The enigmatic Therapeutae

I just discovered that Harvard theological Review has made all their articles from 1999- available on the Internet. Not much to find there about Philo, but here is one interesting piece:

Joan E. Taylor, Philip R. Davies, 'The so-called Therapeutae of 'De vita contemplativa': identity and character.' Harvard Theological Review, Jan, 1998.

Though this article is not new, I was not aware of the fact that it is available on-line. The summary of the articles runs thus: It has become quite common in scholarship to consider the community described by Philo in De vita contemplativa as a specific Jewish group comprising contemplative Essenes or people somehow related to the Essenes.(1) In this study, we shall explore the meaning of Philo's masculine and feminine designations, and consider the possibility that these words referred not to the male and female members of one group that was part of a Therapeutae sect, but to individuals whom Philo understood as exemplary devotees of God. We shall also consider a few matters concerning the character of the group. Overall, this study seeks to call into question the assumption that, in his De vita contemplativa, Philo is describing an Essene community in Egypt. The Therapeutae is in fact an enigmatic group. We really need a commentary on Philo's De vita contemplativa where he describes them. I for my part, do look forward to David M. Hay's commentary in the Philo of Alexandria Commentary Series (PACS). I expect that volume to be a definitive discussion for years to come on both this book of Philo and of the Thereapeutae.