The book of Jasher

[ian90]

Joshua 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

2 Samuel 1:18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)

Apparently, the book of Jasher can be found here -> http://www.ccel.org/a/anonymous/jasher/home.html

I don't like finding stuff like this... raises a lot of questions.

 

[StAnselm]

Oh, it's published in Salt Lake City...

 

[LamorakDesGalis]

Well, there are claims and then there is credibility. This book of Jasher lacks significant credibility. For detailed information concerning the underlying Hebrew text(s) see:

http://answers.org/bible/jasher-book-of.html

 

[ian90]

That site is quality. Thankyou very much.

 

[IgnatiusOfAntioch]

Joshua 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

2 Samuel 1:18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)

Apparently, the book of Jasher can be found here -> http://www.ccel.org/a/anonymous/jasher/home.html

I don't like finding stuff like this... raises a lot of questions.

Why? All of these books were available and examined by the Church at the Councils of Hippo and Cartage at the time the Church descerned the Canon of the Holy Scriptures. If it was Gods word, the Holy Spirit would have provided guidance for its' inclusion in the Canon.

 

[ian90]

If it was Gods word, the Holy Spirit would have provided guidance for its' inclusion in the Canon.

It's a possibility but I would like to see some explicit scripture on this issue before I can accept it.

The book of Jasher is referenced without distinction from scripture by two OT saints. To say "it's not in the bible now, so it's not God's word" seems backwards. If the OT prophets/saints treated it as such, then we must too.

That was why it got my attention.

Where I'm coming from now: We know Paul wrote some letters which have been lost and destroyed. We can speculate forever on why God decided these were neccesary for people at the time but not for anyone else, but whatever our opinion on this we have to rest on the fact that "God works all things for the good of those who love him".

2 Corinthians 3:9 For if the ministry of condemnation (Old Covenant) is glorious, much more does the ministry of righteousness (New covenant) exceed in glory.

The Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches all agree that the NT is 27 books long. This is the message that can put us right with God, not the book of Jasher. My protestant bible does not contain the deutorcanonical books either, but it can still tell me how to save my soul and that's not a bad outcome.

 

[James1979]

ian90,

I see some errors in the book of Jasher for instance:

Jasher 5:18 And Noah was five hundred and two years old when Naamah bare Shem, and the boys grew up and went in the ways of the Lord, in all that Methuselah and Noah their father taught them.

Genesis 5:32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

In Genesis it tells us that Noah was 500 years old when Shem, Ham and Japheth were alive so Noah who was told by God about the future flood upon the whole world, Noah was at the age of 480 years...so Noah was married and had these three sons from the age of 480 up to 500 years old, it never records anything about the age of 502 years old in Genesis as it does in the book of Jasher. Also how do we truly know that Naamah was Noah's wife, Noah's wife name is never mentioned in the bible at all.

Genesis 5:30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters.

You see Lamech had other sons and daughters besides Naamah where it records in Gen 4:22...so their is a possibilty of Noah marry another woman besides Naamah..and these sons and daughters of Lamech probably are his grandchildren or great grandchildren.

There is another error in Jasher:

Jasher 5:20 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy years, and he died. 770 years old

Genesis records that Lamech live to be 777 years old.
Genesis 5:31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.

I truly believe that God will not let any errors slip into his word and try to make an excuse for Jasher such as Jasher was too tired and forgot to write the additional seven so that would equal out to 777 rather than 770 as it is record in the book of Jasher.

I would not trust the book of Jasher to be the word of God at all.

 

[daveleau]

The Book of Jasher discussed in Scripture is NOT the book listed above. There is controversy surrounding the Book of Jasher, but it is whether it is referencing Genesis, Deuteronomy or Judges. Jasher was considered a righteous man in Israel. The Hebrews referred to the Law as the Book of Jasher because of his adherance to it. This book of Jasher listed above is an apociphal book that is not recognized as being Christian.

The man who wrote it (1751) was jailed for fraud. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Jasher_(Pseudo-Jasher)

Don't let those who lie shake your faith.

 

[Andrea77]

ian90,

I see some errors in the book of Jasher for instance:

Jasher 5:18 And Noah was five hundred and two years old when Naamah bare Shem, and the boys grew up and went in the ways of the Lord, in all that Methuselah and Noah their father taught them.

Genesis 5:32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

In Genesis it tells us that Noah was 500 years old when Shem, Ham and Japheth were alive so Noah who was told by God about the future flood upon the whole world, Noah was at the age of 480 years...so Noah was married and had these three sons from the age of 480 up to 500 years old, it never records anything about the age of 502 years old in Genesis as it does in the book of Jasher. Also how do we truly know that Naamah was Noah's wife, Noah's wife name is never mentioned in the bible at all.

Genesis 5:30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters.

You see Lamech had other sons and daughters besides Naamah where it records in Gen 4:22...so their is a possibilty of Noah marry another woman besides Naamah..and these sons and daughters of Lamech probably are his grandchildren or great grandchildren.

There is another error in Jasher:

Jasher 5:20 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy years, and he died. 770 years old

Genesis records that Lamech live to be 777 years old.
Genesis 5:31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.

I truly believe that God will not let any errors slip into his word and try to make an excuse for Jasher such as Jasher was too tired and forgot to write the additional seven so that would equal out to 777 rather than 770 as it is record in the book of Jasher.

I would not trust the book of Jasher to be the word of God at all.

I don't think the fact that the book of Jasher has errors means it does not belong to the Bible. For instance, we find these errors in our present Bible:

MAT 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
LUK 3:23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli.

KI2 24:8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
CH2 36:9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

If the book of Jasher should not be part of the Bible, why is it mentioned in the Bible?

 

[James1979]

Matthew and Luke has no errors. Do you know there were two different Jacob and Joseph in the bible?

 

[Andrea77]

Matthew and Luke has no errors. Do you know there were two different Jacob and Joseph in the bible?

No I did not, can you tell me more.

 

[James1979]

Sure I can.

Matthew 1: 2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;

We see here that Jacob's father was Issac and later on Jacob had a son name Joseph along with his other brothers. Jacob had a few wives and Rachel was the one who gave birth to Joseph his son.

Gen 30:22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.

Gen 30:23 And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:

Gen 30:24 And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.

Gen 30:25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.

Gen 30:26 Give [me] my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.

Mat 1:15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

Mat 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Who in verse 15 there is another Jacob who's father name is Matthan and this same Jacob by Matthan had a son also name Joseph. So we know this Joseph that was married to Mary could have not been the Joseph who father was Jacob in Abraham, Isaac days. They had died a long time ago prior to the other Jacob and Joseph that is mention in verse 15, 16. People in those days were living up to 140 years old rather than the upper 700-900 like in Noah's Day.

I hope this helps.

 

[dignitized]

Joshua 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

2 Samuel 1:18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)

Apparently, the book of Jasher can be found here -> http://www.ccel.org/a/anonymous/jasher/home.html

I don't like finding stuff like this... raises a lot of questions.

there are over 60 texts refered to in the OT alone which are not a part of Scripture. Kinda shoots the notion that God intened Scripture to stand alone full of holes doesn't it.

 

[dignitized]

Don't confuse Pseudepigraphal texts with the texts to which scripture refers. Jude mentions the book of Enoch - but the book of Enoch is lost to us. All we have are Pseudepigraphal texts. For those who do not already know - Pseudepigraphal means FALSELY attributed.

 

[justified]

If the book of Jasher should not be part of the Bible, why is it mentioned in the Bible?

In Acts and in one of his epistles, the Apostle Paul quotes from secular poets. All that means is that he found something in them useful, not that Paul considered them scripture.

Likewise, just because four or five books in the first testament are NOT quoted at all in the New Testament does not mean that they were unknown or not canonical to those in New Testament times.

Finally, the book of Jasher referred to in the First Tesament is lost to us. I think that's been made clear by someone earlier on this thread. The book that exists now with that title is a hoax.

On that particular section of text, about the "sun standing still" etc, Robert Wilson at Harvard, a brilliant Semiticist, did some excellent work on it.

 

[CaliforniaJosiah]

In Acts and in one of his epistles, the Apostle Paul quotes from secular poets. All that means is that he found something in them useful, not that Paul considered them scripture.

Likewise, just because four or five books in the first testament are NOT quoted at all in the New Testament does not mean that they were unknown or not canonical to those in New Testament times.

Finally, the book of Jasher referred to in the First Tesament is lost to us. I think that's been made clear by someone earlier on this thread. The book that exists now with that title is a hoax.

On that particular section of text, about the "sun standing still" etc, Robert Wilson at Harvard, a brilliant Semiticist, did some excellent work on it.

A really interesting thread with very sound points raised. thanks!

MY views...

1. The various "Book of Jasher" now known to us do appear to be hoaxes - including the one obviously meant to endorse Mormonism.

2. Whatever "Book of Jasher" that was alluded to is likely lost to us. Although remember: the names of biblical books aren't original - they've changed over the centuries and STILL aren't universal. It's possible this is a book we DO have in our Bible just with a different name or incorporated into a book we DO have. Or not. I just raise it as a theoretic possibility.

3. I actually just wanted to make the point that justified above made about quoting. Just because a biblical author references or quotes from a nonbiblical source doesn't in any way imply that source was consider a part of the Bible or the Word of God or anything else. My Dad (a minister) might reference a newspaper article or a book (for example, "The Purpose Driven Life") - to leap to the conclusion that because he mentions it, he considers it to be inspired by God, the Word of God and a part of the Bible seems like a very large leap.

4. I agree, too, with the point raised that IF God inspired a book and intended it for all time and people, surely He would have preserved it. I doubt Paul only wrote 12 letters in his entire life or that all the OT Prophets without a book in the Bible were all illiterate! But not everything of a religious nature is necessarily meant to be canonical, it seems to me.

Thanks for all the excellent posts here!

MY view...


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- Josiah



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