Josephus' three major Essene passages will be discussed in turn below.

Life 1.2 §10–12

About sixteen years old (§10). Josephus states earlier (1.1 §5) that he had been born in the year Gaius Caesar (i.e., Caligula) became emperor, i.e., A.D. 37/38; hence, his sixteenth year would have been A.D. 53/54. Later in this passage, he mentions that after passing through the three groups and living for three years with Bannus, he is nineteen years old (in A.D. 56/57). Thus, if Josephus' reckoning is accurate, he could not have spent longer than a year submitting himself to the rigors of the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Essenes. His time with the Essenes, then, was probably no more than six months. Since according to Josephus' own testimony (J. W. 2 §137) a candidate for admission into the Essene community had to submit himself to their way of life for one year before full admission into the community, it is evident that Josephus did not even pass through the first stage of admission into the Essene community. Because of this fact, M. Black regards Josephus' claim to have spent time with the Essenes as a “fabrication;” but we cannot be sure that there is not some truth in what Josephus says, with perhaps a bit of exaggeration on his part as well.