It is identified with the modern Yeshua, on a hill 2 miles east of Zorah. Others, however, identify it with Kustul, east of Kirjath-jearim. The espousal was a ceremony of betrothing, a formal agreement between the parties then coming under obligation for the purpose of marriage.
Espousals are in the East frequently contracted years before the marriage is celebrated.
Essenes a Jewish mystical sect somewhat resembling the Pharisees. They affected great purity. They originated about B.C. 100, and disappeared from history after the destruction of Jerusalem. They are not directly mentioned in Scripture, although they may be referred to in Matt. Esther the queen of Ahasuerus, and heroine of the book that bears her name.