The Book of Jasher

[seer stone]

In the Old Testament the Book of Jasher is mentioned in Joshua 10:13

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.

And then again, in 2 Samuel 1:18

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

I purchased a copy of [The Book of Jasher (faithfully translated from the original Hebrew into English) Salt Lake City, published by J. H. Parry & Company, 1887] at a used bookstore with curiousity. Let me bring you to the attension that I'm not saying that the Book of Jasher is considered scripture by any means, however it was quite an interesting read to say the least and it does answer questions that are left untold in the bible.

In the "Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith" pg. 260, Joseph commented:

Abel was slain for his righteousness, and how many more up to the flood is not of much consequence to us now. But we believe in present revelation, as published in the "Times and Seasons" last spring, Abraham, the prophet of the Lord was laid upon the iron bedstead for slaughter; and the book of Jasher, which has not been disproved as a bad author, says he was cast into the fire of the Chaldees.

In the Translator's Preface says this:

The printed Hebrew copy, in the hands of the translator, is without points. During his first perusal of it, some perplexities and doubts rose up in his mind respecting its authenticity; but the more closely he studied it, the more its irresistible evidence satisfied him, that it contained a treasure of information concerning those early times, upon which the histories of other nations are either silent or cast not a single ray of real light; and he was more especially delighted to find that the evidence of the whole of it contents went to illustrate and confirm the great and inestimable truths which are recorded in divine history, down to a few years later than the death of Joshua, at which period the book closes.

The translator's preface also says this concerning the name "Jasher"

With these preliminary observations, the translator now respectfully proceeds to lay before the readers a few remarks upon the contents of the book. The title is literally, "the upright or correct record," but because the book was not known, it was therfore termed the "Book of Jasher;" this has caused some persons, who are ignorant of the Hebrew language, to suppose that Jasher was the name of a prophet, or one of the Judges of Isreal.

This book is an interesting read because it sheds so much more of a detailed account than the bible does. It is a full 91 chapters and starts from the Book of Genesis and ends in Judges. It answeres such question like "What happened to Cain?" "How did the animals come to the ark of Noah?" "How was Sodom and Gomorrah so wicked that it was worthy of distruction?" "Why did Esau sell his birthright to Jacob?"

[seer stone]

For those interested in receiving a small taste of the Book of Jasher, here is a short story about Eliezer who was the servant of Abraham found in chapter 19.

11. And in the course of time Sarah sent Eliezer to Sodom, to see Lot and inquire after his welfare.
12. And Eliezer went to Sodom and he met a man of Sodom fighting with a stranger, and the man of Sodom stripped the poor man of all his clothes.
13. And this poor man cried to Eliezer and supplicated his favor on account of what the man of Sodom had done to him.
14. And he said to him. Why dost thou act thus to the poor man who came to thy Land?
15. And the man of Sodom answered Eliezer, saying, Is this man thy brother, or have the people of Sodom made thee a judge this day, that thou speaket about this man?
16. And Eliezer strove with the man of Sodom on account of the poor man, and when Eliezer approached to recover the poor man's clothes from the man of Sodom, he hastened and with a stone smote Eliezer in the forehead.
17. And the blood flowed copiously from Eliezer's forehead, and when the man saw the blood he caught hold of Eliezer, saying, Give me thy hire for having rid thee of this bad blood that was in thy forehead, for such is the custom and the law in our land.
18. And Eliezer said to him, Thou hast wounded me and requirest me to pay thee thy hire; and Eliezer would not hearken to the words of the man of Sodom.
19. And the man laid hold of Eliezer and brought him to Shakra the judge of Sodom for judgement.
20. And the man spoke to the judge, saying I beseech thee my lord, thus has this man done, for I smote him with a stone that the blood flowed from his forehead, and he is unwilling to give me my hire.
21. And the judge said to Eliezer, This man speaketh truth to thee, give him his hire, for this is the custom in our land; and Eliezer heard the words of the judge, and he lifted up a stone and smote the judge, and the stone struck on his forehead, and the blood flowed copiously from the forehead of the judge, and Eliezer said, If this then is the custom in your land give thou unto this man what I should have given him, for this has been thy decision, thou didst decree it.
22. And Eliezer left the man of Sodom with the judge, and he went away.

[reese]

This is very interesting. I would love to read more.

[liberty_belle]

I have the Book of Jasher and I love it.

[seer stone]

I have the Book of Jasher and I love it.

It is definitely one of those books that you pick up to read a second or third time. It adds extra understanding to the Old Testament like no other book does.

[4Joshua8]

For those interested in receiving a small taste of the Book of Jasher, here is a short story about Eliezer who was the servant of Abraham found in chapter 19.

11. And in the course of time Sarah sent Eliezer to Sodom, to see Lot and inquire after his welfare.
12. And Eliezer went to Sodom and he met a man of Sodom fighting with a stranger, and the man of Sodom stripped the poor man of all his clothes.
13. And this poor man cried to Eliezer and supplicated his favor on account of what the man of Sodom had done to him.
14. And he said to him. Why dost thou act thus to the poor man who came to thy Land?
15. And the man of Sodom answered Eliezer, saying, Is this man thy brother, or have the people of Sodom made thee a judge this day, that thou speaket about this man?
16. And Eliezer strove with the man of Sodom on account of the poor man, and when Eliezer approached to recover the poor man's clothes from the man of Sodom, he hastened and with a stone smote Eliezer in the forehead.
17. And the blood flowed copiously from Eliezer's forehead, and when the man saw the blood he caught hold of Eliezer, saying, Give me thy hire for having rid thee of this bad blood that was in thy forehead, for such is the custom and the law in our land.
18. And Eliezer said to him, Thou hast wounded me and requirest me to pay thee thy hire; and Eliezer would not hearken to the words of the man of Sodom.
19. And the man laid hold of Eliezer and brought him to Shakra the judge of Sodom for judgement.
20. And the man spoke to the judge, saying I beseech thee my lord, thus has this man done, for I smote him with a stone that the blood flowed from his forehead, and he is unwilling to give me my hire.
21. And the judge said to Eliezer, This man speaketh truth to thee, give him his hire, for this is the custom in our land; and Eliezer heard the words of the judge, and he lifted up a stone and smote the judge, and the stone struck on his forehead, and the blood flowed copiously from the forehead of the judge, and Eliezer said, If this then is the custom in your land give thou unto this man what I should have given him, for this has been thy decision, thou didst decree it.
22. And Eliezer left the man of Sodom with the judge, and he went away.

Fascinating. Anyone have suggestions on the best version to get?

[Luke]

I'm planning on getting a copy

[inho]

It is interesting read, that is for sure. Yet I don't give a lot of weight for it.


From June 1981 Ensign:

I recently acquired a copy of a text called The Book of Jasher, which is claimed to be the book of missing scripture referred to in the Bible. Can you tell me if it is authentic?

...

Perhaps the most conspicuous weakness of this particular work is that although it does contain a parallel account of Joshua 10:13 (Joshua commanding the sun and moon to stand still), the promised account mentioned in 2 Samuel 1:18 (David’s instruction that the inhabitants of Judah should be taught the use of the bow) is not included. Furthermore, it contains numerous contradictions to the scriptural accounts found in the standard works of the Church.

I believe there is ample evidence to show that the popular 1840/1877 Book of Jasher is not the lost scriptural book mentioned in the Old Testament. Consequently, I think one would not want to use it as a substitute for or even an authoritative supplement to the scriptures.

A longer article, The Book of Jasher and the Latter-day Saints, by the same author (Edward J. Brandt) is included in Apocryphal Writings and the Latter-day Saints (edited by C. Wilfred Griggs, BYU Religious Studies Center).

[Robin Hood]

I have had a copy of the Book of Jasher since 1979.
It's ok. However there are a number of different books in circulation that claim to be the Book of Jasher.
We need to exercise caution.