Jannes and Jambres

2022-02-11

Jannes and Jambres are mentioned in 2 Timothy 3:8:

Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. (2 Timothy 3:8)

They are not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible by name. We only know that they disputed with Moses in some way. However, some ancient traditions give us a little more information. From Wikipedia’s sources, I looked up some of the old accounts of these men to see what they say.

From the Pseudo-Jonathan Targum, in Exodus and Numbers, we have some information. A targum is an ancient paraphrase of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament.

Immediately Jannis and Jambres, the chief of the magicians, opened their mouth and answered Pharoh, A certain child is about to be born in the congregation of Israel, by whose hand will be destruction to all the land of Mizraim. Therefore did Pharoh, king of Mizraim, give counsel to the Jehudith midwives, the name of one of whom was Shifra, who is Jokeved, and the name of the other Puvah, who is Miriam her daughter. (Exodus 1; http://targum.info/pj/pjex1-6.htm)

From this, we see that they were involved in foretelling the birth of Moses and instigated the destruction of the Hebrew children. You can see they also associate the Hebrew midwives as Moses’ mother and sister. Clearly, these are things we cannot know from the actual text of the Bible.

And Aharon threw down the rod before the sight of Pharoh, and before the sight of his servants, and it became a basilisk. But Pharoh called the hachems and magicians; and they also, Janis and Jamberes, magicians of Mizraim, did the same by their burnings of divination. They threw down each man his rod, and they became basilisks; but were forthwith changed to be what they were at first; and the rod of Aharon swallowed up their rods. (Exodus 7; http://targum.info/pj/pjex6-9.htm)

According to this, these men could also magically make their rods into serpents, and whose serpents were eaten by Aaron’s serpent.

And Bileam, arose in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. But the anger of the Lord was provoked, because he would go (that he might) curse them; and the angel of the Lord stood in the way to be an adversary to him. But he sat upon his ass, and his two young men, Jannes and Jambres, were with him. (Numbers 22; http://targum.info/pj/pjnum22-25.htm)

Here, we see these men might have been associated with Balaam the son of Beor/Bosor.

If these things are true, we see they were involved in a lot of wicked acts: Infanticide, sorcery, and affiliation with a false prophet.

In the Book of Jasher 79:27, we read this:

And when they had gone Pharaoh sent for Balaam the magician and to Jannes and Jambres his sons, and to all the magicians and conjurors and counsellors which belonged to the king, and they all came and sat before the king. (http://www.cumorah.com/etexts/jasher.txt)

Here, we see another connection with Balaam, this time as his sons. They are also magicians. Later, we see that they are a part of a group of magicians who could change their staffs into serpents (Jasher 79:36-38).

Jannes is referenced in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History (XXX, II, 11):

There is another sect, also, of adepts in the magic art, who derive their origin from Moses, Jannes, and Lotapea, Jews by birth, but many thousand years posterior to Zoroaster: and as much more recent, again, is the branch of magic cultivated in Cyprus. (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D30%3Achapter%3D2)

Here, Jannes is not an opponent of Moses, but a magician that is a forebear of a magician’s sect. Moses is mentioned as another forebear of this group. We know these men were not of the same religion; an outsider would just lump Egyptian men of power together, assuming there is any veracity to this text.

The Gospel of Nicodemus 5:1 references Jannes and Jambres:

... and there were there certain men servants of Pharaoh, Jannes and Jambres, and they also did signs not a few, of them which Moses did, and the Egyptians held them as gods, even Jannes and Jambres: and whereas the signs which they did were not of God, they perished and those also that believed on them. (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/gospelnicodemus.html)

According to this, these were men of high esteem and great power in Egypt. Another source, the Book of Jannes and Jambres, gives details of their exploits.

The Testament of Solomon 125 records this:

I was present when Moses went in before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and I hardened his heart. I am he whom Iannes and Iambres invoked homing with Moses in Egypt. I am he who fought against Moses with wonders with signs. (http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/testamen.htm)

A demon named Abezithibod was purported to be the spirit behind the hardening of the Exodus Pharaoh and behind the magic of Jannes and Jambres.

Many of these works date from the medieval period. Being not Scripture, these are largely hearsay, and contain much doubtful information. However, they seem to mostly agree that they were magicians and confronted Moses. However, given some of their agreement on these men, I would think it quite possible that these were the magicians that were present when Aaron threw down his staff.