The ascetic movement itself grew into organized communities or monasteries, whose members took vows of obedience, poverty or community of goods, celibacy, and conversion of life. After some experimentation with mixed-sex communities, separate communities for men and women that followed a rule of life became the monastic norm. Essene scholars studied and copied the Jewish Scriptures and wrote commentaries in hopes of inciting religious reform. The Dead Sea Scrolls show that their interpretations related the texts directly to the situation at Qumran. Worship and liturgy seems to have occupied a great part of the life of the community.
Many texts are collections of hymns and prayers with instructions for observance.
The struggle to interpret the word of God in that time was widespread and intense in these communities. Ongoing debate became the framework within which first-century communities struggled to maintain Judaism and establish Christianity. Jesus was raised a Jew in the midst of this political and religious turmoil. We can only imagine the education that he received in his local community. He would have been exposed to many of the books in scroll form.