McClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: Coenobites

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McClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: Coenobites


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monks who formed a community living in a fixed habitation (coenobium) under a chief (abbot or father). Their name is derived from êïéíüò , common, and âßïò , life; and they are opposed to hermits, who live in solitude. Pachomius is admitted to be the institutor of the coenobite Life, as being the first that gave a rule to any community. — Bingham, Orig. Ecc_7:2; Coleman, Ancient Christianity, ch. 7, § 5. SEE MONACHISM.