The Following is the organization of the Essenes as it was some time between the disappearance of the Sopherim (ca 200 BCE) and the death of Onias III, the last of the Zadoc line of High Priests (ca 170 BCE), when the Community Rule Scroll, from which this description is derived, was written.

Dr. Vermes, whose translation of The Dead Sea Scrolls I am using, (The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, Penguin Books, Fourth Edition, 1995) separates out part of the original Community Rule Scroll and calls it "The Messianic Rule."

Dr. Vermes, whose translation of the scrolls I am using ("The Dead Sea Scrolls in English", Penguin Books, Fourth Edition, 1995) separates part of the  Scroll from the original and calls it "The Messianic Rule". The rules included in the "Community Rule" Scroll applied to all Essene congregations, both inside and outside Israel.

The rules set out in what Vermes calls, "The Messianic Rule" are additional ones restricted to "the congregations of Israel in the last days".

The "final age" or "last days" began with God's promise of a coming Messiah and would end when His promise was fulfilled.

The prophets had been predicting the imminent arrival of the Messiah until God told Habakkuk (CA 630BCE) (according to the writer of the Commentary on Habakkuk Scroll) that "the final age would be prolonged and would exceed all that the prophets had said". The rules in the so called Messianic Rule were therefore to be followed until the coming of the Messiah.

As both "The Community Rule" and "The Messianic Rule" were originally on the same scroll and both contain rules to be followed by the Essenes in Israel, I have treated them as a single entity called "The Community Rule".

While I am an amateur historian, a considerable part of my career was spent in examining, analyzing and documenting the organizational structure of companies. It is because of this experience that I am confident that what follows is an accurate picture of the religious and political organization of the Essenes in Israel as described within the "Community Rule" scroll (as I have defined it).

Membership in the Community of God (aka Israel)

1. The head of the family was responsible for ensuring that "every man born of Israel was instructed in the Book of Meditation and taught the precepts of the Covenant, beginning at age 10." Girls also received this instruction.

At age 20 every Israeli man, if sound in mind and body, and approved by the Master, became a "saint", a member of the Community of God.

He then became eligible to "witness judgments and assist in the hearing of judgments."

2. At age 30, or older, a member might be called to:

• Participate in lawsuits and judgments
• Act as judge or officer of the tribe
• Act as "chiefs" of the 1,000's, 100's, 50's and 10's, that is an officer in the army
• Be selected to be a member of the Secretariat.

Organization of the Community of God

    The High Priest had absolute authority. He exercised his power through five branches of government:

1. Education
2. Judicial
3. Executive
4. Military
5. The National Assembly

1. Education.  This branch was headed by the Sons of Zadoc, that is the high level of the Priesthood, who supervised the Sons of Aaron, the lower level. The sons of Aaron had authority over the congregation. The minimum size of a congregation was 10. In larger ones, a Levite would be responsible to the priest for the administrative duties of the synagogues. They had the responsibility of teaching the precepts of the Covenant to their congregation.

2. Judicial. This branch was headed up by the Sanhedrin (the National Court) made up of chief priests (sons of Zadoc) and scribes, appointed by the High Priest. It was a court of last resort and "every decision concerning doctrine, property and justice was determined by it." If a priest was charged, only the priests heard the case. If a scribe (member of the Council of the Community), on the scribes heard the case.  Cases of lesser importance were tried in the tribal courts before Judges appointed by the tribal leaders. Minor cases were heard in a congressional court made up of 10 judges appointed by the priest consisting of four priests and six elders (lay members of the congregation). If there were differences within a family, the matter was settled by the head of the family.

3. Executive. The secretariat consisted of leading citizens, priests and members of the Council of the Community (scribes). It was responsible for implementing the orders of the High Priest. It, in turn, passed on orders to the tribal chiefs, who passed them on to tribal officers, who then passed them on to the officials of the 1,000s, 100s, 50s, and 10s for implementation.

4. Military. The army was headed by a commander appointed by the High Priest. Under him were the Captains of the 1,000s, 100s, 50s and 10s. When it came to raising an army, the Commander gave each of the tribal leaders a quota of manpower to provide, who in turn passed quotas down to Heads of Families.

5. The National Assembly. The assembly was called by the High Priest and "when the whole assembly was summoned for judgment, or for a Council of the Community, or for war," it was composed of "the wise men of the congregation (council of Holiness), the learned and intelligent men whose way is perfect (Community in Israel) and men of ability (scribes) together with the tribal chiefs, and all the judges and officers and the chiefs of the 1,000s, 100s, 50s and 10s, and the Levites." The fact that the ruler could not muster the army without the consent of the Assembly was to have important repercussions during Israel's years of independence under the Hasmonians (143 BCE to 63 BCE)

The Organization of the Sect of the Community of God

1. The Master. The authority over the teachers and priests was exercised ultimately by the High Priest, but the responsibility for what was taught rested ultimately with the Master. How he was selected is not described, though it was probably by his peers in the Community in Israel (rabbis). He was responsible for non-members prior to their entry into the Community. He alone could approve entry as an adherent, to the Council of the Community (scribe), to the Council of Holiness, or to the Community in Israel (rabbi). He had ultimate authority over what was taught to the members and determining questions of doctrine and behaviour, not covered under existing rulings.

2. The Council of the Community. Only Israeli-born male members, unmarried and age 25 or older who "wished to work in the service of its members" could apply for admission to the Council. If his application was accepted he joined the council on a probationary basis. After a year of service he surrendered all his wealth to the Council, who kept it separate from the general funds. If the candidate was accepted after another year of his probation, he became a full member of the Council and his wealth was merged with its general funds. Members lived in small communal groups in the cities and towns under the supervision of "the Guardian," a priest. Here "they studied the law continually, day and night" and "watched in common for a third of every night for the year to read the Book and study law and bless together."  They served the congregation "by answering any questions concerning any counsel or matter coming before it" and "providing counsel in all things to the priest."

These were the scribes in the Sect of the Essenes.

Some members opted for a monastic life, living in communes. A member might be called upon to serve in the National Court, the Sanhedrin, and, automatically became a member of the National Assembly. After a year's experience he might be selected to join a special group, consisting of 12 scribes and three priests for two further years of instruction and testing. If found suitable at the end of the two years, he became a member of the Council of Holiness and went to live in the special house the men of the Community had constructed for its members.

3. The Council of Holiness. "The men of the Community set apart a House of Holiness containing the 70 Holy Books that God had instructed Ezra to show "only to the wise" so the members would be near "the most Holy things." Here, under the authority of the custodian of the books (the interpreter), with the Master himself as instructor, they studied the books". The scroll does not say how long "this preparation of the way into the wilderness" lasts, but at the end of it, the member "separated himself from the habitation of unjust men and went into the wilderness" to join the members of the Community in Israel.

4. The Community in Israel. The men of the Community of God had built a special house in the wilderness (Qumran) where they lived. They "atoned for guilty rebellion and for sins of unfaithfulness that they may obtain loving kindness for the land without the flesh of holocausts and the fat of sacrifice. And their prayers, rightly offered, were as an acceptable fragrance of righteousness and perfection of the way as a delectable free-will offering." They "studied the Law He commanded by Moses that they would do all that had been revealed by His holy spirit." Based on those studies, they made predictions for the future of which the Commentaries and the Damascus Document furnish examples. Josephus says of them, that "they undertook to foretell things to come by reading the Holy Books." The members of this group were what we would call the rabbis of the Essenes and it was they who were responsible for the production of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

5. The Priesthood. There were two classes of priests: The Sons of Zadoc, the senior branch, and the Sons of Aaron, who seem to have been the ones in direct contact with the people in the synagogues and in supervising positions. Josephus says they had the same beliefs as the other two groups of the Sect, "but differ from them on the point of marriage." Only those of priestly lineage could be priests. So, unlike the others of the sect, they were expected to marry and have children, so the priestly line would continue.

6. The Levites. Like the priest they too had the same beliefs as the other sect members and they too were encouraged to marry and have children to maintain the Levitical line. Their duties were mainly administrative and keeping records in connection with the synagogue they served.

The Sect of the Essenes consisted of the scribes, the rabbis, the priests, Levites and the Master.