The Magharians (Arabic: Al-Maghariyyah, 'people of the caves')[1]orMaghāriya were, according to Jacob Qirqisani, a Jewish sect founded in the 1st century BCE.
The group apparently earned its name because it stored its books in caves, including the writings of an individual known as "the Alexandrinian" and a later work called Sefer Yadu'a. It possessed peculiar commentaries on the Bible and, in contrast to the Sadducees, rejected all anthropomorphic representations of God. The Magharians believed that God, being too sublime to interact with matter directly, created the world through an intermediary power—an angel who acted as God's representative (see demiurge and Ptahil). The sect attributed all anthropomorphic expressions about God found in the Bible to this angel, including communications to prophets.
Abraham Harkavy and others identify the Magharians with the Essenes, and the author referred to as the "Alexandrinian" with Philo (whose affinity for the Essenes is well-known), based on the following evidence:[1][2]
Harkavy and others sometimes identify them with the Therapeutae.[3][4][5]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; Broydé, Isaac (1904). "Maghariyyah, Al-". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 254–255.