They are not mentioned in the New Testament but were an influential element in Judaism at this time. Their name may mean the 'pious one’.

They formed male, monastic orders and believed themselves to be true people of God. They were opposed to the Jerusalem priesthood.

They believed that God would intervene quickly in the world and to keep themselves-continually prepared for this. They lived a very strict life, following an ascetic discipline.

They practiced frequent ritual washings and were said to wear white clothes to indicate purity.

They kept the Jewish Law strictly. The community whose scrolls were discovers at Qumran by the Dead Sea were either Essenes or similar to them.

Their own writings, discovered amongst the copies of the Biblical scrolls have revealed some of their teachings and it is clear that they considered most of their fellow Jews as being in a state of spiritual darkness and sin