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Re:



At 22:55 +0000 12/02/97, Vernon Chadwick wrote:
>I understand that there were certain groups of Pharisees that required
>similar
>probationary periods/initiation purifications as Josephus attributed to the
>community of Essenes which would subsequently be somewhat analogous to the
>requirements for new membership into the Yahad as reflected in 1QS.

Vernon,

You probably mean the *haberim* mentioned by rabbinic tradition. About
them, see Saul Lieberman, "The Discipline in the So-Called Dead Sea Manual
of Discipline", JBL 71 (1952), p. 199-206, who shows (convincingly in my
view) that these devout people were essene-like.
As for calling them Pharisees, one may say that they correspond fairly to
the original (and rabbinic) meaning of *perushin* (separated), but fit
poorly Josephus' definitions of the Pharisees.
Regards,



Etienne Nodet, Ecole Biblique POB 19053, Nablus Rd 6, Jerusalem IL
               Tel. +972 2 626 44 68 (4 lines)      Fax  +972 2 28 25 67