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Jannes and Jambres


In Jewish and Christian traditions, Jannes and Jambres 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.

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.

The names Jannes and Jambres (Ἰάννης καὶ Ἰαμβρῆς) appear in 2 Timothy 3:8 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 ), and in an Ethiopic fragment which was discovered in 2015. It was also probably known to the Qumran community, since the Qumran community refers to one of the magicians by the name of Jannes. The Testament of Solomon also refers to the magicians by the name of Jannes and Jambres.


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