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Essenes

A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.

Group described by outside authors; a Qumran link is likely, not identity with all scrolls.

Modern comparison of an ancient outside author’s account. Josephus uses Greek philosophical language; this is neither the groups’ own manifesto nor an account of all Jews
Modern comparison of an ancient outside author’s account. Josephus uses Greek philosophical language; this is neither the groups’ own manifesto nor an account of all JewsIL Archive · original diagram · CC BYImage source

Text

In Josephus’s account the body perishes while the soul survives. This is the author’s formulation of immortality, not sufficient to call the belief bodily resurrectionResurrection of the deadThe dead returning to life, distinguished from soul immortality, with differing scope and form among texts.Glossary · Click to read the explanation. [1]

A QumranDead Sea ScrollsJudaean Desert manuscripts, especially Qumran cave finds. Biblical copies and other works reveal textual diversity; a copy’s age is not the work’s initial date.Glossary · Click to read the explanation connection remains influential, but the name Essenes does not appear explicitly in the scrolls, and not every text comes from one group. The diagram is modern. [2]

References and notes

  1. Flavius Josephus, Jewish War 2.8; William Whiston translation, Perseus Digital Library. 2.8: souls, bodies and group comparison. Josephus’s Greek framing is his authorial choice. Return to the text ↑
  2. Otto Betz (1999). “The Essenes.” The Cambridge History of Judaism 3, pp. 444–470. Summary: ancient sources, approximate period and absence of the Essene name in the scrolls. Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 2 · 11 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

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Cite this record

IL Archive, «Essenes», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/essenes