Texts in Conversation
Philo describes a Jewish group, often linked to the Essenes, who shared homes, food, income, and property. Acts presents the Jerusalem community in the same way, holding possessions in common and distributing them so no one lacked anything.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Philo, Every Good Man is Free 85
Classical
85 First, then, no one has a house so entirely his own private property that it does not in some sense belong to everyone as well: for besides the fact that they all live together in communities, the house is open to all who share their views and come to them from elsewhere; 86 then there is one storehouse among them all; their expenses are all in common; their garments belong to them all in common; their food is shared, since they all eat together in common meals; for among no other people will you find a shared house, a shared way of life and a shared table more thoroughly established in practice than among this tribe: and is this not very natural? For whatever wages they receive after working during the day they do not keep as their own, but bring into the common stock, and give the benefit of it to all who wish to make use of it;
Date: 20–50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Acts 4:32
New Testament
30 while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God courageously. 32 The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common. 33 With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all. 34 For there was no one needy among them because those who were owners of land or houses were selling them and bringing the proceeds from the sales
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... The Qumran Essenes had to separate themselves from the property of the people outside the community, and this economic separation was linked with their concern to preserve the ritual purity of the community. It has already been noted above that 1QS manifests a powerfully dualistic outlook, especially in the teaching on the two spirits. The world was seen as irredeemably evil, and salvation depends upon complete withdrawal from the sons of darkness. The introversion of the community was manifested in a profound economic isolation from non-members, and from the general world. Josephus too refers to the life of the Essene sect as a community, sharing material goods and prosperity ... A similar terminology, referring to the communal ownership within the Essene sect as well, is found in Philo ..."
Huub van de Sandt and David Flusser, The Didache: Its Jewish Sources and Its Place in Early Judaism and Christianity, Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum, Section 3: Jewish Traditions in Early Christian Literature 5 (Assen: Royal Van Gorcum, 2002), 184–185.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,