Ebionites

Ebionites (Greek: Ἐβιωναῖοι, Ebionaioi, derived from Hebrew .mw-parser-output .script-hebrew,.mw-parser-output .script-Hebr{font-size:1.15em;font-family:'Ezra SIL','Ezra SIL SR','Keter Aram Tsova','Taamey Ashkenaz','Taamey David CLM','Taamey Frank CLM','Frank Ruehl CLM','Keter YG','Shofar','David CLM','Hadasim CLM','Simple CLM','Nachlieli','SBL BibLit','SBL Hebrew',Cardo,Alef,'Noto Serif Hebrew','Noto Sans Hebrew','David Libre',David,'Times New Roman',Gisha,Arial,FreeSerif,FreeSans}אביונים ebyonim, ebionim, meaning 'the poor' or 'poor ones') is a patristic term referring to a Jewish Christian movement that existed during the early centuries of the Christian Era. They regarded Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah while rejecting his divinity andhis virgin birth and insisted on the necessity of following Jewish law and rites. They used only one of the Jewish–Christian gospels, the Hebrew Book of Matthew starting at chapter three; revered James, the brother of Jesus (James the Just); and rejected Paul the Apostle as an apostate from the Law. Their name suggests that they placed a special value on voluntary poverty. Ebionim was one of the terms used by the sect at Qumran who sought to separate themselves from the corruption of the Temple. Many believe that the Qumran sectarians were Essenes. Since historical records by the Ebionites are scarce, fragmentary and disputed, much of what is known or conjectured about the Ebionites derives from the Church Fathers who wrote polemics against the Ebionites, who they deemed heretical Judaizers. Consequently, very little about the Ebionite sect or sects is known with certainty, and most, if not all, statements about them are conjectural. At least one scholar distinguishes the Ebionites from other Jewish Christian groups, such as the Nazarenes. Other scholars, like the Church Fathers themselves from the first centuries after Jesus, consider the Ebionites identical with the Nazarenes. The term Ebionites derives from the common adjective for 'poor' in Hebrew (singular: אֶבְיוֹן ev·yōn, plural: אביונים ev·yōn·im), which occurs fifteen times in the Psalms and was the self-given term of some pious Jewish circles (e.g. Psalm 69:33 ('For the LORD heareth the poor') and 1 QpHab XII, 3.6.10). The term 'Ebionim' was also a self description given by the people who were living in Qumran, as shown in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The term 'the poor' was at first a common designation for all Christians, a reference to their material and voluntary poverty. The hellenized Hebrew term 'Ebionite' (Ebionai) was first applied by Irenaeus in the second century without making mention of Nazarenes (c.180 CE). Origen wrote 'for Ebion signifies 'poor' among the Jews, and those Jews who have received Jesus as Christ are called by the name of Ebionites.' Tertullian was the first to write against a heresiarch called Ebion; scholars believe he derived this name from a literal reading of Ebionaioi as 'followers of Ebion', a derivation now considered mistaken for lack of any more substantial references to such a figure. The term 'the poor' (Greek ptōkhoí) was still used in its original, more general sense. Modern Hebrew still uses the Biblical Hebrew term 'the needy' both in histories of Christianity for 'Ebionites' (אביונים) and for almsgiving to the needy at Purim. The earliest reference to a group that might fit the description of the later Ebionites appears in Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho (c. 140). Justin distinguishes between Jewish Christians who observe the Law of Moses but do not require its observance upon others and those who believe the Mosaic Law to be obligatory on all. Irenaeus (c. 180) was probably the first to use the term 'Ebionites' to describe a heretical judaizing sect, which he regarded as stubbornly clinging to the Law. Origen (c. 212) remarks that the name derives from the Hebrew word 'evyon,' meaning 'poor.' Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 310–320 – 403) gives the most complete account in his heresiology called Panarion, denouncing eighty heretical sects, among them the Ebionites. Epiphanius mostly gives general descriptions of their religious beliefs and includes quotations from their gospels, which have not survived. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Ebionite movement 'may have arisen about the time of the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem (AD 70).' The tentative dating of the origins of this sect depends on Epiphanius writing three centuries later and relying on information for the Ebionites from the Book of Elchasai, which may not have had anything to do with the Ebionites. Paul talks of his collection for the 'poor among the saints' in the Jerusalem church, but this is generally taken as meaning the poorer members of the church rather than a schismatic group. The actual number of groups described as Ebionites is difficult to ascertain, as the contradictory patristic accounts in their attempt to distinguish various sects sometimes confuse them with each other. Other groups mentioned are the Carpocratians, the Cerinthians, the Elcesaites, the fourth century Nazarenes and the Sampsaeans, most of whom were Jewish Christian sects who held gnostic or other views rejected by the Ebionites. Epiphanius, however, mentions that a group of Ebionites came to embrace some of these views despite keeping their name.