Ephesians, the Essenes despised riches and, in contrast to Paul, usually prohibited presents to relatives.25 From a Gentile perspective, singleness and the forbidding of marriage would fit well with Artemis.26 Artemis was a “virgin” unmarried goddess. Her priests were most likely celibate or castrated men.27 A married woman was punished with death if she entered her temple.28 Thus, the Gentile environment may have encouraged this ascetic strain in Anatolian Judaism. In the second century, about a