xxviii. 1, Theodoret. H. F. ii. 3. The arguments by which Lipsius (Gnosticismus pp. 245, 258, in Ersch u. Gruber; Quellenkritik des Epiphanios p. 118 sq.) attempts to show that Cerinthus did not separate the Christ from Jesus, and that Irenæus (and subsequent authors copying him) have wrongly attributed to this heretic the theories of later Gnostics, seem insufficient to outweigh these direct statements. It is more probable that the system of Cerinthus should have admitted some foreign elements not very consistent with his Judaic standing point, than that these writers should have been misinformed. Inconsistency was a necessary condition of Judaic Gnosticism. The point however is comparatively unimportant as affecting my main purpose.
335. Irenæus (iii. 11. 1), after speaking of Cerinthus and the Nicolaitans, proceeds ‘non, quemadmodum illi dicunt, alterum quidem fabricatorem (i.e. demiurgum), alium autem Patrem Domini: et alium quidem fabricatoris filium, alterum vero de superioribus Christum, quem et impassibilem perseverasse, descendentem in Jesum filium fabricatoris, et iterum revolasse in suum pleroma.’ The doctrine is precisely that which he has before ascribed to Cerinthus (i. 26. 1), but the mode of statement may have been borrowed from the Nicolaitans or from some later Gnostics. There is however no improbability in the supposition that Cerinthus used the word pleroma in this way; see the detached note on πλήρωμα below.
336. i. 19, ii. 9. See above p. 102, note 295. On the force of κατοικεῖν see the note on the earlier of the two passages.
337. ii. 6 παρελάβετε τὸν Χριστόν, Ἰησοῦν τὸν Κύριον.
338. i. 20, 22.
339. Zeitschrift p. 449 ‘Für Essäer liegt, wie schon von anderen Seiten bemerkt wurde, das Hebr. חסיד, für Essener, nach einer Bemerkung des Herrn L. Löw im Orient, das Hebr. צנוע nahe’; see also pp. 454, 455; Monatschrift p. 32.
340. e.g. Keim (p. 286) and Derenbourg (p. 166, 461 sq.), who both derive Essene from אסיא ‘a physician.’
341. Mishna Chagigah ii. 7; Zeitschr. p. 454, Monatschr. pp. 33, 62. See Frankel’s own account of this R. Jose in an earlier volume, Monatschr. I. p. 405 sq.
343. Niddah 38 a; see Löwy s.v. Essäer.
344. Mishna Kerithuth vi. 3, Nedarim 10 a; see Monatschr. p. 65.
345. Thus Grätz (III. p. 81) speaking of the community of goods among the Essenes writes, ‘From this view springs the proverb; Every Chassid says; Mine and thine belong to thee (not me)’ thus giving a turn to the expression which in its original connexion it does not at all justify. Of the existence of such a proverb I have found no traces. It certainly is not suggested in the passage of Pirke Aboth. Later in the volume (p. 467) Grätz tacitly alters the words to make them express reciprocation or community of goods, substituting ‘Thine is mine’ for ‘Thine is thine’ in the second clause; ‘The Chassid must have no property of his own, but must treat it as belonging to the Society (שלי שלך שלך שלי חסיד).’ At least, as he gives no reference, I suppose that he refers to the same passage. In this loose way he treats the whole subject. Keim (p. 294) quotes the passage correctly, but refers it nevertheless to Essene communism.
346. This is Hitzig’s view (Geschichte des Volkes Israel p. 427). He maintains that "they were called ‘Hasidim’ by the later Jews because the Syrian Essenes means exactly the same as ‘Hasidim.’"
347. Zeitschr. pp. 455, 457; Monatschr. p. 32.
348. Monatschr. p. 32.
349. Zeitschr. p. 455.
350. Frankel Monatschr. p. 71: comp. Derenbourg p. 170 sq.
351. See Löwy Krit.-Talm. Lex. s.v. Essäer.
352. Urged in favour of this derivation by Herzfeld II. p. 398.
353. The oath taken by the Essenes (Joseph. B.J. ii. 8. 7) συντηρήσειν ... τὰ τῆς αἱρέσεως αὐτῶν βιβλία can have nothing to do with accuracy in transcribing copies, as Herzfeld (II. pp. 398, 407) seems to think. The natural meaning of συντηρεῖν, ‘to keep safe or close’ and so ‘not to divulge’ (e.g. Polyb. xxxi. 6. 5 οὐκ ἐξέφαινε τὴν ἑαυτῆς γνώμην ἀλλὰ συνετήρει παρ’ ἑαυτῇ), is also the meaning suggested here by the context.
354. The passage is adduced in support of this derivation by Derenbourg p. 175.
355. See Zeitschr. p 438, Monatschr. pp. 68–70.
357. Taanith 24b, Yoma 53b; see Surenhuis Mishna III. p. 313.
358. In this and similar cases it is unnecessary to consider whether the persons mentioned might have belonged to those looser disciples of Essenism, who married (see above, p. 85): because the identification is meaningless unless they belonged to the strict order itself.
359. Ginsburg in Kitto’s Cyclopædia s.v., I. p. 829: comp. Essenes pp. 22, 28.
360. e.g. Geiger Zeitschrift f. Jüdische Theologie VI. p. 20 sq.; Zunz Gottesdienstliche Vorträge p. 108 sq.: comp. Steinschneider Catal. Heb. Bibl. Bodl. col. 2032 sq. These two last references are given by Dr Ginsburg himself.
361. Essenes p. 30; comp. Kitto’s Cyclopædia, s.v. Essenes.
362. It is given by Landsberg in the Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums 1862, no. 33, p. 459, a reference pointed out to me by a friend.
363. Zeitschr. p. 450 sq., Monatschr. pp. 31, 70.
364. As the notices in Josephus (B.J. ii. 8) relating to this point have been frequently misunderstood, it may be well once for all to explain his meaning. The grades of the Essene order are mentioned in two separate notices, apparently, though not really, discordant. (1) In § 10 he says that they are ‘divided into four sections according to the duration of their discipline’ (διῄρηνται κατὰ χρόνον τῆς ἀσκήσεως εἰς μοίρας τέσσαρας), adding that the older members are considered to be defiled by contact with the younger, i.e. each superior grade by contact with the inferior. So far his meaning is clear. (2) In § 8 he states that one who is anxious to become a member of the sect undergoes a year’s probation, submitting to discipline but ‘remaining outside.’ Then, ‘after he has given evidence of his perseverance (μετὰ τὴν τῆς καρτερίας ἐπίδειξιν), his character is tested for two years more; and, if found worthy, he is accordingly admitted into the society.’ A comparison with the other passage shows that these two years comprise the period spent in the second and third grades, each extending over a year. After passing through these three stages in three successive years, he enters upon the fourth and highest grade, thus becoming a perfect member.
It is stated by Dr Ginsburg (Essenes p. 12 sq., comp. Kitto’s Cyclopædia s.v. p. 828) that the Essenes passed through eight stages ‘from the beginning of the noviciate to the achievement of the highest spiritual state,’ this last stage qualifying them, like Elias, to be forerunners of the Messiah. But it is a pure hypothesis that the Talmudical notices thus combined have anything to do with the Essenes; and, as I shall have occasion to point out afterwards, there is no ground for ascribing to this sect any Messianic expectations whatever.
365. Zeitschr. p. 452, note.
366. The entrance into lower grade was described as ‘taking בנפים’ or ‘wings.’ The meaning of this expression has been the subject of much discussion; see e.g. Herzfeld II. p. 390 sq., Frankel Monatschr. p. 33 sq.
367. The contempt with which a chaber would look down upon the vulgar herd, the عam haarets, finds expression in the language of the Pharisees, Joh. vii. 49 ὁ ὄχλος οὗτος ὁ μὴ γινώσκων τὸν νόμον ἐπάρατοί εἰσιν. Again in Acts iv. 13, where the Apostles are described as ἰδιῶται, the expression is equivalent to عam haarets. See the passages quoted in Buxtorf, Lex. p. 1626.
368. All these particulars and others may be gathered from Bekhoroth 30 b, Mishna Demai ii. 2, 3, Jerus. Demai ii. 3, v. 1, Tosifta Demai 2, Aboth R. Nathan c. 41.
369. See Herzfeld II. p. 386.
370. Monatschr. p. 35.
371. Zeitschr. pp. 458, 461, Monatschr. pp. 32, 36.
372. It is added however in Midrash Qoheleth ix. 9 ‘Some say that they (the holy congregation) devoted the whole of the winter to studying the Scriptures and the summer to work.’
373. Monatschr. p. 32.
374. Ib. p. 70.
375. See Derenbourg p. 175.
376. Monatschr. p. 32.
377. Monatschr. pp. 32, 68.
378. Ib. p. 67.
380. Zeitschr. p. 455.
382. Beiträge II. p. 199. In this derivation he is followed by Graetz (III. p. 82, 468) and Derenbourg (p. 166).
383. Monatschr. p. 31.
384. ‘The attempt to point out the Essenes in our patristic (i.e. rabbinical) literature,’ says Herzfeld truly (II. p. 397), ‘has led to a splendid hypothesis-hunt (einer stattlichen Hypothesenjagd).’
385. Monatschr. p. 31.
386. Monatschr. p. 64.
387. B.J. ii. 8. 5 καθάπερ εἰς ἅγιόν τι τέμενος παραγίνονται τὸ δειπνητήριον: see also the passages quoted above p. 89, note 255.
389. Herzfeld (II. p. 403) is unable to reconcile any rejection of the Old Testament Scriptures with the reverence paid to Moses by the Essenes (B.J. ii. 8. 9, 10). The Christian Essenes however did combine both these incongruous tenets by the expedient which is explained in the text. Herzfeld himself suggests that allegorical interpretation may have been employed to justify this abstention from the temple sacrifices.
390. See Galatians, p. 310 sq.
391. Epiphanius (Hær. xviii. I, p. 38) again describes, as the account was handed down to him (ὡς ὁ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐλθὼν περιέχει λόγος), the tenets of a Jewish sect which he calls the Nasareans, αὐτὴν δὲ οὐ παρεδέχετο τὴν πεντάτευχον, ἀλλὰ ὡμολόγει, μὲν τὸν Μωϋσέα, καὶ ὅτι ἐδέξατο νομοθεσίαν ἐπίστευεν, οὐ ταύτην δέ φησιν, ἀλλ’ ἑτέραν. ὅθεν τὰ μὲν πάντα φυλάττουσι τῶν Ἰουδαίωv Ἰουδαῖοι ὄντες, θυσίαν δὲ οὐκ ἔθυον οὔτε ἐμψύχων μετεῖχον, ἀλλὰ θέμιτον ἦν παρ’ αὐτοῖς τὸ κρεῶν μεταλαμβάνειν ἢ θυσιάζειν αὐτούς. ἔφασκον γὰρ πεπλάσθαι ταῦτα τὰ βιβλία καὶ μηδὲν τούτων ὑπὸ τῶν πατέρων γεγενῆσθαι. Here we have in combination all the features which we are seeking. The cradle of this sect is placed by him in Gilead and Bashan and ‘the regions beyond the Jordan.’ He uses similar language also (xxx. 18, p. 142) in describing the Ebionites, whom he places in much the same localities (naming Moab also), and whose Essene features are unmistakeable: οὔτε γὰρ δέχονται τὴν πεντάτευχον Μωϋσέως ὅλην ἀλλά τινα ῥήματα ἀποβάλλουσιν. ὅταν δὲ αὐτοῖς εἴπῃς περὶ ἐμψύχων βρώσεως κ.τ.λ. These parallels will speak for themselves.
392. Zeitschr. p. 458.
393. See Ginsburg Essenes p. 69 sq.
394. Berakhoth i. 4; see Derenbourg, p. 169 sq.
400. Celibacy however is not one of these: comp. Epiphan. Hær. xix. 1 (p. 40) ἀπεχθάνεται δὲ τῇ παρθενίᾳ, μισεῖ δὲ τὴν ἐγκράτειαν, ἀναγκάζει δὲ γάμον. In this respect they departed from the original principles of Essenism, alleging, as it would appear, a special revelation (ὡς δῆθεν ἀποκαλύψεως) in justification. In like manner marriage is commended in the Clementine Homilies.
401. The important place which the heavenly bodies held in the system of Philo, who regarded them as animated beings, may be seen from Gfrörer’s Philo I. p. 349 sq.
402. Keim I. p. 289.
403. See Wiesner Schol. zum Babyl. Talm. I. pp. 18, 20.
404. Monatschr. p. 37.
405. Justin Martyr more than once taunts the Jewish rabbis with their reckless encouragement of polygamy. See Dial. 134, p. 363 D, τοῖς ἀσυνέτοις καὶ τυφλοῖς διδασκάλοις ὑμῶν, ὁίτινες καὶ μέχρι νῦν καὶ τέσσαρας καὶ πέντε ἔχειν ὑμᾶς γυναῖκας ἕκαστον συγχωροῦσι· καὶ ἐὰν εὔμορφόν τις ἰδὼν ἐπιθυμήσῃ αὐτῆς κ.τ.λ., ib. 141, p. 371 A, B, ὁποῖον πράττουσιν οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους ὑμῶν ἄνθρωποι, κατὰ πᾶσαν γῆν ἔνθα ἂν ἐπιδημήσωσιν ἢ προσπεμφθῶσιν ἀγόμενοι ὀνόματι γάμου γυναῖκας κ.τ.λ., with Otto’s note on the first passage.
407. Dial. 85, p. 311 C, ἤδη μέντοι οἱ ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐπορκισταὶ τῇ τέχνῃ, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη, χρώμενοι ἐξορκίζουσι καὶ θυμιάμασι καὶ καταδέσμοις χρῶνται.
408. Herzfeld, II. p. 392 sq.
410. Orient 1849, pp. 489, 537, 553.
411. B.J. i. 3. 5 παριόντα διὰ τοῦ ἱεροῦ. In the parallel narrative, Ant. xiii. II. 2, the expression is παριόντα τὸ ἱερόν, which does not imply so much; but the less precise notice must be interpreted by the more precise. Even then however it is not directly stated that Judas himself was within the temple area.
413. Ant. xv. 10. 4.
414. Zeller Philosophie der Griechen, Th. III. Abth. 2, p. 281.
415. Diog. Laert. viii. 17; see Zeller l.c. p. 282, note 5. The precept in question occurs among a number of insignificant details, and has no special prominence given to it. In the Life of Apollonius by Philostratus (e.g. vi. 10) considerable stress is laid on the worship of the sun (Zeller l.c. p. 137, note 6); but the syncretism of this late work detracts from its value as representing Pythagorean doctrine.
416. Zeller l.c. p. 68 (comp. I. p. 242). While disputing Zeller’s position, I have freely made use of his references. It is impossible not to admire the mastery of detail and clearness of exposition in this work, even when the conclusions seem questionable.
417. Athen. iv. p. 161, Diog. Laert. viii. 37. See the index to Meineke Fragm. Com. s. vv. πυθαγορικός, etc. The words commonly used by these satirists are πυθαγορίζειν, πυθαγοριστής, πυθαγορισμός. The persons so satirized were probably in many cases not more Pythagoreans than modern teetotallers are Rechabites.
418. Diog. Laert. viii. 24 sq.; see Zeller l.c. p. 74–78.
419. Cic. Tim. I ‘sic judico, post illos nobiles Pythagoreos quorum disciplina extincta est quodammodo, cum aliquot sæcula in Italia Siciliaque viguisset, hunc exstitisse qui illam renovaret.’
420. Sen. N.Q. vii. 32 ‘Pythagorica illa invidiosa turbæ schola præceptorem non invenit.’
421. N.H. v. 15. The passage is at which Josephus thinks it necessary to insert an account of the Essenes as already flourishing (Ant. xiii. 5. 9), is prior to the revival of the Neopythagorean school. How much earlier the Jewish sect arose, we are without data for determining.
423. Diog. Laert. viii. 42.
424. Vit. Apoll. i. 15 sq. At the same time Philostratus informs us that the conduct of his hero in this respect had been differently represented by others.
425. l.c. p. 288 sq.
426. l.c. p. 290 sq.
427. See the references in Zeller I. p. 218 sq.; comp. III. 2, p. 67.
428. Keim (Geschichte Jesu von Nazara I. p. 303) refers to Tac. Hist. iii. 24 ‘Undique clamor; et orientem solem (ita in Syria mos est) tertiani salutavere,’ as illustrating this Essene practice. The commentators on Tacitus quote a similar notice of the Parthians in Herodian iv. 15 ἅμα δὲ ἡλίῳ ἀνίσχοντι ἐφάνη Ἀρτάβανος σὺν μεγίστῳ πλήθει στρατοῦ· ἀσπασάμενοι δὲ τὸν ἤλιον, ὡς ἔθος αὐτοῖς, οἱ βάρβαροι κ.τ.λ.