- - , Algemeen, , Early Jewish Writings, Peter Kirby, Jannes and Jambres: Emil Schürer writes: "But among the books referring both to himself
[Moses] and his time there is still another work to be mentioned, the theme
of which was a single episode in the lawgiver's life, we mean the Book of Jannes
and Jambres, the two Egyptian magicians who, according to Ex. vii. 8 sqq.,
wrought miracles before Pharaoh equal to those of Moses and Aaron, but were
nevertheless beaten in the end. The names are not mentioned in the Old Testament,
but they occur at a comparatively early date in the legends, and they were known
not only in Jewish, but in Gentile and Christian circles as well, as the names
of the two famous Egyptian magicians in question. . . . The book written about
the magicians in question is mentioned by Origen, and in the Decretum Gelasii.
As the name of Jannes was known even to so early a writer as Pliny, and as it
is probable that those anonymous personages owed their name and individuality
first of all to the apocryphal book itself, we may perhaps venture to refer
the date of the composition of this work to pre-Christian times." (The
Literature of the Jews in the Time of Jesus, p. 149)
A. Pietersma and R. T. Lutz write: "Possible evidence for Jannes and Jambres
as a Christian book is as follows: (1) In fragment B of the Vienna papyrus (1.
8), the word chiazein occurs, the basic meaning of which is 'to form
(the Greek letter) chi.' It need mean no more than 'to cross out' or 'to mark
with an X' but could possibly be a reference to the cross. Unfortunately the
context is no aid to interpretation, hence the evidential value of the word
is slight. Furthermore, only the Vienna text but not the basically parallel
text of Chester Beatty has the reading in question. (2) Chester Beatty 23e recto,
line 2, reads apparently 'this one having descended to Ha[des . . .],' which
may be a reference to the descent of Christ. The remainder of the sentence might
run '[did not] die,' but again we cannot go beyond the realm of the possible.
Other interpretations can be adduced. (3) Perhaps the best argument for Jannes
and Jambres, in its present form, as a Christian book lies in its apparent literary
form. If our ordering of the material is even approximately correct and if the
Gelasian Decree has reference to our book, Jannes and Jambres is essentially
a confession (poenitentia), a genre of literature that was manifestly
Christian but not Jewish." (The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol.
2, p. 433)
- - , Algemeen, , The surviving Greek fragments of Jannes and Jambres are presented here as they are found in two manuscripts: Pap. Vindob. G 29 456 and 29 828 (verso) in the Nationalbibliothek of Vienna and Pap. Chester Beatty XVI