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Re: orion-list Full Suda Translation (rough draft)

On Fri, 31 Mar 2000, Russell Gmirkin responded to George X. Brooks:

>>   If I can get a better title on the Vermes book I will email you
privately.
     I don't think the Suda account would derive from Philo's writings
on the
Essenes, in that they aren't characterized as ascetic or
contemplative.
(Indeed, _The Contemplative Life_ 1 contrasts the contemplative life
of the
Therapeutae with the active life of the Essenes:  "I have discussed
the
Essenes, who persistently pursued the active life... I will now
proceed...
[to] those that have embraced the life of contemplation.")
     I haven't done an exhaustive study of references to the Essenes
and/or
Therapeutae in the Church Fathers.  But it seems to me the Suda is
drawing on
a patristic account (not necessarily Jerome) which in turn draws on
Philo
(and may, as I say, have confused or identified the Essenes and
Therapeutae).
 Filastrius also confuses Essenes and Therapeutae (Diversarum Hereseon
Liber
IX 1-2).  That is, both Jerome and Filastrius describe the Essenes
with
language obviously taken from _The Contemplative Life_.  There are
doubtless
others.  You might take a closer look at patristic sources that also
discuss
the Rechabites and connect them with the Essenes.<<

When I first saw this thread a week or so ago I immediately thought of
Epiphanius' Panarion (H1.326/29.5):

1.	"You will find, learned reader, this subject treated in what Philo
has recorded in his book entitled _Jessaeans_ [De vita contemplativa,
of disputed authorship?], as he wrote about none other than Christians
when he described their way of life, what is praiseworthy about them,
and their monasteries in the region of Lake Marea [Mareotis]."
(Amidon, pg 91)

3.	"... Now all these things described by him [i.e., Philo] concern
the faith and way of life of Christians. 4.	When therefore they were
called Jessaeans for a short time after the ascension of the Savior
when Mark was preaching in Egypt ... "

>From this, I'd gather that Epiphanius associated the Therapeutae of
_De vita_ with early Christians, who he thought were named Jessaeans
in Philo's time (and let's ignore for the moment the chronological
problem this association poses).

The compiler of the article on Essenes found in the Suda seems to have
associated the Therapeutae and the Essenes in a manner similar to that
made by Jerome and Filastrius.

It seems possible that Jerome and Filastrius had already themselves
took over this association from either the account of Epiphanius or
Epiphanius' source(s) (among other possibilities).

Regards,

Dave Hindley
Cleveland, Ohio, USA


For private reply, e-mail to "David C. Hindley" <dhindley@compuserve.com>
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