Note 81 — THE ESSENES.
Reading edition
1653–1723.—Basnage gives a very lengthy account of the Essenes in his History of the Jews lib. ii. chaps. xii. xiii. Those who are acquainted with the writings of this learned Frenchman, know that he could not write on anything without bringing together a mass of useful information. He, however, mistook the character of the Essenes, as well as the value of the documents upon which he relies. Preferring Philo’s account to that of Josephus, though the latter lived amongst the Essenes, Basnage confounds the brotherhood with the Therapeutae, and hence asserts that “they borrowed several superstitions from the Egyptians, among whom they retired.” Through this, he is led to occupy by far the greater part of his description with the needless discussion of the question “Whether the Essenes from being Jews were converted to Christianity by St. Mark, and founded a monastic life.”81