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Authorship, date, and setting
The Book of Jasher, or Sefer ha-Yashar, is an anonymous Jewish narrative written in Hebrew. An early editorial preface claims that a copy survived the destruction of Jerusalem, but this story does not establish a first-century origin. Scholars treat the work as a medieval composition that assembles and enlarges biblical stories alongside later interpretation. Its date and place are disputed. Leopold Zunz argued for twelfth-century Spain, while Schulim Ochser, writing in the Jewish Encyclopedia, preferred southern Italy, perhaps as early as the eleventh century, on the evidence of names and episodes familiar to the author. The competing proposals distinguish the age of traditions incorporated in the book from the age of this particular compilation.
Its intended readers would have known Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, and Joshua. The narrative fills gaps in their accounts, gives more space to minor characters, and supplies conversations and battles. Hebrew composition and use of rabbinic material point to a Jewish literary setting. Ancient figures are viewed through a narrative much later than the events it describes. The title requires particular care because Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18 refer to a book with that name. Those biblical references do not establish that this medieval account is the earlier work they mention.
Organization and themes
The 91 chapters fall into eight useful reading spans: 1–7, the first generations and the flood; 8–25, Abram and his children; 26–40, Isaac and Jacob through conflicts in Canaan; 41–58, Joseph, Jacob's death, and later family disputes; 59–71, Israel's growth in Egypt and Moses' youth; 72–80, Moses' flight and the departure from Egypt; 81–87, the sea crossing through Moses' death; and 88–91, Joshua's campaigns and fighting after his death. These divisions track changes in generation and setting. They are a reading guide rather than ancient headings supplied by the author.
Five concerns connect the episodes. Violence between brothers appears in Abel's death (1:25) and Joseph's sale (42:1). A threatened family's survival is visible when Noah's household leaves the ark (6:40) and when Israel carries ancestral remains out of Egypt (80:63). Abraham's fidelity is tested by an order concerning Isaac (23:1). Conflict between peoples outlives the quarrels of their ancestors (57:1). Finally, possession of the land requires battle and continuing loyalty, as Joshua's campaign and resistance after his death show (88:65; 91:1). These concerns emerge from narrated events rather than a formal doctrinal outline.
Summary by parts
1–7: The story opens with Adam and Eve's creation, their removal from the garden, and the births of their children. Cain kills Abel after a dispute described in greater detail than in Genesis. Later generations include Enoch, whose life receives special attention, and lead to Noah. Widespread corruption prepares the flood. Noah builds the ark, meets the scorn of his contemporaries, and enters it with his household and the animals. Once the waters subside, the survivors leave and humanity spreads again through Noah's sons. Lists of descendants and peoples carry the account from the first couple to a newly populated earth. Judgment, preservation, and the passing on of life are held together throughout this opening movement (1:25; 6:40).
8–25: Abram's birth alarms Nimrod's court, and his childhood is told through incidents missing from the shorter biblical account. As an adult he opposes idols and confronts the king; imprisonment and the threat of fire intensify that confrontation. His family moves, he reaches Canaan, and he becomes involved in wars among neighboring rulers. Lengthy stories of injustice and cruelty in Sodom precede its destruction. Ishmael and Isaac then take their places in the family story. An order to offer Isaac leads Abraham and his son toward a mountain until the intended action is stopped. Sarah's death and burial, followed by Abraham's final years, close the cycle. The added scenes connect household decisions with the fate of larger groups (8:1; 12:1; 23:1).
26–40: Rebecca gives birth to Esau and Jacob, whose struggle over inheritance shapes Isaac's household. Old and nearly blind, Isaac prepares a blessing. Jacob receives it and must leave because of Esau's response. He works for Laban, marries, and raises a large family. On the return journey he fears meeting his brother, yet passes through the encounter. Violence against Dinah at Shechem leads Simeon and Levi to attack the city. The narrative then widens the consequences: their brothers fight a succession of Canaanite kings and towns, in campaigns that occupy several chapters. Jacob is also directed to return to Bethel. A family history has become one of travel, fragile agreements, and regional warfare (29:1; 34:1; 36:1).
41–58: Joseph is separated from his brothers, sold, and taken to Egypt. His family feels his absence while he moves from his master's house to prison and eventually to Pharaoh's court. Hunger sends the brothers to Egypt for food without their recognizing the official who questions them. Joseph tests their treatment of Benjamin; Judah intervenes when the youngest brother seems likely to remain behind. Joseph reveals himself, and Jacob travels to see him again. After years in Egypt Jacob dies and is carried to Canaan for burial. That does not end the family's tensions. The book tells of further clashes between Jacob's descendants and Esau's. Joseph's reconciliation thus stands beside continuing disputes over inheritance and power (42:1; 48:1; 54:1).
59–71: A family list recalls the Israelites who entered Egypt. After Joseph dies, relations with the Egyptians worsen, and the labor required of Israel becomes harsh. The account interweaves this oppression with events in Edom and neighboring kingdoms, keeping a chronology across different peoples. Moses is born into Amram's family amid threats to Hebrew children. He survives and is raised within the royal household. An episode from his childhood asks whether a gesture before Pharaoh was intentional; a test involving a burning coal decides his fate at that moment. When older, Moses sees the Israelites' suffering and kills an Egyptian. Pharaoh hears of it, and Moses must flee. The future leader grows up beneath the very authority that oppresses his people (59:28; 65:38; 70:26).
72–80: Fleeing Egypt, Moses passes through the struggles of other peoples. The narrative takes him to Cush, where he participates in a war, becomes king, and eventually leaves the throne. These adventures greatly extend the interval between his flight and his life in Midian. Later, while tending Reuel's flock, he receives a commission to return to Egypt. The royal court resists the demand to release the Israelites, and signs and plagues accompany the confrontation. The departure finally comes, though the chapters also follow developments in other kingdoms and changes of Egyptian rulers. As the Israelites set out, they take the remains of their ancestors with them. Moses' wandering path is thus joined to the memory of the family that entered Egypt generations earlier (72:42; 79:1; 80:63).
81–87: The Israelites leave Rameses, reach the sea, and see the Egyptian army closing in. Moses urges them to stand firm; the crossing allows them to escape. Their march passes through places marked by scarce water and fighting before they reach Sinai. There the giving of the law is followed by the making of the calf and Moses' response. The account continues with construction of the sanctuary, the setting apart of priests, rebellions, and further travel in the wilderness. It includes Aaron's death, conflict with surrounding peoples, and preparation to enter Canaan. Near the end, Moses entrusts Joshua with leading the people and dies. The generation that left Egypt gives way to the one that will cross the Jordan (81:32; 82:19; 87:1).
88–91: Joshua takes command and leads the crossing of the Jordan. Jericho falls; after a setback at Ai, the group identifies a transgression attributed to Achan. War against the Amorites includes a day prolonged by divine intervention. The next chapter offers Joshua's song and continues through campaigns and the allotment of land. Later he gathers Israel to insist on keeping the law and then dies. The burial of bones brought from Egypt is also described. The last chapter moves beyond Joshua: Judah and Simeon fight Canaanites, and Joseph's house takes Bethel. The conclusion affirms the promised land's acquisition while acknowledging that resistance remains there. Arrival in the land has not instantly ended conflict (88:65; 89:1; 90:47; 91:1).
Editions and reception
The Jewish Encyclopedia lists a Hebrew edition printed at Naples in 1552, followed by Venice in 1625 and many later printings. The bibliography is disputed: Edward J. Brandt notes that the catalogues he consulted regarded Venice as the first edition. Either way, the accessible witness is a printed Hebrew work, not a verified ancient manuscript recovered in Jerusalem. The discovery story belongs to the prefaces and supplies no secure provenance. An English translation published in New York in 1840, associated with Moses Samuel as translator and Mordecai M. Noah as editor, spread the version divided into 91 chapters. Its chapter and verse numbers were not ancient divisions of the Hebrew printings.
The work has been read as Jewish narrative expansion, but it belongs neither to the Hebrew Bible nor to Catholic or Protestant biblical canons. The earlier book named in Joshua and Second Samuel remains a separate historical question. Later Christian readers took an interest in the English edition. Brandt documents its circulation among Latter-day Saints without treating it as canonized scripture of that community. Its added scenes are best read as later interpretations of gaps in biblical stories; they do not independently document events attributed to the patriarchs or Moses. That distinction allows the work to be studied on its own literary and historical terms.
Sources
- Schulim Ochser, Yashar, Sefer ha- (1906).
- Emil G. Hirsch e M. Seligsohn, Jasher, Book of (1906).
- Edward J. Brandt, The Book of Jasher and the Latter-day Saints (1986).
- Mordecai M. Noah, Preface to Sefer Ha-yashar, or, the Book of Jasher (1840).