If I may say, because there is no consensus yet on the etymology of Essenes, it would be unreliable to claim that the source of the name does not appear in the Qumran texts, since we are not agreed on what would count as being present.
It may be worth noting that, before the scrolls were found, several scholars noted the possible etymology from the Hebrew root 'asah. Here is some relevant bibliography: 1532 Ph. Melanchthon in J. Carion, Chronica. Wittenberg, 1532. folio68verso: Essei / das ist / Operarii / vom wort Assa / das ist wircken. 1548 Paul Eber, Populi Iudaici Historia. 1550 The Thre Bokes of Cronicles... London. ...to declare the straitnesse and severitie of lyfe with the dede, and would be called Essey, that is workers or doers, for Assa, whence the name commeth, sygnifieth to worke... 1557 David Chytraeus [Kochhafe], Onomasticon. Explained Essenes as "factores legis," doers of the Law. 1559 M. Flacius Illyricus et al. Ecclesiastica Hist., Magdeburg Centuries. Basel. 1560 Cooper's Chronicle, London. ?1566 M. Victorinum ed, Jerome Opera. Rome, Ep. 22 note. [1573-75 Azariah dei Rossi. Me'or Enayim. Mantua.] 1583 J. Scaliger, De Emendatione Temporum. on hallucination. 1605 Scaliger, Elenchus Trihaeresii. different view. 1619 Sixtinus Amama ed. De Sectis Iudaicis..., Arnheim. 1674 J. Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae, on Lk. xv, 7. 1680 Johann H. Willemer. Dissertatio...Essenis.... 1699 J. Leusden. Philologus. 1703 J. Triglandius ed., Trium Scriptorum...Judaeorum Sectis...Delft. 107: factores legis. 1743-4 J.C. Happach. De Essaeorum Nomine. Coburg. 1745 J. U. Tresenreuter 1748 Joh. Carpzov. 1839 Isaak Jost, Die Essaer..., Israelitische Annalen 19, 145-7. 1858 S. Cohn; David Oppenheim, MGWJ 7, 270-1; 272-3. 1862 L. Landsberg, Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthum 26/33, 459. 1864 C. D. Ginsburg, The Essenes [& Cyclopedia arts.]. 1875 J. Lightfoot, Saint Paul's Epistles to the Colossians...appx. 1881 A. B. Gottlober, ...B$M KT H(SS(N(R )W (SS((R HaBoker Or [Warsaw] 170-1. 1881 Rev. Et. J. 3, 295. 1894 Kruger, Theologische Quartalschrift 76 [&1887, 69] 1938 H.M.J. Loewe in Encyclopedia Britannica (14th) 718. (includes 'asah as a possible etymology, soon before the Qumran discoveries). Stephen Goranson www.duke.edu/~goranson ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of Yigal Levin [[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 4:50 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Essenes etymology, was RE: Etymology of Nazarene or Nazareth ? Uri, What is the evidence that the name Asa is derived from the same root as the Aramaic ASA? (BTW, are you sure that in Aramaic the root is ASA and not ASY?) Why would it be? The root ASA "health" is not attested in Hebrew from any period. Yigal Levin -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Stephen Goranson Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 11:38 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [b-hebrew] Essenes etymology, was RE: Etymology of Nazarene or Nazareth ? The Book of Yosippon (mistakenly) replaced Josephus' Essenes with Hebrew (not Aramaic) Hasidim. For the start of Aramaic guesses, see Azariah dei Rossi, Me'or Enayin (Mantua, 1573-1575). Stephen Goranson www.duke.edu/~goranson ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of Uri Hurwitz [[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 5:05 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [b-hebrew] Etymology of Nazarene or Nazareth ? Stephen, According to the latest edition of Even Shoshan Heb.-Heb. dictionary, the first Hebrew occurrence is in the Book of Yosippon, a chronicle of Jewish history to the time Titus. Written between eighth and tenth centuries CE. In the HB the root may be recognized in the name ASA ( Aleph Samekh Aleph). Uri Hurwitz Uri, Can you (or anyone) give one example where "their name appears" so spelled earlier than modern times? Stephen _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
