Elkesai (also known as Elkasai, Elksai, Elchasai and Elxai) was a religious leader and

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

who is believed to have lived in the late 1st century CE and early 2nd century CE. He is primarily known through references in

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Manichaean Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...

, and other religious texts. Elkesai is associated with a religious movement known as the Elkesaites or Elkesaians, generally considered the founder of Elkesaism, which had significant influence on early Christian

Gnostic Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...

and heterodox communities.

Life and teachings

Little is known about the life of Elkesai, and much of what is known comes from secondary sources that mention him and his teachings. His religion (Elkesaism) appears to have emerged in the region of

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

. The primary source of information about Elkesai is the account of

Hippolytus of Rome Hippolytus of Rome ( , ; Romanized: , – ) was a Bishop of Rome and one of the most important second–third centuries Christian theologians, whose provenance, identity and corpus remain elusive to scholars and historians. Suggested communitie ...

, a 3rd-century Christian theologian, who describes Elkesai as a prophet who claimed to have received a new revelation from an angel, argued to be Jesus Christ. This revelation was contained in a book called the " Book of Elkesai" (also known as "Apocalypse of Elchasai"), which included teachings on

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

, dietary laws, and esoteric knowledge.https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5513-elcesaites

References

{{reflist 1st-century religious leaders 2nd-century religious leaders Gnostics