Essenes

The Essenes were a Jewish order organized along communist lines in ancient Judea. They were established in 150 BCE and lasted until the destruction of Jerusalem's Second Temple in 66 CE. Josephus wrote that the Essenes had 4,000 members. They owned no slaves. The Essenes lived in common dwellings, ate their meals together, and shared almost all possessions.

Philo explained: "Not only food but clothing as well is in common with them. For there are heavy cloaks prepared for the winter and light outer garments for summer so that every man may make use of them as he will. For what one has counts as the property of all, and what all of them have counts as everyman's."

Essenes had jobs outside their social organization, but they brought home all wages to share in common. Most Essenes worked as farmers and others worked as craftsmen. None were allowed to produce weapons or luxury items. Some members were "chiefs" who apparently had a degree of authority. For instance, a chief needed to consent before an Essen could give a gift to a friend or a relative.

Most but not all Essenes rejected contact with women. In this respect, they differed from the coeducational Egyptian Jewish order of the Therapeutae, who may have influenced the Essenes.

Essenes were of working-class origin, and Kautsky contends that this economic basis influenced some of their beliefs. The Essenes, being poorer and having to work to survive, rejected free will and believed all events were predetermined. By contrast, the priestly Saudduces, relatively unconstrained by economic necessity, rejected fate altogether. The Pharisees, an elite order with broad popular support, believed in a mixture of fate and free will.