4Q266
Damascus DocumentFurthermore, they defile their holy spirit and open their mouth with a blaspheming tongue against the laws of the Covenant of God saying, ‘They are not sure.’ They speak abominations concerning them; they are all kindlers of fire and lighters of brands, their webs are spiders’ webs and their eggs are vipers’ eggs. No man that approaches them shall be free from guilt; the more he does so, the guiltier shall he be, unless he is pressed. For (already) in ancient times God visited their deeds and His anger was kindled against their works; for it is a people of no discernment, it is a nation void of counsel inasmuch as there is no discernment in them. For in ancient times, Moses and Aaron arose by the hand of the Prince of Lights and Belial in his cunning raised up Jannes and his brother when Israel was first delivered.
2 Timothy 3:8
6 For some of these insinuate themselves into households and captivate weak women who are overwhelmed with sins and led along by various passions. 7 Such women are always seeking instruction, yet never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 And just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people—who have warped minds and are disqualified in the faith—also oppose the truth. 9 But they will not go much further, for their foolishness will be obvious to everyone, just like it was with Jannes and Jambres.
Notes and References
"... The Damascus Document recounts deliverance from Egypt and appears to associate it with exile. Language of exile coincides with a negative view of the Jerusalem cult and her priests. Significant for the present conversation, column V describes a “first” deliverance from Egypt which seems to imply a second exodus. Also in this column, lines 17–19 tell of a nation that lacks understanding and is “devoid of counsel,” which is followed by an account of former times when Moses and Aaron were raised up by the Prince of Lights. Belial in his mischief, however, raised up Jannes and his brother at the time of the first deliverance of Israel. This scene of Moses and Aaron encountering a twin nemesis is compared in the lines to follow (20–21) with a period of the destruction of the land. This is a time when boundary shifters who caused Israel to stray came. The extra-biblical characters Jannes and his brother Jambres are Pharaoh’s magicians who oppose Moses and Aaron in the story of the plagues. They are described in 2 Timothy 3:8 as fools who defied the truth. The period of the “destruction of the land” is likely an allusion to captivity and perhaps more specifically to Leviticus 26:32 ..."
Wold, Benjamin G. "Revelation's Plague Septets: New Exodus and Exile" in García Martínez, Florentino (ed.) Echoes from the Caves: Qumran and the New Testament (pp. 279-297) Brill, 2009