The Essenes may have been formed as a group at about the same time as the Sadducees. Instead of trying to influence the priesthood and religion of Israel from the inside, they withdrew from Jewish society, met secretly to study, and had their own special interpretation of the Jewish Scriptures. As a group, they disagreed completely with the priests and other official leaders of the Jews, and like the Pharisees, they believed in life after death.

The Essene communities were very structured. Each group had a leader who controlled who was allowed into the group, decided how property and belongings would be shared among group members, and made rulings concerning the law. Some scholars think that the Dead Sea community was an Essene group. Whether they were or not, the Essenes' beliefs show how deeply disappointed many Jews were with their religious leaders. The Dead Sea group withdrew from Jewish society and lived on a bluff overlooking the Dead Sea until the Roman army invaded the land in A.D. 66 to put down the Jewish revolt and completely destroyed the community there. For more information about the Dead Sea community, see the article called Archaeology and the Bible.