Edge Rewrite
translate Source code View original
Jump to content

Jannes and Jambres

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Jambres)
Illustration of the rods of Aaron and of the "wise men and sorcerers" becoming snakes.

In Jewish and Christian traditions, Jannes and Jambres (Hebrew: יניס Yannis or Yannes,[1] ימבריס Yambres) are the names given to magicians mentioned in the Book of Exodus. This naming tradition is well-attested in ancient and medieval literature. In Latin manuscripts of the New Testament, and in Latin writing traditions, their names are known as Jamnes and Mambres.[2]

Hebrew Bible

[edit]

Jannes and Jambres are not specifically mentioned in the Tanakh ("Hebrew Bible"), but the Egyptian "wise men and sorcerers" (two of whom were identified with Jannes and Jambres in Jewish and Christian traditions) are mentioned in Exodus 7:10-12 (KJV)

And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.

New Testament and Second Temple literature

[edit]

The names Jannes and Jambres (Greek: Ἰάννης, Ἰαμβρῆς; Iannēs, Iambrēs) appear in 2 Timothy[3] in the New Testament. Origen says that there was an apocryphal book called The Book of Jannes and Jambres, containing details of their exploits, and that Paul the Apostle was quoting from it. This book, known as The Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres the magicians, exists in some Greek fragments present in the Chester Beatty Papyri No XVI (which has been edited and translated by Albert Pietersma[4]), and in an extensive Ethiopic fragment which was discovered in 2014.[5] It was also probably known to the Qumran community, since the Qumran community refers to one of the magicians by the name of Jannes.[6] The Testament of Solomon also refers to the magicians by the name of Jannes and Jambres.

According to Albert Pietersma, the text represents inner Jewish conflicts from the 2nd to 1st centuries BCE. The Jannes and Jamres tradition is maybe traced to Yohanon and his brother mentioned in Qumran 5:17b-19. The Qumran community had an enemy referred to as the "wicked priest", who may have been identified with Jonathan ben Mattathias (and his brother Simon). This would then make the names an analogy for false Israelite priests.[7]

Richard Bauckman believed the Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres influenced the tale of Lazarus and the rich man.[8][9]

Greco-Roman literature

[edit]

The name of Jannes not as that of a magical opponent of Moses, but as the originator of a branch of magic alongside Moses and Lotapea[10] (or Lotapes[11]), occurs in Pliny the Elder's Natural History (XXX, II, 11), where they are grouped together as a sect of magicians and are seen as coming after Zoroaster;[12] Pliny's citation is also referred to in Apuleius, with Moses being mentioned with other sorcerers such as Carmendas, Damigeron, Apollobex, and Dardanus.[13] Numenius of Apamea, a Neopythagorean philosopher, refers to Jannes and Jambres as sacred Egyptian scribes.[14]

The Gospel of Nicodemus also refers to the magicians by the name of Jannes and Jambres.[15] They are also mentioned and named in the Passion of Peter and Paul.[16]

In a brief passage cited in Eusebius' Praeparatio evangelica, Numenius said that "Jannes and Jambres were able to undo, publicly, even the greatest of the disasters that Moses brought against Egypt." This statement contradicts the biblical account according to which the magicians were able to follow Moses' acts only to the second plague inclusive (Ex 8:18).[17]

Rabbinic literature

[edit]

The Babylonian Talmud names "Johana and Mamre" as two of Pharaoh's sorcerers.[18] "Jannis and Jambres" are mentioned several times by name in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan.[19][20] Jewish traditions in the Targums preserve other legendary lore about the pair. They are called the sons of Balaam, the unwitting non-Jewish prophet of Peor.[21][22] It was also claimed that they converted to Judaism, and that they left Egypt at the Exodus to accompany Moses and the Israelites; however, they perished on the way, either at the Red Sea, or the destruction of the Golden Calf, or at the slaughter of Korah and his followers.[citation needed]

Apart from their opposition to Moses there are other aggadic lore and legends about Egyptian sorcerers; it was said [by whom?] that during the end of their days they had necessary occult knowledge to embark on a journey to the Jewish world to come. They were not welcomed and the angels of the first few heavens fought them vigorously but they could not evict them due to the potent talismans that were worn by the wizards. As they entered the fourth heaven they were met by Michael and Gabriel; legends say [citation needed] that the battle was very evenly balanced, but in the end it was the angels who had to fall back. Upon entering the fifth heaven they were met by none other than Metatron, who did not come at them with defiance or anger, but appeared accommodating, considering the circumstances; after conversing for a short time the angel was successful in convincing Jannes and Jambres to remove their talismans, leaving them thus vulnerable. Metatron was quick to act and threw them out of heaven with a wave of his hand. It is said that they lost all memory of the event after that.[citation needed]

League with the Devil

[edit]

The earliest mention of "Jannes and his brother" is in the Damascus Document,[23] which states that the two were in league with "Belial", who would later be personified as the devil in Christian texts.[24] In the Testament of Solomon, a demon who has some connections with "the Red Sea" replies to the king: "I am who was called upon by Jannes and Jambres who fought against Moses in Egypt" (25:4).[17] Similarly, in the later text of the Questions of St. Bartholomew (6th-7th century), Satan says that "Simon Magus, Zaroës, Arfaxir, and Jannes and Mambres are my brothers" (Lat. 2, 4:50).[17] In the Penitence of Cyprian (5th century?), the great magician of Antioch relates how the Devil called him "a clever lad, a new Jambres, trained for service, and worthy of fellowship with himself".[17] In his Lausiac History (5th century), Palladius relates that Macarius of Alexandria (4th century) once visited the garden-tomb of Jannes and Jambres, and upon arrival was met by seventy demons who resided there.[17]

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ The Dead Sea scrolls : a new translation. Internet Archive. San Francisco : HarperSanFrancisco. 1996. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-06-069200-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  2. ↑ Sparks, H. F. D. (1939-07-01). "ON THE FORM MAMBRES IN THE LATIN VERSIONS OF 2 TIMOTHY iii 8". The Journal of Theological Studies. os–XL (3): 257–258. doi:10.1093/jts/os-XL.3.257. ISSN 0022-5185.
  3. ↑ 3:8
  4. ↑ Pietersma, Albert (1993-12-31). The Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres the magicians: P. Chester Beatty XVI ; (with new editions of Papyrus Vindobonensis Greek inv. 29456 + 29828 verso and British Library Cotton Tiberius B. v f. 87) ; with full facsimile of all three texts. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-09938-8.
  5. ↑ Erho, Ted; Krueger, Frederic; Hoffmann, Matthias (2016). "Neues von Pharaos Zauberern". Welt und Umwelt der Bibel. 2: 70–72. Retrieved 29 January 2018.[permanent dead link]
  6. ↑ "For in times past, Moses and Aaron stood in the power of the Prince of Lights, and Belial raised up Yannes and his brother in his cunning when seeking to do evil to Israel the first time." The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation; Michael Wise, The Damascus Document, pg56)
  7. ↑ Pietersma, Albert (1994). The Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres the Magicians: P. Chester Beatty XVI. Leiden; New York: E. J. Brill. p. 19-21.
  8. ↑ Bauckham, Richard (1998). "The Rich Man and Lazarus: The Parable and the Parallels". New Testament Studies. 37 (2): 112–114. doi:10.1017/S0028688500015678. ISSN 1469-8145.
  9. ↑ Lehtipuu, Outi (2007). The Afterlife Imagery in Luke's Story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. BRILL. pp. 191–193. ISBN 978-90-04-15301-1. There is yet another Jewish story with even closer affinity to Luke's example story. This is the Story of Jannes and Jambres, also called the Penitence of Jannes and Jambres in some sources. [...] In any case, it is based on a widely-circulated legend according to which Jannes and Jambres were the Egyptian magicians who challenged Moses. In the Exodus story, the magicians remain nameless, but the names might appear as early as in the Damascus Document. The brothers are named with certainty in the New Testament, and authors as diverse as Pliny the Elder and Origen refer to them. Even though the similarities of the story with the Rich Man and Lazarus were already noted in passing by the first editors, it is Richard Bauckham who has paid special attention to the common features of this story and the Lukan example story. According to him, of all the accounts that tell about a message from the world of the dead, it offers the closest parallel to the Lukan story.
  10. ↑ The relevant chapter at the Perseus Project
  11. ↑ Torrey, Charles C. “The Magic of ‘Lotapes.’” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 68, no. 4, Society of Biblical Literature, 1949, pp. 325–27, https://doi.org/10.2307/3262101.
  12. ↑ "PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY". www.masseiana.org. Archived from the original on 2017-01-01. Retrieved 2017-05-03. XXX
  13. ↑ Montague Rhodes, James (1920). "The book of Moses and the Magicians, otherwise named The Penitence of Jannes and Jambres", The Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testament, p. 32
  14. ↑ Dibelius, Martin; Conzelmann, Hans (1972). The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. Fortress Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-8003-3002-6. See also Numenius as cited in Eusebius of Caesarea, Praep. Ev. 9, 8 (GCS 43, 1, ed. Karl Mras): "Next were Jannes and Jambres, sacred scribes of the Egyptians, men considered to be inferior to no one in magical ability, at the time when the Jews were being expelled from Egypt"
  15. ↑ Dibelius, Martin; Conzelmann, Hans (1972). The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. Fortress Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-8003-3002-6. See the Evangelium Nicodemi (Acta Pilati A) 5 (p. 239, Tischendorf): "And there were the servants of Pharaoh, and they also did signs not a few which Moses did, and the Egyptians held them as gods, Jannes and Jambres. And since the signs which they did were not from God, they perished themselves and those who believed in them."
  16. ↑ Dibelius, Martin; Conzelmann, Hans (1972). The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. Fortress Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-8003-3002-6. See also the Mart. Pt. et Pl. 34 (Lipsius-Bonnet 1, p. 148): "For just as the Egyptians Jannes and Jambres deceived Pharaoh and his army until they were drowned in the sea, so also etc."
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 A. Pietersma and R. T. Lutz, Jannes and Jambres (First To Third Centuries A.D.9. A New Translation and Introduction, in James H. Charlesworth (1985), The Old Testament Pseudoepigrapha, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company Inc., Volume 2, ISBN 0-385-09630-5 (Vol. 1), ISBN 0-385-18813-7 (Vol. 2), pp. 427-428
  18. ↑ Menachot 85a
  19. ↑ Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan), Exodus 1:15, Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan), Exodus 7:10–12, Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan), Numbers 22:22
  20. ↑ Clontz, T.E. and J., "The Comprehensive New Testament with complete textual variant mapping and references for the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, Josephus, Nag Hammadi Library, Pseudepigrapha, Apocrypha, Plato, Egyptian Book of the Dead, Talmud, Old Testament, Patristic Writings, Dhammapada, Tacitus, Epic of Gilgamesh", Cornerstone Publications, 2008, p. 680, ISBN 978-0-9778737-1-5
  21. ↑ "The Legends of the Jews: Chapter IV: Moses in Egypt". www.sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  22. ↑ "Book of Jasher, Chapter 79". www.sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  23. ↑ Davies, Philip R. (1983). The Damascus covenant : an interpretation of the "Damascus Document". Internet Archive. Sheffield, England : JSOP Press, Dept. of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield. p. 247. ISBN 978-0-905774-51-0. "For in earlier times Moses and Aaron arose with the help of the Prince of Lights, while Belial raised up Yohanah and his brother in his cunning, when Israel was saved the first time." (Damascus Document 5:17b-19)
  24. ↑ Long, Phillip (22 May 2018). "The Book of Jannes and Jambres". readingacts.com. Retrieved 18 February 2023.

References

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jannes_and_Jambres&oldid=1367311489"