The Book of Jasher
Today I would like to share something that is near and dear to my heart. It is what I like to refer to as “the rest of the story.” The book of Jasher is mentioned twice in the Torah.
So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. (Jos 10:13)
Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son, and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher. (2Sa 1:17-18)
After being told about it over a year ago while on a teaching excursion I came home and found a copy of it for myself. Since then I have read this almost 600 page book twice by myself and I am going through it for the third time with a small group; but this time we are reading it along side the scriptures. Jasher covers Genesis, Exodus, Numbers and Joshua and it has brought many things to light in the scriptures that I had not really seen in the past. Here is a great example of one little tidbit that was revealed to me in the scriptures because of Jasher. When Moses’ dad (Amram) took a wife whose name Jochebed, we are told that she was a daughter of Levi.
And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. (Exo 2:1)
Some folks may understand that Jochebed was Amram’s father’s sister.
Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the length of Amram’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. (Exo 6:20)
But few have connected all the points. So who was Amram’s Father?
These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the length of Levi’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel; and the length of Kohath’s life was one hundred and thirty-three years. (Exo 6:16-18)
So if Amram married his father’s sister; that means that Jochebed was not “a” daughter of Levi she was “the” daughter of Levi. And it was Jasher that sent me on the quest to find out more. Jasher said;
Jasher 59:9 And the children of Levi were Gershon, Kehath and Merari, and their sister Jochebed, who was born unto them in their going down to Egypt. Jasher 67:1 There was a man in the land of Egypt of the seed of Levi, whose name was Amram, the son of Kehath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. 2 And this man went and took a wife, namely Jochebed the daughter of Levi his father’s sister, and she was one hundred and twenty-six years old, and he came unto her.
And lo and behold, look what I found in Numbers.
The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and to Amram she bore Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam. (Num 26:59)
If you study this further you will see that Jochebed was in the womb when the Israelites came into Egypt. Jochebed (Amram’s aunt) was around 135 when she had Moses. The Israelites were in Egypt for around 200+ years, not the 400 or 430 years that most of us have erroneously assumed. Jasher is an amazing book! Read it and fall in love with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all over again. See that our Elohiym does not change and that His word does endure forever. Noah, Seth, Eber, Abram (later Abraham), Isaac, Jacob and His sons all had a love for YHVH’s laws which were preserved orally until Sinai where they were codified. Well, I hope I have enticed you enough to take a good hard look at this wonderful book. If I have, you can download it with my highlights and my notes related to the Torah here: Jasher with index or here: Jasher with index and no notes or highlights. If the files do not open automatically, then right click the file you want and click “save as.” Also here is a FREE version of PDF-XChange Viewer that puts Acrobat Reader to shame. This free version of PDF-XChange Viewer will not only allow you to highlight, underline, add notes, art and much more to all your favorite PDFs but will also allow you to save all the additions. Always remember to seek first YHVH’s kingdom and His righteous just as His son, our king, taught us to do – May His will be done on earth as it is in heaven!
Wanda Dalhover
I never studied Jasher before but today is a good time to start. Thanks for all the info
Irene
I have noticed this book referred during the Torah study and wondered how I could get a copy to read this. Thank you for this Note…
M E Brooks
I just read the book of Jasher over the weekend. Its' a great work. At first my reaction to some of the details was "No way. That is impossible" but then the Holy Spirit quickly reminded me that nothing is impossible with YHWH. He stopped the rotation of the earth, caused the Red Sea to yield, a ass to talk, brought forth a comet/asteroid onto the cities of sodom/gommorah, delivered Lot and the sodomites from the Kings of Elam/Babylon at the hand of Abraham and 400 men. So nothing is impossible with God. Whereas, the book of Jasher seems to be the attempt of one man to record the history of mankind to the date of its' authorship, it may or may not be inerrant. But that is not the concern. We have Genesis, Exodus, and Joshua. Where Jasher agrees or supplements, then let us rejoice at the further insight into the Awesome power of our God. Where it contradicts, we can take with a grain of salt and look passed it. Jude and Peter both quoted/referenced from the book of Enoch. Joshua and Samuel quoted/referenced from the book of Jasher.
I came away from my reading of the book in awe of the Power and Love of YHWH for Abraham, his Seed, and YHWH's heavy hand in dealing with those who would seek to stop YHWH's plans for Abraham and his seed. I now have a much greater appreciation for the Character of Abraham. Truly no greater man has walked the earth with only Yeshua being greater and Moses being his equal.
Thanks for posting the link to the book.
Michael Didier
Oh – I am delighted that you have taken time to read this excellent book. Just yesterday I finished reading it, and all the Torah that it covers, for the third time.
I love how Jasher makes it so clear that Torah was taught and followed from the beginning of time.
Thanks for the note Michael!
Darla
This was enjoyable and exciting. It also filled in the gaps that I always questioned as a child. It’s funny that some found it somewhat unbelievable. Even my husband when I told him some stories from it found it unbelievable, but I didn’t question it it made complete sense to me. When God lets you live “with God nothing is impossible” in your own life you will find it easier to believe the impossible. As God says:’My ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not your thoughts” When you grasp those words of God you will truly be able to grasp “trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy path”
brooke
I have read some of the book of Jasher and the parts I remember the most are: the men who gave “potions” to their concubines so they wouldn’t have children and become undesirable to them…reminds me of “the pill” nowadays.
Also, there is a part in the Scriptures that mentions the Israelites having the sword of one of the enemies they had just conquered, but never mentions how they got it…the book of Jasher gives all the “gory” details and tells us how the sword was obtained. My favorite (so far) though, is the story of Moshe and how he became “slow of speech”. Many people get offended when I bring up the book of Jasher and the history it helps to complete, but I know that it is a gift. One that I am happy to have. 
Michael Didier
H3477
ישׁר yâshâr
BDB Definition:
1) straight, upright, correct, right
1a) straight, level
1b) right, pleasing, correct
1c) straightforward, just, upright, fitting, proper
1d) uprightness, righteous, upright
1e) that which is upright (substantive)
H3477
ָיָשׁר yāšār: An adjective meaning straight, just, right. (WordStudy Dictionary)
(Rsi% Y-ShR) – I. Cord: The cord of the bow. [df: rty] II. Straight: A straight line, path or thought. III. Remnant: [df: rty] [freq. 220] |kjv: cord, string, right, upright, righteous, straight, convenient, equity, just, meet, well, rest, remnant, residue, leave, excellency, exceeding, excellent, plentifully| {str: 3477, 3499} (Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible)
Michael Didier
Here is someone reading each chapter of Jasher. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nPwIT013cM
Susan
I have been reading this for the past couple of weeks now. It is amazing to me. I had seen it referred to in Scripture before and was always wondering why it was not included. Then I went on a quest to find the book. I actually had this book years ago and just never read it. I guess now was the time it was supposed to be for me. Now, I know more than I did years ago about Torah. So, it helps when I read it now.
Elsa
Thanks Michael, much appreciated! I shall read it.