The Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres the Magicians: P. Chester Beatty XVI

by Albert Pietersma

The focus of this volume is the editio princeps of Papyrus Chester Beatty XVI: The Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres, composed in Greek, perhaps as early as the first century C.E. A full commentary accompanies the edited text. An introductory section discusses the numerous references to the two magicians, who appear in Jewish, Christian and Pagan literatures as Moses' crafty opponents at the time of Israel's exodus from Egypt. Their exploits are recounted in over half a dozen languages, from the Syriac east to the Latin west and from Egypt's deserts to King Alfred's court. The Apocryphon is placed in its Graeco-Roman context, but is also discussed as a backdrop for the Faust saga of European literature. A basic book for anyone interested in biblical and related literatures.

366 pages, Leather Bound

First published March 1, 1994

About the author

Albert Pietersma was a Dutch-Canadian philologist and academic who was professor emeritus of Septuagint and Hellenistic Greek in the Department of Near and Middle East Civilizations at the University of Toronto‘s Faculty of Arts and Science.

Reviews

[Paul H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I think it's fair to say that the Apocryphon is not exactly a best-seller -- there are two ratings on Goodreads, one of which is mine (and then the other is . . . actually also mine, from my 2007 GR account that I forgot the password for).

What is the Apocryphon? It contains the most complete version of the story of Jannes and Jambres, who were twin Egyptian sorcerers, mentioned occasionally in the Bible; they were Pharaoh's counter-miracle-workers, set out against Moses and Aaron, and mentioned later by St. Paul, as well as Pliny the Elder, various Desert Fathers, etc. (They're the two guys in the top-right corner of this ridiculously impressive Alma-Tadema painting.)

Apart from classical/biblical references, it turns out that there is a rich apocryphal tradition surrounding these twin magicians, and the first half of Pietersma's volume is a surprisingly enthralling detective story, where the reader jumps from source to source, piecing it together . . . a reference in the Talmud, a random Midrash passage, Qumran texts, the Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan, etc. Pietersma's virtuosity in interpreting the fragmentary papyri of the Apocryphon itself is also oddly riveting.

The fragments of the story of Jannes and Jambres that have come down to us are intensely haunting and tragic, and are similar to Sappho's poetry, Heraclitus's philosophy, or other lost/unfinished great works of art, in the sense that the quality is so high that the fragments are evocative and tantalizing in a way that I don't think the full text itself would be.

Some of the details that have come down to us are also hilariously specific, e.g., reporting that when God trapped the Egyptian army in the Red Sea (Exodus 14), Jannes and Jambres called on Abezethibou, the demon residing in the Red Sea and in charge of Tartarus, to their aid, who gave them wings with which to rise out of the water, at which point they used sorcery to hurl God's angels into the sea, but then God himself intervened to defeat the twins (etc. etc.).

Pietersma summarizes the conclusion of the Apocryphon as follows (note that you need to read the fragments themselves for the full experience):

When news of the king's death reaches Egypt, Jannes is still able to comfort his friends, but shortly thereafter meets his own death, apparently in a violent manner rather than as a result of his disease, while his mother attempts to come to his assistance. A touching exchange between mother and son precedes his death. Jannes's reprieve evidently had run out at this point. . . . His mother addresses a lament to Jannes's corpse, but not long afterwards she too dies, violently as it seems, and is buried by her surviving son, Jambres, with all due rites, in the tomb of Jannes. Probably at a loss as to how to continue, deprived of both brother and mother, Jambres opens the magical books under the apple-tree, and conjures from Hades Jannes's shade, which launches into an admission of wrong-doing, describes conditions in Hades, including the confined space allotted to himself, and warns his brother to mend his ways.

The third-party sources are equally fascinating, e.g., from a Latin source on the life of Macarius:

Macarius once wished, so he told us, to enter the funerary garden of Jannes and Jambres, the magicians of Pharaoh's time, in order to investigate it or to meet the demons of the place, for it is said that they had infested it with many cruel demons, through their surpassing skill in magic, by which they had also attained pre-eminence at that time with Pharaoh.

Now when they had gained power in Egypt, they built their structure out of four-foot stones; in it they made their tomb, and they stored away much gold. As well, they planted all kinds of trees and dug a very large well. They did all this, hoping, perhaps, after their departure, to enjoy a life of plenty in this paradise.

Since he did not know the way to this garden, Christ's servant, Macarius, followed the stars, traversing the desert as sailors cross the seas. Since he had a bundle of reeds with him, he placed one at every mile as a mark, in order to be able to find his way back through the desert. In nine days he reached the garden, and when night fell he slept for a little while, and the evil demon gathered all the reeds and put them by his head. Perhaps God had allowed this for his own further training, lest he put his trust in the guidance of reeds and not in the grace of God, who through the pillar of fire and cloud, for more than forty years in the desert, led the disobedient and contrary people of Israel.

And when he awoke, he found the reeds in a bundle. The saint said: "When I approached the garden, there came out to meet me about seventy demons of all shapes, some shouting, others jumping, others noisily gnashing their teeth at me, still others like crows fluttering in front of me saying: 'What do want, Macarius, tempter among monks? Why did you come to us? We did not harm any of the monks, did we? Yonder you have what belongs to you, which you share with your kind, namely, the desert, from which you have chased our kin. We want nothing to do with you. Why do you enter our territory? As a hermit, be content with the desert. This place was allotted to us by its builders. You cannot stay here. Why are you trying to enter where no living human has entered, where since the time of its builders, (our) brothers have been buried by us?'"

When the demons continued in their agitations and wailing, he said to them, says he, "'Let me just enter and have a look, then I will leave.' The demons countered, 'Give us your word of honor,' So I said, 'I do.' Immediately they vanished.'" He continued, "Upon entering, I found a brass jar, hanging by an iron chain near the well, already consumed by time; the dry pomegranates had nothing inside."