Could Jasher be right about Jacob spending 14 years with Eber?
Question:
The Book of Jasher claims that Jacob fled to Eber's home: "And Jacob was very much afraid of his brother Esau, and he rose up and fled to the house of Eber the son of Shem, and he concealed himself there on account of his brother, and Jacob was sixty-three years old when he went forth from the land of Canaan from Hebron, and Jacob was concealed in Eber's house fourteen years on account of his brother Esau, and he there continued to learn the ways of the Lord and his commandments" (Book of Jasher 29:11).
The Bible says he went to the home of Laban: "So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau" (Genesis 28:5).
Let's look at this.
Jacob said to Laban, "Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times" (Genesis 31:41). Joseph was 39 (30 before Pharaoh, 7 yrs plenty + 2 years famine) when Jacob came down to Egypt at 130 so Joseph was born when Jacob was 91. Interestingly that at 91 he was entitled to Rachel which is after the 7 year period of service for her was up. Rachel was struck barren up to then. He would have started his service for Rachel at (91-7=84).
Before this, he served 7 years for Leah, which would put him back to (84-7=77) and this would be when he came from his father's house. If he was 14 years with Eber, he would be 63 when he departed to be with Eber as Jasher says. Jasher is not at variance with the Bible. It's very interesting how well he fits in with the Bible.
Answer:
In this particular case, it isn't that there wasn't enough time for Jacob to go to Eber's house. The point is that the Bible says he went from his home in Beersheba directly to Haran and Laban's house.
- "Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother"" (Genesis 28:1-2).
- "So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau" (Genesis 28:5).
- "Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan," and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram." (Genesis 28:6-7).
- "Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran" (Genesis 28:10).
- "So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the East" (Genesis 29:1).
- "Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things" (Genesis 29:13).
The account in Genesis tells of a dutiful son who goes directly from Beersheba to Haran, mentioning an overnight stop in Bethel (Luz) on the way. There is no room in the account for a fourteen-year side journey to Eber's home.
