communities of the sect appeared in the towns of Judea, it must be expected that different

views would be held.

According to Josephus, although they occupied no one city, yet they settled in large

numbers in every town. They seem to have preferred the smaller towns and villages, and

did not engage in commerce or navigation.  Their occupations included farmers,

shepherds, cowherds, beekeepers, etc., and they would have nothing to do with the

instruments of war. They were very much a community, and their whole day appears to

have been subjected to rigid discipline. Like the early church of Acts they had "all things

common", and new members surrendered their property to the order, and in return

received all their needs.

It has been this latter point, together with certain aspects of their teaching, which has

caused some to identify them with the early Christians. Some suggest that John the

Baptist, and even the Lord himself, were members of the sect. The obscure period in the

life of the Lord between the ages of twelve and thirty, lends itself to this idea, and the

silence of the Scriptures as to what He did during this period, is accounted for by

assuming Him to have been within an Essene community.

But any who have really appreciated the teaching of the Lord in the Gospels, will

know that it is on a very much higher plane than any of "the commandments and

doctrines of men". His words were confessedly not his own, but neither were they

derived from any human source, for they were the words of his Father in Heaven

(John 17: 8).  The identification of the Lord with the Essene community must be

rejected by all who love the Scriptures, and recognize them as the inspired Word of God.

The scribes and Pharisees are mentioned in association with each other above 20 times

in Scripture, and they were both active in opposing the ministry of the Lord. The

relationship between the two is not easy to trace, although it appears that the sympathies

of the scribes were with the Pharisees, even if it be not true to say that the scribes

belonged to the Pharisaic party. There is no evidence that scribes were ever Sadducees,

although Matt. 22: 34, 35 has sometimes been urged for this view.

The words `of them' have been referred to the Sadducees, but it surely makes better

sense to refer them to the Pharisees who were here taking over the word battle against the

Lord, after the silencing of the Sadducees. The `lawyer', it is true, was almost certainly a

scribe, as will be shown later, but it is quite wrong to imagine he was a lawyer in the

narrow sense of holding only the Law of Moses to be the Divine rule, thus identifying

him with the Sadducees.

The scribes also appear in sympathy with the Pharisees in Acts 23: 9: