​If you're convinced that monogamous movements or legislation in ancient times were respectful of women or in any way favourable to gender equality, then you have most probably never given the matter any serious consideration. 

The Essenes were not only against polygamy, for ideological reasons most of them did not marry at all. The Essenes were a community that separated itself from society (they had their own legal system) and opposed the Mosaic service in the Herodian temple in Jerusalem, considered impur. In contrast, the first Christians gathered in the temple. Philo of Alexandria, the most famous Hellenistic Jewish philosopher of the first century, estimated their number at 4,000. In the New Testament, the Essenes are called Herodians, a derogatory and sarcastic Judean term. The Essenes considered married men as slaves to their wives, the female gender being "selfish, jealous, and distracting", their charming speech becoming weapons of mass destruction against weak souls. 

This article here is currently extremely rudimentary and does in no way reflect the complexity of this movement, that cannot be summarised in a short article. I will make this page more comprehensive at a later stage, but will pay it due attention in my book. For those who can't wait, I recommend reading the book The Essenes, the Scrolls, and the Dead Sea of Joan E. Taylor. 

By Chris Zürcher. Page updated on 3 December 2025