what does the bible say?

The Qumran group was apparently a splinter group of Essenes who came to historical fame after the discovery of their Dead Sea Scrolls near Qumran in 1947.  

Various ideas were advanced after their discovery including the idea that Christ was an Essene, that John The Baptist was an Essene, and that Christianity traced its origin among the Essenes.  Such ideas stand disproved and have no foundation.

The Dead Sea Scrolls point out some of the streams of Jewish thought during the same period that God’s Church began.  And they give a further background of what was going on at the time.  That one would find resemblances between some of the Qumran writings and the New Testament is not surprising at all – it is what would be expected.  However, even though there are some parallels, the differences are far more prevalent and pronounced. Christ was not associated with this group.  

Furthermore, there is not so much as one mention of any Essene – much less the Qumran sect – in the whole of the New Testament. The Essenes were an ascetic sect that kept to themselves.  They lived in the wilderness, practiced celibacy, did in not attend Temple services, and abstained from drinking wine.  Jesus clearly did not practice their tenets.  He certainly did not withdraw from society, and even associated with publicans and sinners (Matthew 9:11).  Scripture also shows Christ was at the Temple on the annual High Days (John 2:23; John 5:1; John 7:14) and He drank wine (Matthew 11:19; Matthew 26:29).  No self-respecting Essene would have done these things - Jesus Christ was not an Essene of Qumran.