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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

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JANNES AND JAMBRES

Two of Pharaoh’s magicians, who opposed Moses and tried to show that they were as effective as he at working miracles (Ex 7–9 OET EXO 7:1–25 · OET EXO 8:1–32 · OET EXO 9:1–35). Jewish legend regarded Jannes and Jambres (somewhat improbably) as sons of Balaam, the Midianite prophet of Numbers 22–24 OET NUM 22:1–41 · OET NUM 23:1–30 · OET NUM 24:1–25. Curiously, the Exodus chapters do not identify them by name. The only biblical reference to them appears in the NT. The apostle Paul saw similarity between Jannes and Jambres and the false teachers of debased intellect who were enemies of the truth in his day (2 Tm 3:6-8).

Much speculation has arisen about the two names. They are apparently Semitic, but their precise derivation is unclear. They are referred to in the Qumran documents and in late Jewish, pagan, and early Christian literature. Variations include “Yohanneh and his brother” (Qumran), “Yohane and Mamre” (Babylonian Talmud), and “Mambres” (the translation in most Latin and some Greek manuscripts of 2 Tm 3:8). The names appear also in the writings of Pliny (first century AD) and of Apuleius and Numenius (both second century), though both names are not always cited.

Origen, an Alexandrian church father, twice referred to an apocryphal work entitled The Book of Jannes and Jambres, suggesting that it was the source of Paul’s words in 2 Timothy. A Latin church document called the Gelasian Decree (fifth or sixth century?) mentions Penitence of Jannes and Jambres, possibly the work mentioned by Origen.