First I think it is easy to separate the "Jesseans" from the Essenes. I considered a relationship between IESSAOI and the Essenes once and rejected it for several reasons, first that Essenes existed before Christians and secondly the Greek orthography does not match. Isaiah 11:1 says:
wa'yatsah choter mygeza yeeshay weNETSER meeshereshyaw yeeparah
And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stump of Jesse, and a BRANCH shall grow out of his roots.
The targum on Isaiah 11:1-10 w'ypwk mlk) mbnwhy dy$y w'm$yx) mbny bnwhy ytrby
"There shall come forth a king from the sons of Jesse, and a messiah shall grow from the sons of his sons.
"Branch" is NETZER and the followers of Y'shua were called <Aram>NETZERAYA
or "BRANCHERS" which Matthew translated to Greek as Nazoraios (Nazarenes).
The proof of this, IMO, is the close juxtaposition of YEESHAY "Jesse" with
NETZER in Isaiah and that Epiphanius (Panarion 29 1, 3-9; 4, 9) reports that the
followers of Y'shua were also called IESSAIOI or "Jesseans" as you have
stated.
The term NAZARENES does NOT refer to Nazareth. It refers to the BRANCH (Messiah) that will grow from the roots of Jesse. Jesus was the "branch" whom the "Branchers" followed.
The Egyptian Essenes went by a Greek translation, rather than
transliteration, of what I believe is the true source of ESSAIOI/ESSENOI.
They were the "Therapeutae" and the Judean group were the <Aramaic>ASAYAH
("Healers").As far as Nasareans and Nasoreans, I see a general confusion among all of the patristics on this issue which is well treated by Ray Pritz in "Nazarene Jewish Christianity." (Magness Press, Hebrew University, 1988, 1992)
Jack Kilmon San Marcos, Texas
----- Original Message ----- From: "Dierk van den Berg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2005 10:51 AM
Subject: Re: Epiphanius (was Re: [Megillot] Neil Altman on Qumran, Toronto Star
For instance, Epiphanius refers to the Nasareans and Nasoreans as though they were separate groups and he refers to distinct groups names Essenes, Jessaeans, and Ossenes, in which the Essenes were an offshoot of the Samaritans. All this in an environment of the War of the Sons of Jacob against the Sons of Esau and their Samaritan allies in the late 2nd c.and early1st c. BCE as well as in the 1st c. CE. That's risible.
_Dierk
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeffrey B. Gibson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Dierk van den Berg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2005 5:42 PM
Subject: Re: Epiphanius (was Re: [Megillot] Neil Altman on Qumran, Toronto Star
Dierk van den Berg wrote:
The monk Epiphanius is notorious not only for his sexist mood but likewise
for his terrifying inaccuracies, especially in regard to the classification
of groups of the remote past.
I wonder if you'd do us the kindness of providing us with some some specific
examples of these inaccuracies?
Jeffrey Gibson --
Jeffrey B. Gibson, D.Phil. (Oxon.)
1500 W. Pratt Blvd. #1 Chicago, IL 60626
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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