Leaders with Unique Dimensions
"Jesus' group and the Essenes [Yahad] were shaped by the galvanizing force of one prophetic and charismatic person: specifically Jesus and the Righteous Teacher. Both of these reformers were committed to scripture, exhibited an obsessive love of God, and were unusually dedicated to his will, as they understood it, regardless of the opinions of other Jewish leaders. Both expressed their strong egos with a sense of pride toward others but with stunning humility in relation to God. Both demanded of their followers unswerving faith in their claim of special revelation, unique teachings, and leadership. Only Hillel seems comparable to these unique dimensions shared by Jesus and the Righteous Teacher, but he was not charismatic and prophetic as they were."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 19

"The Essenes [Yahad] believed that God had revealed to their founder the true law now lost to the rest of the nation Israel, and had made a covenant with the 'remnant' of Israel who survived capture by Nebuchadnezzar. During the period of divine anger which followed that capture, and which would one day end with the arrival of 'one who would teach righteousness', this true Israel, possessors of the true covenant and law, would live strictly according to the law revealed to them by God."
     - John Roberson and Philip Davies, The Old Testament World

"Jesus believed that the true meaning of scripture revealed to him. The Qumran Essenes [Yahad] believed that God 'had to the Righteous Teacher 'all the mysteries of the words of the prophets' ([Habakkuk Pesher] lQpHab 7.4-5)."
"Jesus and the Essenes, in a uniquely shared way, did indicate that the scriptures spoke about them specifically, eschatologically, and sometimes 'messianically'. contended that the prophets spoke about the end of time and that this future time was now and present in their own community."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 11

"The Scroll scholar, M.Dupont-Sommer, has summarised the remarkable similarities between the Teacher of Righteousness and and Jesus Christ. · Both were martyred prophets subsequently revered by their followers as the Suffering Servant. · Both preached penitence, poverty, humility, love of one's neighbour and chastity. · Both prescribed observance of the Law of Moses. · Both were the Elect of God and the Messiah, the redeemer of the world. · Both were opposed by the priests, the Sadducees; were condemned and murdered. · Both seemed to found a church whose believers thought he would return in glory, whose central rite was a sacred meal presided over by priests and whose members held goods in common and believed in brotherhood. · Both will be the supreme judge at the Last Judgement. · Both apparently predicted the fall of Jerusalem."
     - Mike D. Magee, "Jesus and the Righteous One"

A New Covenant

'The time is coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah....No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, "Know the LORD," because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,' declares the LORD. 'For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more'."
     - Jeremiah 31:31, 34

"Apparently Jesus and the Essenes [Yahad] saw their actions as constituting a new covenant. According to Mark 14:24 and Matthew 26:28 Jesus instituted at the Last Supper a 'covenant'. According to Luke 22:20 Jesus said, 'This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood'. The Qumran Essenes stressed the importance of 'the new covenant' that was established by God through the Righteous Teacher.' Each year the covenant was renewed, perhaps at the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), during a most sacred ceremony ([Community Rule] 1QS 1-2). To enter the Qumran Community was 'to pass over into the covenant' or 'to enter into the new covenant'. The Qumran Essenes thought of their community (Yahad) as the eternal covenant. Their unique theology, history, and social setting led them to talk about their community as 'God's covenant'. In a certain sense Qumran theology is covenantal theology."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 12

Jesus' teachings concerning the conduct of his followers are also very much in accord with instructions in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Community Rule, prepared by the Righteous Teacher, instructs:

"They are to practice truth together with humility, charity, justice, loving-kindness, and modesty in all their ways."
     - Community Rule 1QS 5.3-4

(Note the similarity of these teachings to those of the Pharisees. Click here for more information.)

"Among the scriptures Jesus maybe and the Essenes [Yahad] probably had special fondness for the same books, namely, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, and especially the Davidic Psalms."
"Jesus and the Essenes used a similar means to interpret the scriptures. They read them under the guidance of the Spirit (that is pneumatically), and affirmed that God's promises were now being fulfilled. Both Jesus and the Essenes were eschatologically oriented; that is, they believe that the present belonged to the beginning of the new age (viz., Mk 9:1; [Thanksgiving Psalm] 1QH 8)."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 10

The Community Rule, "the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Damascus Covenant (known as the Zadokite' Document and the Damascus Rule) and Tobit, the first two Essene [Yahad] and the last Pharisaical, were quoted by the gospel authors as the words of Jesus, while further sayings attributed to Jesus were identical with Essene beliefs as described by Josephus."
     - William Harwood, Mythologies Last Gods: Yahweh and Jesus

Those brought into the covenant "must be careful to act according to the specifications of the Law for the era of wickedness, separating from corrupt people, avoiding filthy wicked lucre taken from what is vowed or consecrated to God or found in the Temple funds. They must not rob 'the poor of God's people, making widows' wealth their booty and killing orphans' (Isaiah 10:2)...Each must love his brother as himself, and support the poor, needy, and alien."
     - Damascus Document CD 6:14-21

"Few movements in Judaism prior to the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. can be categorized as expecting the coming of 'the Messiah'. The two major exceptions are Jesus and his group and the Essenes [Yahad]. Moreover, both espoused earthly messianic beliefs. The 'Messiah' will not arise out of the sea, as in 4 Ezra, or out of heaven, as in 1 Enoch. He will arise out of the chosen people."
"The Essenes certainly believed in the coming of the Messiah (lQS, CD, 4QFlor, 4QpsDan), but it is unlikely that they considered the Righteous Teacher the Messiah."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 14

"For the Essenes, the New Age was still anticipated. For early Christians, Jesus had been resurrected as the Messiah who brought the New Age. Both communities lived in anticipation of the full coming of redemption or the consummation of the kingdom of God. The Essenes formed a community of priestly apocalyptists. The early Christian movement was made up largely of lay apocalyptists, much like the Pharisaic party. Both searched the prophets for allusions to the events of their times, which they understood to be the "last times," and both spoke in language pervaded by the terminology of Jewish apocalyptic."
     - Frank Moore Cross, Jr., "Dead Sea Scrolls: Overview"

Forgiveness from God

"And I, (I belong) to an evil humanity
And to the company of wicked flesh.
My iniquities, my transgressions, my sins...
(Belong) to the assembly of maggot(s) and those who move in darkness."
     - Community Rule 1QS 11.9-10

"And I, I know that righteousness is not of man,
Nor perfection of way in the son of man;
To the Most High God (are ascribed) all works of righteousness...."
     - Thanksgiving Psalm 1QH 4.30-31

"...Jesus, as well as the Teacher, maintained that the way to salvation consists in obtaining free and gracious forgiveness from God."
     - Paolo Sacchi, "Recovering Jesus' Formative Background" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992), p. 128

"At the present time, most leading experts on the Scrolls rightly conclude that some of the Thanksgiving Hymns were composed by the Righteous Teacher."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "Jesus as 'Son' and the Righteous Teacher as 'Gardener'" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 141

"But all the children of your truth
You bring with forgiveness before you,
Cleansing them of their transgressions by your great goodness,
And by the multitude of your mercies allowing them to stand before you for ever."
     - Thanksgiving Psalm lQH 7.28-29

"D. Flusser [in Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period, ed. Stone, p. 567] even offers the opinion that Jesus knew the Thanksgiving Hymns (lQH), because he (Mt 11:25-27, Lk 10:21-22) used the Hodayot formula ('Blessed are you, 0 Lord, because...'), knew the free rhythm and content of these hymns, and shared the author's high self-awareness of mission."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 17

Convergent Theologies
"Can there have been no relationships between the Essenes [Enochian sectarians] and the Palestinian Jesus Movement when both emphasized the sinfulness of all humanity and the need for God's grace, the eschatological time, the establishment of the New Covenant according to Jeremiah 31, the presence and power of Satan and the demons, and the clarion call of Isaiah 40:3? Is it not clear that both groups emphasized essentially the same hermeneutical principle: all Scripture and prophecy pointed to the present - the endtime - and directly and especially to their own special group? Did not both groups, mutatis mutandis, exhort a sharing of possessions? Has it not become palpable lately that both groups were products, and to a certain extent examples, of Jewish apocalypticism? Do not both groups, and only they, stress the living presence of 'the Holy Spirit' in their community?"
     - James H. Charlesworth, "Rethinking Jesus' Jewishness"

"Jesus may have inherited from the Essenes [Yahad] their concept of 'the Holy Spirit.' The technical term 'the Holy Spirit' appears frequently in the New Testament. Many of these references are comments attributed to John the Baptist or to Gabriel. Many describe Jesus and interpret his words. A significant number in all four Gospels are in quotations attributed to Jesus. The term 'the Holy Spirit' in some of these sayings may not derive ultimately from Jesus, and some are clearly editorial..."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 20

"Only Jesus (Lk 16:8) and the Essenes [Yahad] are known to have employed the technical term 'sons of light.' There is every reason to think that the Qumran Essenes, perhaps the Righteous Teacher, coined this term and its antithesis 'sons of darkness.' If so, Jesus and his followers inherited the term 'the sons of light' from the Essenes (see esp. [Rule of Community] 1QS 3-4)."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 19

A Spiritual Offering

"They shall expiate guilty rebellion and sinful infidelity... without the flesh of burnt offering and the fat of sacrifice, but the offering of the lips in accordance with the Law will be as an agreeable odor of righteousness, and perfection of way shall be as the voluntary gift of a delectable oblation."
     - Community Rule 1QS 9.3-5

"Elsewhere the community itself is described as an 'expiation for the earth'([Community Rule] 1QS8.10). Perhaps this is what lies behind Philo's comment that the Essenes 'are men utterly dedicated to the service of God; they do not offer animal sacrifice, judging it more fitting to render their minds truly holy' (Philo, Every Good Man Is Free 75)."
     - Craig A. Evans, "Opposition to the Temple: Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992), p. 247

"Jesus' use of Hosea 6:6 ('I desire mercy, and not sacrifice') affords an interesting and instructive parallel. The prophetic utterance occurs in two passages in Matthew, which represent expansions of material taken from Mark. In the first passage Hosea is cited in defense of Jesus' fellowship with 'tax collectors and sinners' (Mt 9:10-13; cf. Mk 2:15-17), thus implying that mercy fulfills the law. In the second passage it augments Jesus' argument justifying the disciples' plucking of grain on the Sabbath (Mt 12:1-8; cf. Mk 2:23-26).
     - Craig A. Evans, "Opposition to the Temple: Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992), p. 247

"To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
     - Mark 12:33 (Matthew 22:37-40; Luke 10:37)

Community and Lifestyle

"On the west side it [the wall around Jerusalem] is extended from the same starting point (that is, the Hippicus Tower in the area of the modern-day Citadel) along a piece of land called Bethso [a Greek a transliteration of the Aramaic beth zo'a - latrine] until the Gate of the Essenes (dia de tou Bethso kaloumenou chorou katateinon epi ten Essonon pylen), then bent to the south and then ran its course on the other side of the Pool of Siloam..."
     - Josephus, War 5.145

"In a passage of 1 Enoch that goes back to the second century B.C.E., a 'holy mountain' (lEn 26:2) is given a topographical description (lEn 27:1-4) that could have been a reference to the Mount Zion of today. From this mountain the righteous will see the judgment of the wicked (lEn 27:1-4), which will be executed in the Hinnom Valley. Echoes of this motif are present when Jesus designates the eschatological place of judgment and punishment with the Aramaic word gehinnam (transliterated into the Greek geenna). Since the Essenes were extremely wary of cultic impurity, the renowned G. Dalman on the basis of a statement in the pre-Christian Letter of Aristeas (106), has proposed that they possessed their own entrance to the city. A plausible explanation for this circumstantial evidence may be the construction of a additional gate for pedestrians at such an unfavorable spot."
     - Rainer Riesner, "Jesus, the Primitive Community, and the Essene Quarter of Jerusalem" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992), p. 210

In Jerusalem "archaeologists have discovered a small gate in the southwest corner of the second wall. Some excitement has been aroused regarding the possibility that the small gate is indeed the Essene gate mentioned only by Josephus (Jewish War, 5.145). The recently published Temple Scroll describes a latrine just northwest of Jerusalem's walls:"
     - James H. Charlesworth, Jesus Within Judaism

"And they shall make themselves a place of the hand outside the city, where they shall go out to in a northwesterly direction from the city, (where they shall make) roofed buildings with pits inside them so that the feces would drop into them and would not be visible to anybody for a distance of three thousand cubits from the city."
     - 11QTemple 46.13-16 (B. Pixner's translation)

"This latrine is undoubtedly the 'Betsoa', or house of excrement, mentioned by Josephus as just northwest of the Essene gate in the western wall.
"If archaeologists have discovered the Essene gate, then Essenes probably lived in the southwest section of Herodian Jerusalem. The discovery and its implications are significant for a study of Christian origins, because precisely in that area Jesus most likely held his last supper, and it was here that tradition (cf. Epiphanius, Eusebius) seems to have placed the home of Jesus' family, especially his brother James and his mother, Mary."
     - James H. Charlesworth, Jesus Within Judaism

"The text of the Scroll seems to indicate the direction that would have to be taken after leaving the City rather than the geographical location of the toilets.... This matches as closely as possible the topographical situation around the Gate of the Essenes at the time the Scroll was written. At the time (early Roman Period), we know of no other gate along the western city wall. An Essene leaving the city through this gate and wishing to proceed to the Bethso would turn to the northwest....follow somewhere south or north of the present Bishop Gobat School which stands on the site of a once very imposing tower of the Hasmonea Wall.... May I suggest that the distance prescribed both in the Temp Scroll and in the War Scroll [1QM 7.7] was not to mean the area beyond which, but rather the area within which the latrines had to be placed."
     - B. Pixner, "An Essene Quarter on Mount Zion?", Studia Hierosolymitana I (1976) 255-257

"On the way from the Essene Gate to the possible Bethso, one comes to a double bath, hewn into the rock of the cliff which had earlier supported the wall. We know of only one other bath located outside the wall of Jerusalem. Built during the Herodian period, it lies in the vicinity of the upper palace of Herod.
"If our placing of Bethso is correct, then the double bath must have been used for ritual cleansings in connection with it. In fact, such washings were practiced by the Essenes after use of the latrine (Josephus, War 2.149)."

In the synoptic account of the preparation for the Passover meal (Mk 14:12-17; Mt 26:17-19; Lk 22:7-14), "Jesus sends disciples into the city, where they would recognize a man carrying a pitcher of water and follow him to the place of the Last Supper. Pixner wants to identify this unnamed man as an Essene monk who carried water for ritual cleansings. As a matter of fact, Lagrange, a scholar thoroughly familiar with the Near East and Early Judaism, earlier was surprised to find a description of a man carrying a pitcher of water, which was in complete contrast to the custom. In an argument against the views of many scholars, R. Pesch shows that Mark, at least on the basis of familiar and sometimes unnecessary details, in this passage is probably preserving a 'historical record'. Moreover, Luke may know an independent, hebraicized tradition with parallel information. The Third Gospel also offers here a relatively clearer place description. As soon as the disciples entered the city (Lk 22:10), they were told that they would meet the man carrying the water pitcher. By inference, this account suggests a location at the pool of Siloam near the southeast gate of the city, where water was drawn for the feast of Unleavened Bread. A graded street (partly visible near St. Peter in Gallicantu) runs from Siloam up to the supposed area of the Essene quarter. This street was perhaps divided for users with varying degrees of purity, as the Letter of Aristeas assumes (LetAris 105-6)."
     - Rainer Riesner, "Jesus, the Primitive Community, and the Essene Quarter of Jerusalem" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992), pp. 213-214, 219

Parable of the Unjust Steward

"Jesus told his disciples: 'There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.So he called him in and asked him, `What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'
"The manager said to himself, `What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg - I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
"So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, `How much do you owe my master?'
"Eight hundred gallons [Greek 'one hundred batouV ' (probably about 3 kiloliters)] of olive oil,' he replied.
"The manager told him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'
"Then he asked the second, `And how much do you owe?'
"'A thousand bushels [Greek 'one hundred korouV (probably about 35 kiloliters)] of wheat,' he replied.
"He told him, `Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'
"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.'"
     - Luke 16:1-8a

"The situation presumes an absentee landlord whose large plantation is run by a steward. The steward had been exploiting both master and tenants. He had, apparently, increased their indebtedness to his own rather than the master's advantage. The master was not getting as much as he should and in that sense the steward was wasting his goods. And the tenants were paying more than necessary but actually because of the steward rather than the master. What he did was to cut out completely his own 'profit,' which ranged between 25 and 100 percent. Since the tenants would not have known that the steward rather than the master had been squeezing them, they might consider the steward as a patron to whom they would later owe assistance as clients."
     - John Dominic Crossan, The Essential Jesus: Original Sayings and Earliest Images (1998), p. 169

"This parable has troubled its earliest Christian interpreter....The term 'master' translates a Greek term ( knrioV) that can be translated 'Lord'. Interpreters have customarily taken this term in v. 8a to mean Jesus the teacher, who is also the Anointed. But modern interpreters have inclined to the view that 'master' here refers to the rich man who has called his manger to account: the absentee rich landowner commends the manager for his shrewdness in collecting outstanding receivables, even at discount rates."
     - Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels

"In the parable of the unjust steward, Jesus does not admire the righteousness of the dishonest steward (Luke 16:8); he commends only his clever behavior (phronimos epoiesen). Jesus recommends that his adherents be clever in their daily lives, just as the wicked steward was in his: 'For the sons of this world are more clever (phronimoteroi) in dealing with their generation that the sons of light.' This helps us understand what Jesus meant when he once said: 'Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be clever (phronimoi) as serpents and innocent as doves' (Mt 10:16)."
     - David Flusser, "The Parable of the Unjust Steward: Jesus' Criticism of the Essenes" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992), p. 94

"So I say to you, use your worldly wealth (mammon) to win friends for yourselves."
     - Luke 16:9

"The Essenes [Yahad] used mmwn [mammon] as a technical term for the wealth of those who did not belong to their exclusive community of the elect. The Essenes believed that God had divided humanity into two opposite camps and that the members of their group were the true 'sons of light' Thus, in their view all others were condemned, that is, wicked and sinful 'sons of darkness' The Essenes had to separate themselves as far as possible from those outside their community and, of course, also from the wealth of these 'sons of darkness'....They were obligated 'to keep apart from the sons of perdition, to refrain from the unclean wealth of wickedness' (wlhnzr mhwn hrs'h htm'. [Damascus Document] CD 6.14-15). The Essenes not only believed that one became unclean by contact with impure objects and persons, but they also contended that sins pollute ritually: the wicked 'defiled themselves in ways of whoredom and the wealth of wickedness' (CD 8.5: wytgwllw bdrky znwt wbhwn rs'h)."
     - David Flusser, "The Parable of the Unjust Steward: Jesus' Criticism of the Essenes" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992), p. 179

"So no member shall be united with him (the foreigner) in his work or in his wealth, lest he defile the member with guilty iniquity, but distance shall be kept from him in every matter..."
     - Community Rule 1QS 5.14-20

"They were to behave passively, peacefully, and even benevolently toward the 'sons of darkness, while keeping their hatred of them a secret ([Community Rule] 1QS9.21-22). During this interval, they were to wait for the Day of Vengeance, when their abstention from the wealth of unrighteousness would radically change."
     - David Flusser, "The Parable of the Unjust Steward: Jesus' Criticism of the Essenes" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992), p. 180

"I will not return evil to anybody, with good will I pursue man, for with God rests the judgment of every living being, and he is the one to repay man for his deeds. I will not show jealousy with the spirit of evil and my soul shall not covet wealth of unrighteousness (hwn hms) and the strife of men of perdition I will not handle until the Day of Vengeance. But my anger I will not turn away from the men of iniquity, and I will not be content until He has established judgment.
     - Community Rule 1 QS 10.17-20

"And let no man of the covenant of God trade with the sons of perdition except for cash. And let no man make a partnership for trade unless he informs the overseer in the camp and makes a written agreement."
     - Damascus Document CD 13.14-16

"Jesus claimed in the parable that the 'sons of light' did not behave cleverly when they practiced an economic separatism and did not make friends for themselves from the 'wealth of unrighteousness.' This is his criticism of the extreme Essene (Yahad) attitude. He asks his followers to remain trustworthy with the 'wealth of unrighteousness' which belongs to others. Only in this way will they be able to gain friends among nonbelievers."
     - David Flusser, "The Parable of the Unjust Steward: Jesus' Criticism of the Essenes" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992), pp. 185-186

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?"
     - Luke 16:10-12

Jesus "rejects the Essene [Yahad] exclusive economic communism and recommends a more broad-minded approach to the surrounding world. The same approach is reflected both in the Jewish Two Ways (Did 4:8) and in Romans 15:27. The Essene concept of a community of goods (koinonikon, koinonia) receives a new meaning: it is no longer an exclusive communism based on economic separatism but a sharing of property with all. This more broadminded approach to the world is evident in that Jesus was prone to accept invitations from nonbelievers, and his disciples were reproached because they ate and drank with the tax collectors (Lk 5:30 and parallels). We have seen that 'no member' of the Essene sect was to 'eat any of their (nonEssene) property nor drink from it, nor take anything from their hands except by payment' ([Community Rule] 1QS 5.16-17). In contrast to this extreme separatism, Jesus instructed those whom he sent into the world to eat and drink what others would provide, 'for the laborer deserves his wages' (Lk 10:5-8)."
     - David Flusser, "The Parable of the Unjust Steward: Jesus' Criticism of the Essenes" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992), p. 189

"In general, scholars are agreed that the instructions [to Christian missionaries below] are old and did not originate with the evangelists. Yet opinion is sharply divided on whether any of them can be traced directly back to Jesus."
     - Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels

Travel light "The missionaries of the Cynic movement, started by Diagnose of Sinope in fourth-century B.C.E. Greece, preached and adopted a lifestyle of deliberate and calculated counter-culturalism. They carried a staff to symbolize their itinerancy or homelessness and a knapsack to emphasize their self-sufficiency. They were also urban rather than rural and individual rather than communal. The missionaries of the Kingdom movement, the program of social revolution started by Jesus, were both rural and communal, and they carried neither staff nor knapsack to underline not their self sufficiency but their solidarity with and dependence on those to whom they preached."
     - John Dominic Crossan, The Essential Jesus: Original Sayings and Earliest Images (1998), p. 148

"Ask and receive
Seek and find
Knock and the door opens wide before you."
- Matthew 7:7-8

"Not just a general proverbial statement of hope, this is a specific promise that the missionaries of the Kingdom movement can trust both in God and in the peasant homes to which they bring their message."
     - John Dominic Crossan, The Essential Jesus: Original Sayings and Earliest Images (1998), p. 148

"When adherents [Essenes] arrive from elsewhere, all local resources are put at their disposal as if they were their own....When they travel they carry no baggage at all....In every town one of the order is pointed especially to look after strangers and issue clothing and provisions."
     - Flavius Josephus, Jewish Wars, II, VIII, Sn 4

"Take no gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it, and stay with him until you depart."
     - Mark 6:8-10; (Matthew 10:9-11; Luke 9:3, 10:4)

"The missionaries do not carry a bag because they do not beg for alms or food or clothing or anything else. They share a miracle and a Kingdom, and they receive in return a table and a house. Here, I think, is the heart of the original Jesus movement, a shared egalitarianism of spiritual and material resourses."
     - John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, The Life of a Mediterranean Peasant (1991)

Apollonius in Ephesus "dealt with the question of a community of wealth (koinonia) and taught that they ought to support (trephein) and be supported by one another."
     - Philostratus, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana 4.3 (c. 217 C.E.)

"Friends have all things in common."
"Friendship is equality."
     - Pythagoras

Don't swear oaths

"Every word they [the Essenes] speak is more binding than an oath. Swearing they reject as something worse than perjury, for they way a man is already condemned if he cannot be believed without invoking a god."
     - Flavius Josephus, Jewish Wars, II, VIII, Sn 6

"Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil."
     - Matthew 5:33-37

"This teaching may well have been directed against the Essenes [Yahad] who institutionalized the swearing of a solemn and binding oath when entering into the community ([Community Rule] 1QS 5.7-20; cf. [Thanksgiving Psalms] 1QH 14.17; [Damascus Document] CD 16.10-12). Moreover, the Levites ceremonially were to 'curse' - swear against - all those in the lot of Belial, and this was to be performed before the gathering of the community during the yearly renewal of the covenant (lQS 2.4-10)."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 31

"After all, my friends, don't swear by heaven or by the earth. Your oath 'yes' is to be a simple 'yes', and your 'no' a simple 'no. Otherwise you are subject to trial."
     - James 5:12

"The parallel in James suggests that fragments of [Matthew] vv. 34-35 and 37 may be original with Jesus, while the balance of the formulations in 5:33-37 are the work of Matthew."
     - Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need
"They [the Essenes] all have a single treasury and common disbursements; their clothes are held in common and also their food through their institution of public meals. In no other community can we find the custom of sharing roof, life and board more firmly established in actual practice."
     - Philo, Every Good Man Is Free 86; LCL

"Jesus and the Essenes [Yahad - lQS (Community Rule) 6.22] contended that possessions are to be shared. Jesus exhorted some Jews to give all they possessed to the poor and follow him. Judas is said to have been in charge of the common 'money box' (Jn 12:6; 13:29). Jesus and his little band of followers, unlike Paul, did not earn wages; they lived off the land - for example, plucking corn to eat - or received support from others. The author of Acts reports that the members of the Palestinian Jesus Movement held 'everything in common' (Acts 2:44), and this probably was not an innovation of Jesus' followers."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 18

"They [the Esssenes] are communists to perfection, and none of them will be found to be better off than the rest. Their rule is that novices admitted to the sect must surrender their property to the order.... Each man's possessions go into the pool and...their entire property belongs to them all....Everyone gives what he has to anybody in need....Even without giving anything in return they are free to share the possessions of anyone they choose."
     - Flavius Josephus, Jewish Wars, II, VIII, Sn 2

"But every true prophet who wishes to settle among you is worthy of his food. Likewise a true teacher is himself worthy, like the workman, of his food. Therefore thou shalt take the firstfruit of...winepress...threshing floor...oxen and sheep...bread...wine or oil...money...clothes...all your possessions...and give according to the commandment."
     - Didache 13:1-7

"Give your bread to those who are hungry, and your clothes to those who are naked."
     - Tobit 4:16 (5th C. BC)

"And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, 'You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.'"
     - Mark 10:21; (Mathew 19:21; Luke 18:22)

"...The promise of heavenly treasure as a reward for giving up wealth is almost certainly a later modification."
     - Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels

"And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need."
     - Acts 4:32-35

You cannot divorce and remarry
"Jesus and the Essenes [Yahad] were appreciably different from all other known Jews in their apparent condemnation of divorce. The stern Shammaites interpreted Deut 24:1 to mean that divorce was permitted when adultery was committed. The much more conciliatory Hillelites understood the text broadly to include such absurdly trivial cases as when a wife burned her husband's supper."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 18-19

"A text revered by the Essenes, and at least edited by them, implies that as the king should not divorce his wife neither should others ([Temple Scroll] 11QTemple 57)."
"It is conceivable that Jesus was influenced by the apparent prohibition of divorce by the Essenes."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 19

The Damascus Document attacked divorce and remarriage (specifically polygyny as adultery.

"The builders of the wall ... shall be caught in fornication twice by taking a second wife while the first is alive, whereas the principle of creation is, Male and female created he them [Genesis 1:27]. Also, those who entered the Ark went in two by two. And concerning the prince it is written, He shall not multiply wives to himself [Deuteronomy 17:17]; but David had not read the sealed book of the law which was in the ark for it was not opened in Israel from the death of Eleazar and Joshua, and the elders who worshipped Ashtoreth."
     - Damascus Document CD 4.20-5.1 (G. Vermez' translation)

"As part of his reply to the Pharisees Jesus appealed to what is often known as the 'creation principle'. Jesus quoted from two passages in Genesis, giving them priority over the teaching of Moses."
     - Graham N. Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus, The Oxford Bible Series (1989), paperback, p. 246

"But at the beginning of creation God "made them male and female. [ Genesis 1:27, 2:24] For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, [some early manuscripts do not have and be united to his wife] and the two will become one flesh. [Genesis 2:24] So they are no longer two, but one. There those God has coupled together, no one else should separate."
     - Mark 10:6-9 (Matthew 19:4-7)

"This saying is undoubtedly authentic. It is dissimilar both from current Jewish teaching and from several strands of very early Christian teaching....Paul quotes the teaching of Jesus in 1 Cor. 7:10 and 11b, but immediately indicates that in his own view there is a permissible ground for divorce (v. 11a and 15). A Christian need not necessarily divorce an unbelieving partner (vv 12-14), 'but if the unbelieving partner desires to separate, let it be so' (v. 15)). In Matthew's version of the teaching of Jesus on divorce recorded in Mark 10:10-11, porneia ['fornication'] is referred to as a permissible ground for divorce (5:32 and 19:9). The meaning of this key word is disputed; RSV and NEB translate 'unchastity', but precisely what was thought to constitute 'unchastity' is unclear."
     - Graham N. Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus, The Oxford Bible Series (1989), paperback, pp. 244-245

"These quotations provide the specific theological context in which Jesus spoke about divorce. Jesus believed that in the coming (or already partly present) end-time, the conditions of the 'beginning-time' of creation would be restored. In other words, the coming of God's kingly rule would lead to a restoration of his original 'creation' intention for man ('the two shall become one') which had been thwarted by 'man's hardness of heart' (Mark 10:5). On this approach, the 'harsh' teaching of Jesus on divorce was for those prepared to respond to his proclamation of the kingly rule of God."
     - Graham N. Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus, The Oxford Bible Series (1989), paperback, p. 246

"Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her."
     - Mark 10:11 (Matthew 19:9, 5:32 ; Luke 16:18)

"And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery."
     - Mark 10:12

"What Jesus asserts is that women have exactly the same rights as men have in marriage. Adultery can be committed against a wife's rights just as well as against a husband's.
     - John Dominic Crossan, The Essential Jesus: Original Sayings and Earliest Images (1998), p. 150

Other scholars doubt the authenticity of these passages.

"The reference in verse 12 to a woman who initiates divorce can hardly have arisen in a Jewish setting, for the custom was alien to Judaism. But as it was possible in the Graeco-Roman world for a woman to initiate divorce, the verse has almost certainly been added by the evangelist (or at an earlier stage) in order to make the teaching of Jesus applicable in a different cultural setting."
     - Graham N. Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus, The Oxford Bible Series (1989), paperback, p. 155

Eunuchs and Celibacy
"Jesus was not married, and the Qumran Essenes [Yahad] are the only celibate group known in Early Judaism (War 2.121)."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 19

"Jesus and the Qumran Essenes [Yahad] were 'married' to God and dedicated to his rule. The Essenes apparently extended to the community the most rigid rules for purity formerly designated only for priests when officiating in the Temple (cf. m.Yoma 1:1; 8:1), or transferred to themselves in preparation of the eschatological battle (lQM [War Scroll]) the abstinence demanded of Israelite warriors who were engaged in a holy duty (Dt 20:7; 24:5).
"According to Matthew 19:12 Jesus praises the men who become eunuchs for the kingdom. He was not praising celibacy; but he may have been lauding the Essenes who were celibate because of their devotion to God alone."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 20

"There are eunuchs such as were born so from [their] mother's womb, and there are eunuchs such as were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs such as make themselves eunuchs [literally: 'who eunuchize themselves'] because of [or: with a view to] the kingdom of heaven."
     - Matthew 19:12

"...The saying could be understood as an attack on a male-dominated, patriarchal society in which male virility and parenthood were the exclusive norms. The true Israel consisted of priests, Levites, and full-blooded male Judeans, all of whom were capable of fathering children. Eunuchs made so by others and males born without testicles were not complete and so could not be counted among true Israelites and were therefore excluded from temple service. Regulations governing priests, Levites, and the assembly are given in Leviticus 21:16-21; 22:17-25; Deuteronomy 23:1."
     - Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels

"...This violent imagery could possibly derive from the fact that the logion echoes slurs and jibes aimed at the celibate Jesus - or possibly some of his disciples - as he hobnobbed with the religious low life of Palestine and traveled around the countryside with a stangely mixed entourage of men and women 'on leave' from their spouses."
     - John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew - Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Vol. 1.

Distinctions between the Movements

Missionary Zeal
"Jesus; appeal to the masses was very different from the Essenes [Yahad]; and it marks him off from most other Jewish religious leaders of his day. In fact Jesus' missionary zeal contrasts with Judaism, which was a religion with little missionary zeal."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 26

Love Your Enemy

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor but hate your enemy'."
     - Matthew 5:43

"Who are these listeners, who had heard that they should hate their enemies? Nowhere in the entire Jewish tradition, and still less in the Old Testament, is there any trace of a command to hate one's enemies. Probably, however, such a concept is to be found in the writings of the Qumran sect..."
     - K. Schubert, "The Sermon on the Mount and the Qumran Texts", in The Scrolls and the New Testament, ed. K. Stendahl (1957) p. 120

"When Jesus taught his followers to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors, he commented that others had said 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy' [Matthew 5:43]. He may have meant the teachings of the Essenes [Yahad]. Several times in the Scrolls [which in several documents reflect the teachings of the Essenes] the faithful are told to hate the 'sons of darkness', an attitude not so clearly stated elsewhere."
     - Alan Millard, Discoveries From the Time of Jesus

"To love all the sons of light, each according to his lot in God's counsel, but to hate all the sons of darkness, each according to his guilt in provoking God's vengeance!"
"To hate all that He (God) has despised."
     - Community Rule 1QS 1.9-11, 4

"It is important to comprehend that all 'sons of darkness' are all who are not members of the community, or 'sons of light'."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 24

"Be cursed in all the works of your guilty wickedness.
May God make of you an object of terror by the hand of all the avengers of vengeance....
Be cursed, without mercy, according to the darkness of your works.
Be damned in the dark place of everlasting fire."
     - Community Rule 1QS 2.5-8

"Josephus also mentions the hate of the Essenes: before the initiate may be a full member of the Essene community he must, among other tasks, swear 'that he will ever hate the unjust.. .' (War 2.139). K. Stendahl has argued persuasively that this hatred is not entirely novel but is a blending of two different elements found in scripture (nonretaliation (Deut 32] and hatred of God's enemies [see Pss 139, 79]). The Qumranic eschatological intensity clarifies how these two apparently opposite ethical norms can be combined."J
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 62

Forgiveness of Sins
"Jesus preached about a God who was a Father who forgave; see esp. Mt 6:14-15; 12:31-32; Mk 2:5-10 and parallels. One of the charges against Jesus was that he claimed to have the power to forgive sins. Clearly that was unique to him and markedly contrasts him with the Righteous Teacher and the Essenes [Yahad]."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 54

"Jesus offered forgiveness apart from the Temple cult (Mk 2:5; Lk 7:47). His forerunner, John the Baptist, had preached a baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Mk 1:4) which did not require sacrifices but 'fruit that befits repentance' (Mk 3:8). This fruit may be compared to the 'works of the law' offered in the Qumran sanctuary (4QFlor, lines 6-7). The forgiveness brought by Jesus rested on the authority of the Son of Man (Mk 2:10; cf. Dan 7:14), who was sent by God and acted on his behalf (Mk 2:7-11; cf. Ps 103:3). In an indirect way, Jesus also pointed to the prophecies about the living. The new covenant, using their language of God's giving and forgiveness of sins (Jer 31:34) and the giving of a new heart and spirit (Ezek 36:27), not a sacrificial cult offered in a temple, will be the characteristic features of the new covenant (Mk 14:24)."
     - Otto Betz, "Jesus and the Temple Scroll" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992), pp. 97-98

An Immanent Eschatology
"Although Jesus and the Essenes [Yahad] did not share the same calendar, they did assume that there were two ages and two worlds. Both affirmed that the old age was rapidly passing away and the new one was beginning. Their eschatologies were not different in kind but in degree. For Jesus the time was closer to the end than for the Essenes, so that while the Essenes spoke about the end of time as the end of days, Jesus referred to the hour." "There is no indication that Jesus shared the Essene fear of darkness and adoration of light or employed the light-darkness paradigm they developed."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 13

Repentance Not Sacrifice
"Jesus' view of the Temple in Jerusalem was different from that of the Qumran community. He was not concerned with correct measurements of the Temple courts and never complained about the ritual impurity of the priests, because in light of the coming kingdom purity of the heart was decisive (Mk 7:21). For this reason, atonement for the land of Israel was not as important to him as the forgiveness of God for the people of Israel, forgiving one's fellow human being and peace among humanity (Mt 5:9; cf. Lk 2:14). Reconciliation among people must precede an offering that should reconcile humanity with God (Mt 5:23).'priestly Messiah.' In a parable on prayer (Lk 18:9-15) Jesus has a Pharisee and a tax collector go up to the Temple (Lk 18:10). The tax collector 'went down to his house. justified' not because he had offered a sacrifice but because of his prayer of sincere repentance (Lk 18:13-14)."
     - Otto Betz, "Jesus and the Temple Scroll" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992), p. 97

"The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, 0 God, Thou wilt not despise."
     - Psalm 51:17

"But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' [Hosea 6:6] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
     - Matthew 9:13 // Luke 5:32 (Also quoted in Matthew 12:7)

"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off."
     - Matthew 18: 12-13 // Luke 15:4-6 // Thomas 107:1-3

"The Temple should not merely gather and serve Israel, but unite all nations in prayer (Mk 11:17). It is for this reason that Jesus cleansed the Temple by driving the merchants and money changers out of the court of the Gentiles (Mk 11:15f.)"
     - Otto Betz, "Jesus and the Temple Scroll" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992), p. 97

Entering Temple Grounds
Unlike the Essenes, the Apostles regularly attended the Temple in Jerusalem.

"Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts."
     - Acts 2:46a

"The temple was their meeting place, not a room within a community building, where the urban Essenes met. Actually, the Essenes were not authorized to go in the temple:"
     - Bernard Muller, "The Historical Jesus"

"They do not offer sacrifices ... On which account they are excluded from the common court of the temple."
     - Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Bk XVIII, Ch I, Sn 5

"Clearly at least one Essene frequented the Temple after the establishment of the Qumran Community: Judas the Essene (Ant 13.311-13); and he is depicted in the Temple with his companions and disciples."
"Jesus is never portrayed as bringing offerings to the Temple. The Qumran Essenes [Yahad] probably contended that worship and sacrifice were in the final days of 'the present age' only to be offered to God in the 'house of holiness,' Qumran. Hence, it is surprising that Jesus clearly (Mt 17:24) and the Essenes [Yahad] probably...paid the half-shekel Temple obligatory offering."
     - James H. Charlesworth, "The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus" in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992), p. 15