Note 353 — II. THE COLOSSIAN HERESY.
Reading edition
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.