Therapeutae

Overview

The Therapeutae (Greek Therapeutai) were a Jewish community described by the Alexandrian Jewish philosopher Philo (c. 20 BC – c. AD 50) in his work On the Contemplative Life (De Vita Contemplativa). Female members were called Therapeutrides. Philo explained the name in two ways: first, as "those who heal" souls sick with the passions, and second, as "those who serve (worship)" God. Nearly everything known about them comes from this single work of Philo.

Background

From the third century BC onward, Alexandria in Egypt was home to a large Jewish community. It was there that the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, was produced, and an intellectual climate developed in which Greek philosophy and Jewish tradition were studied together. Philo was a leading representative of this climate and made frequent use of allegorical interpretation, reading Scripture for spiritual meanings beyond the literal sense. In other writings Philo presented the Essenes of Palestine as an example of the "practical life," and by contrast he portrayed the Therapeutae as an example of the "contemplative life." Contemplation here refers to withdrawing from worldly affairs in order to gaze deeply upon and meditate on God and truth.

Development

According to Philo's account, in the first half of the first century the Therapeutae lived together on a hill above Lake Mareotis near Alexandria. Members handed over their property to their families before entering the community. Each lived in a small cell, spending six days in solitude reading the Scriptures and the writings of their forebears and composing hymns. They prayed at dawn and in the evening and ate only after sunset, taking simple food such as bread, salt, and water. Some are said to have fasted for several days at a time.

On the Sabbath they gathered in a common assembly hall. Men and women sat separated by a low partition, and the eldest member expounded the Scriptures. Once every seven weeks they also held a great assembly, at which they shared a common meal and then sang hymns through the night. A men's choir and a women's choir sang separately and then joined together as one, which Philo explained as an imitation of the song that Moses and Miriam sang with the people after the crossing of the Red Sea.

Outcome and Influence

In the early fourth century, the church historian Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, identified the people Philo described as early Christians belonging to the church that Mark had founded in Alexandria. He regarded their asceticism, communal hymn singing, and scriptural interpretation as identical with the customs of the church of his own day. This interpretation remained widely accepted through the Middle Ages. As a result, the Therapeutae were often cited as forerunners of Christian monastic life, and Philo's writings were preserved within the church.

Assessment

Modern scholars have generally regarded the Therapeutae as a Jewish rather than a Christian community. They point out that Philo was active in the first half of the first century, long before the emergence of Christian monasticism, and that the practices he describes can be explained within the framework of Judaism. In the late nineteenth century some argued that On the Contemplative Life was a pseudepigraphal work written by a later Christian under Philo's name, but the prevailing view today is reportedly that it is an authentic work of Philo.

How large the community actually was, and how much of the account Philo shaped to express philosophical ideals, remain matters of debate. After the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, studies comparing the Therapeutae with the Qumran community and the Essenes multiplied. As a religious community in which both men and women participated, they have also attracted attention as evidence of women's religious activity within ancient Judaism. In Protestant historical writing, the Therapeutae are mentioned chiefly in discussions of the intertestamental period, the diversity of first-century Judaism, and the origins of the Christian ascetic and monastic tradition.