[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: response to D.J. Kaufman

Stephen Goranson wrote:
Dear David,
With all due respect:
1) To the best of my knowledge, Philo does not link Essenes (Essaioi) with
Isaiah (by any spelling).
***********
Right. That is my theory. It is also my point that "Essaioi" does not equal
"Essenes" (Esshnoi). The difference in the terms is significant. For example,
why didn't Philo call them Esshnoi?

Stephen continued:
2) To the best of my knowledge, Philo (who, of course, lived in Egypt) does
not link Essenes (or the Therapeutae) with the Jewish temple in Egypt.
********
Again correct. By the time he was writing the Essenes or Essaioi may have
split off from the group in Egypt. That is a possible explanation for how the
scrolls came to Qumran. Another possible explanation for this is that the
group in Egypt did not call themselves Essaioi. He may have known that they
were Oniad Priestly descendants and may simply have known them by a different
title.
     Yet a third possible explanation is that there were multiple groups
whose names sounded like Essaioi. The "Healer" (Assaya) origin and the "Holy"
(Hosaioi) origin may have existed along side of an "Isaiahites" (Essaioi)
origin. It is not unlikely that these could have been confused.

Stephen wrote:
3) I could be mistaken, but I read you as saying, in effect, here are my
arguments that the khirbeh at Qumran is not related to the Qumran cave mss,
and I will not entertain arguments that may relate the two because such is
unknowable. That's the sort of view I consider unwarranted (spelled correctly
this time).
*********
Stephen,
     I said no such thing. Where you got the idea that I would not listen to
theories that connect the site and the MSS, I have no idea. I simply stated
that I am not ready to throw out any possibilities; ie that they may not be
connected. Further, I argue that some things may not be proven now. There are
theories that require proof, which does not exist or at least which we do not
know to exist. At sometime in the future such information may come to light.
Right now, these theories are impossible to prove. One example is the origin
of the name Essene. We may toss around theories and may establish a
consensus, but that is not proof. Proof of the origin of the name would
require a statement in the scrolls that says, our name Essene and/or Essaioi
comes from X. 

Just a few thoughts,
-David Jay Kaufman
HUC-JIR Jerusalem
Rabbinical Student