[German Version]

The term Essenes refers to one of the three or four Jewish groups mentioned by Flavius Josephus (Bell. II 119–166; Ant. XIII 171–173; XV 371f.; XVIII 11–25) that have been known since antiquity through the reports of Philo of Alexandria (Prob. 72–91; Apology in Eusebius of Caesarea Praep. 8.11.1–18), Pliny the Elder (Naturalis historia 5.73) and Josephus. Individual Essenes appear in Bell. I 78–80 (Judas, Ant. XIII 311); Bell. II 111–113 (Simon, Ant. XVII 345–348); Bell. II 566–568; III 11 (John, Ant. XV 373–379). According to a broad consensus, the community at Qumran i…