THE FIRST ESSENES

By L. R A B I N O W I T Z , Johannesburg
The following passage occurs in I Mace iL 29-38:
Then many that sought after justice and judgement went down into the
wilderness to dwell there, they, and their sons, and their wives, and
their cattle; because evils were multiplied upon them. And it was told
the king's officers, and the forces that were in Jerusalem, the city of
David, that certain mm, who had broken the king's r r> r nt r | i' n ^ rnpnt ' )
were gone down into the secret places in the wilderness; and many
pursued tht*ni and having overtaken t-hrmt they encamped against
them, and set the battle in array against them on the sabbath day. And
they said unto t-Ti^m, "Thus far. Come forth, and do according to the
word of the king, and ye shall live." And they said," We will not come
forth, neither will we do the word of the king, to profane the sabbath
day." And they hasted to give them battle. And they answered them
not, neither cast they a stone at them, nor stopped up the secret places,
saving, "Letus dieallinourinnocency: heaven and earth witness over
us, that ye put us to death without trial." And they rose up against
them in battle on the sabbath, and they died, they and their wives
and their rhilHnpn, and their cattle, to the number of a thousand
souls.1
It is commonly assumed that these thousand Sabbatarian
martyrs are identical with the Hassidim, the religious group
which joined Mattathias in his uprising against the Syrians.
Thus Graetz writes : a
Before long, however, the Syrian commander in Jerusalem discovered
the leaders of this courageous resistance; some reprobate Hellenists had
probably betrayed the hiding place of the Chassidim. Thereupon the
Phrygian Philip, commander of the garrison, went in search of the concealed fugitives. On a Sabbath he and his soldiers surrounded the
caves in which thousands [sit] of m^n and women and children had
sought refuge, he summoned them to come out in obedience to Antiochus' commands, and promised th*m safety if they submitted voluntarily to his orders. They answered unanimously " We will not obey
your command to break the Sabbath." Then Philip ordered his troops
to commence the attack. The ChmmiAim looked on with
courage, but did not try to defend themselves, etc
1

Cf. II Mace vi.11.

* English ed. voL 1, pp. 457-8.

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THE FIRST ESSENBS

Similarly Klausner writes:1

Nevertheless, there were in Judea, even before Mattathias committed
this great act, Jews faithful to their religion who chose to flee from
the fury of the oppressor, in order that they should not be obliged to
transgress their faith. The wilderness of Judah, and in particular the
mountains of Judea in the proximity of Jerusalem.. .are full of caves
in which it is easy to hide from a pursuer. Whole families of " Hassidim "
had fled there in the face of Antiochus' commands, men, women and
children.... In one huge cave about a thousand people had concealed
themselves with their possessions. This was indeed a "congregation of
Hassidim."2.. .Until the Sabbath the "Hassidim "defended themselves.
But when the Sabbath came and the besiegers knew that the " Hassidim "
would not even fight a defensive war on the Sabbath, they called upon
them to emerge, etc

I do not believe that this view can be maintained A reading of

the passage seems to make it clear that the reference is not to the
Hassidim but to a different group altogether.
The first mention of the Hassidim is to be found in the
passage which follows, and in an entirely different connexion.
We are told that when "Mattathias and his friends knew it,...
they mourned over them exceedingly". As a result of this
slaughter of the innocents, they decreed the law that "whosoever
shall come against us to battle on the Sabbath day, let us fight
against him, and we shall in no wise all die as our brethren died
in the secret places. Then were gathered unto them a company of

Hassideans, mighty men of Israel, every one that offered himself

willingly for the law. And all they that fled from the evils were
added to them, and became a stay unto them."3
Now it is possible that the reference in the last verse "all they
that fled from the evils " is to the members of this same group as
allowed themselves to be cut down without resistance, since they
also fled to the wilderness "because evils were multiplied upon
them". But even if this is so, does not the passage clearly differentiate between them and the "Company of Hassideans,
mighty men of Israel, every one that offered himself willingly for
the law " ? It seems clear from the context that this " company of
Hassideans" represents an entirely different group from those
who had fled to the wilderness. The former were "mighty men
of Israel, every one that offered himself willingly for the law"
and, prepared as they were to fight for their ideals, they accepted
1

History oftbt Second Ttmpii, third ed. 1952, voL in, pp. 16-17.
* Ps. cxlix. 1.
' I Mace. ii. 41-4.

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THE FIRST ESSENES

the ruling permitting them to fight on the Sabbath. They were as

militant a group as were Mattathias and his immediate followers;
they differed from them in being a purely religious group who,
unlike the Hasmoneans, when the principles of religious freedom
for which they fought were conceded, abandoned the fight.1
This, however, does not apply to the thousand martyrs. The
colourful statement of Klausner to the effect that "until the
Sabbath the. Hassidim defended themselves but when the Sabbath
came and the besiegers knew that the Hassidim would not fight
even a defensive war on the Sabbath, they called upon them to
emerge, etc." is merely a flight of imagination which finds not the
slightest support in the text. There is not a single word in that
passage, or in the brief reference in II Maccabees which states
that they had repaired to the caves for the express purpose of
"keeping the Sabbath day secretly", to suggest that they fought
at all, or were prepared or willing to fight It appears that they
were a completely pacifist group who had no intention or idea of
fighting for their ideals. In point of fact there are three distinct
and separate groups mentioned in this chapter:
(i) Mattathias and his immediate followers who, after slaying
the king's officer and the apostate Jew, fled to the mountains and
raised the standard of revolt.
(z) A group of militant Hassidim who joined him after the
decree permitting war on the Sabbath.
(3) The 1000 men, women, and children who were butchered
in cold blood on the Sabbath day. It is possible that other members of this group later joined the fighters for freedom and "were
added to them and became a stay unto them".
What was this last group? Surely the text gives us a clear
indication of their ideas and ideals. When the decree of Antiochus
was issued that "all should be one people, and that each should
forsake his own laws",2 there were those who succumbed, and
those who passively resisted and were put to death, until Mattathias raised the standard of revolt
These martyrs who were hewn down on the Sabbath adopted a
different policy, however. Despairing of finding that "justice and
judgement" which they sought in the populated country, they
withdrew from civili2ation and "went down into the wilderness
to dwell there, they and their sons and their wives and their
cattle; because evils were multiplied against them ". As for them,
neither the policy of acquiescence in apostasy, nor the passive
1

I Mace vi. 13.

* Ibid. L 42.

THE FIRST ESSENES

resistance which invited death, nor armed resistance appealed to

them. Their answer was a hermit-like withdrawal.
In other words, as in the followers of Mattathias we have the
forerunners of the Sadducees who sought salvation in political
independence; as in the Hassidim we have the forerunners of the
Pharisees who believed in the supremacy of the religious' ideals
of the Torah, so in this group we have the forerunners of the
Essenes and the related sects of the Manual of Discipline of
the Dead Sea Scrolls, who sought salvation in withdrawal from
the evils and the temptations of normal life within the Community.
Does not Philo's description of the Essenes that "they prefer
to live in villages and avoid cities on account of the habitual
wickedness of those who inhabit them, knowing as they do, that
just as foul air breeds disease, so there is danger of contracting an
incurable disease of the soul from such bad associations",1 and
Pliny's "on the western shores of the Dead Sea, the Essenes have
withdrawn.. .having the palms for their only companions...
men who, weary of life, have been driven by the vicissitudes of
fortune to adopt their manner of living",2 exactly reflect this
withdrawal for the purpose of pursuing a life of saintliness
"seeking after justice and judgement"? And is not the wilderness of these first recluses the same wilderness between Judaea
and the Dead Sea, where the later Essenes, and the Dead Sea
Scroll sects, take up their habitation?
A plain reading of this passage certainly seems to support this
view.
1

Qmd OMMS Ptvhu Ubtr, 12.

361

* Historia NatvraJi: v, 73.