Note 82 — THE ESSENES.

1692–1762.—Dr. Jennings’ chapter on the Essenes is simply a commentary on Godwyn’s account. Jennings disputes some of the imaginary parallels between Essenism and Pythagorism exhibited by Godwyn, and inclines to the opinion “that the Essenes begun a little before the time of the Maccabees, when the faithful Jews were forced to fly from the cruel persecutions of their enemies into deserts and caves, and by living in those retreats, many of them being habituated to retirement, which thereby became most agreeable to them, they chose to continue it, even when they might have appeared upon the public stage again, and accordingly formed themselves into recluses.” As to the difficulty to account for “the absolute silence of the evangelical history concerning the Essenes,” Jennings reiterates the remarks of Godwyn upon the subject.82