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2 Timothy names Jannes and Jambres as dishonest men, following a Jewish tradition not found in the Hebrew Bible that links them to Pharaoh. Pliny the Elder also mentions them, showing that this tradition was known and recorded in Roman writings.
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Pliny Natural History 30.2
Classical
There is also a marvellous coincidence, in the fact that the two arts—medicine, I mean, and magic—were developed simultaneously: medicine by the writings of Hippocrates, and magic by the works of Democritus, about the period of tile Peloponnesian War, which was waged in Greece in the year of the City of Rome 300. 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. In the time, too, of Alexander the Great, this profession received no small accession to its credit from the influence of a second Osthanes, who had the honour of accompanying that prince in his expeditions, and who, evidently, beyond all doubt, travelled over every part of the world.
Date: 77 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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2 Timothy 3:8
New Testament
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.
Date: 65 C.E. (if authentic), 70-80 C.E. (If anonymous) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Although the first name in the pair appears in the Damascus Document from Qumran and Pliny the Elder (30.2.11) both extant in the first century, the two names together prove more elusive. Eusebius, the church historian of the fourth century in Preparation for the Gospel 9.8.1 quotes Numenius, a second century Greek writer, as referring to them, and the Babylonian Talmud includes a reference (b. Menah 85a), but in neither case is there a close fit with the passage in Exodus or 2 Timothy. Unless one were to argue that 2 Timothy has influenced Pseudo-Jonathan, the similarity would incline one to the view that the naming of the two sorcerers is not the invention of 2 Timothy but is grounded in a contemporary tradition in Greek and perhaps in Aramaic. At the same time, it is evident that the further tradition in Pseudo-Jonathan, according to which Jannes and Jambres successfully interpreted Pharaoh's dream as referring to Moses' birth is a later development ..."
Chilton, Bruce
"From Aramaic Paraphrase to Greek Testament" in Evans, Craig A. (ed.) From Prophecy to Testament: The Function of the Old Testament in the New
(pp. 23-43) Hendrickson Publishers, 2004
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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