th<\/sup> Century. It was published in Venice in 1625.\n 3. Rabbi Shabbatai Carmuz Levita, wrote a book that was called the Book of\nJasher in 1391. It has been preserved in a Vatican manuscript.\n 4. None of the three versions of the Book of Jasher are ancient writings. Each\nare relatively modern and became the focus of hoaxes.\n C. We will focus on the second one. Scholars have examined this document.<\/p>\n 1. It is a printed document. If there was a manuscript that it came from, it has\nbeen lost.\n
2. The earliest version only dates back to 1625.<\/p>\n 3. “Jacqueline-Lise Genot-Bismuth was director of a team from the\nSeminaire sur le Sefer Hayashar de le Centre de Recherches sur la Culture\nRabbinique which produced an introductory tome to their reprint of the\n1625 Venice Hebrew edition of Sefer Yashar which was published by des\nPublications Universite de la Sorbonne Nouvelle in 1986. Their work\nargues that the lack of any evidence of the text between antiquity and 1625\nis a primary argument for their suggestion that the text was actually “une\nfiction d’humaniste juif”.” [Jim Collins, The Book of Jasher, the Kairites\nand the Spanish background to the transmission of Sefer Hayashar (SY)]\n 4. (It should be noted that Jim Collins thinks the book is real, and that this\nstudied was flawed. He has an elaborate theory of how the manuscript\ncould have reached Spain – all unproveable.)\n 5. In other words, there is no proof that this document existed before 1625.\nThe conclusion of the examiners was that the manuscript was “humanist\nJewish fiction.”\n D. It was translated into English by Moses Samuel, of Liverpool in the early 1800’s.\nMr. Samuel was a noted translator of Hebrew and thought that he was translating\nthe real Book of Jasher\n 1. ”Samuel also translated into English the pseudo-biblical Book of Jasher, a\nsupposedly ancient Hebrew text which Samuel convinced himself was\nauthentic. After failing to persuade the Royal Asiatic Society to publish it,\nhe sold his translation for £150 in 1839 to the American Jewish\nnewspaper-owner and philanthropist Mordecai M. Noah. It appeared in\nNew York the following year but with Noah’s name and not Samuel’s on\nthe title page. “I did not put my name to it as my Patron and myself\ndiffered about its authenticity”, Samuel later explained. This was odd since\nNoah seems to have had a lower opinion of the work’s authenticity than\nSamuel. The translation was accepted as accurate, but the publication\nprovoked criticism by scholars who rejected the claims made on behalf of\nthe text. It won acceptance, however, by the Mormon prophet Joseph\nSmith.” [Bernard Wasserstein, “Moses Samuel, Liverpool Hebraist,”\nTransactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England Vol. XXXV,\npage 2]\n 2. Note that the translation was accurate. It was the source material that was\nunder question.\n
E. So the Mormons became interested in this book.<\/p>\n 1. ”Mordecai Noah was not unaware of the Mormon activities in building a\ntemporary city of refuge at Kirtland in the 1830s. In a late 1835 issue of\nhis Evening Star, Noah protested the Mormons’ calling their nearly\nfinished house of worship at Kirtland the “Temple of the Lord.” The\nJewish editor and would-be American Zionist seemingly had no patience\nwith what he termed the Mormons’ “unhallowed purposes” in gathering\naround a “heathen temple.” The Mormons never quite lost sight of\nMordecai Noah’s work, though they have long since forgotten his name. In\n1840 the Jewish scholar obtained an English translation and published the\nextracanonical Book of Jasher. The Mormons became fascinated with the\nbook and have kept it in print and circulation wherever they congregate.\nThe first of their reprintings of this strange volume was published by J. H.\nParry & Co. of Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1887 and modern printings are\ngenerally kept in stock at the LDS Church’s Deseret Book Stores.” \n[“Transcriber’s Comments,” 1831 Evangelical Inquirer, Solomon\nSpaulding Studies]\n F. The Mormons have never officially stated the Book of Jasher is authentic, but they\ndo publish it without mention who was the author or translator. It is this one that\nmost people know as the Book of Jasher\n
III. Examining the 1840 verison of the Book of Jasher<\/p>\n A. It has anachronism – things mentioned which at the time of the supposed writing\ndid not exist.\n 1. ”There seems to be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the book contains many\nauthentic Hebrew traditions. It is definitely not a forgery in the sense of\nbeing a modern fiction, as was the 1751 book of the same name. Ginzberg\nin his landmark collection Legends of the Jews quotes from it freely and it\nis listed in Jewish encyclopedias as an authentic source. But all of these\nsources agree that the Book of Jasher most likely was written in Spain\nabout the twelfth century AD. It is thought to have been composed by an\nauthor compiling many old Jewish traditions (called Midrash) dating back\nto around the time of Christ and fabricating a few of his own. So how is it\nknown that Jasher is quoting Midrash rather than Midrash quoting the real\nBook of Jasher also quoted in the Old Testament? It is deduced principally\nfrom the chapter describing where the descendants of Noah settled,\nbecause European names from many centuries after Christ are included\n(Jasher 10).” [John P. Pratt, “How Did the Book of Jasher Know?”,\nMeridan Magazine, Jan. 7, 2002]\n 2. (John Pratt also thinks this Book of Jasher is real. He dismiss the conflict\nas being alterations by unknown copiers of the unknown manuscripts. He\ndecides the book is real because Mormon “prophets” have made\nstatements similar to what is in the Book of Jasher – imagine that!)\n
B. It contradicts the Bible<\/p>\n
1. Abram and Sarai’s relationship<\/p>\n
a. Genesis 20:12<\/p>\n b. ”And Sarai, the daughter of Haran, Abram’s wife” (Book of Jasher\n16:23)\n
2. When did Abram leave Haran?<\/p>\n
a. Genesis 12:4<\/p>\n b. ”Arise now, take thy wife and all belonging to thee and go to the\nland of Canaan and remain there, and I will there be unto thee for a\nGod, and I will bless thee. And Abram rose and took his wife and\nall belonging to him, and he went to the land of Canaan as the Lord\nhad told him; and Abram was fifty years old when he went from\nHaran” (Book of Jasher 13:5)\n
3. Where did Jacob flee?<\/p>\n
a. Genesis 28:5<\/p>\n b. ”And Jacob was very much afraid of his brother Esau, and he rose\nup and fled to the house of Eber the son of Shem, and he concealed\nhimself there on account of his brother, and Jacob was sixty-three\nyears old when he went forth from the land of Canaan from\nHebron, and Jacob was concealed in Eber’s house fourteen years on\naccount of his brother Esau, and he there continued to learn the\nways of the Lord and his commandments” (Book of Jasher 29:11)\n
4. Could Simeon be bound?<\/p>\n
a. Genesis 42:24<\/p>\n b. ”And Joseph went out from them and came into the chamber, and\nwept a great weeping, for his pity was excited for them, and he\nwashed his face, and returned to them again, and he took Simeon\nfrom them and ordered him to be bound, but Simeon was not\nwilling to be done so, for he was a very powerful man and they\ncould not bind him” (Book of Jasher 51:37).\n
5. Where and when did Moses flee?<\/p>\n
a. Moses was forty when he struck down the Egyptian – Acts 7:23<\/p>\n
b. He was eighty when he saw the burning bush – Acts 7:30<\/p>\n c. ”Chapter 71 of Jasher states that Moses was 18 years old when he\nleft Egypt. (Could this be Rabbinical tradition?) He didn’t go to\nMidian but to Cush and becomes king (72:34-36) and is king over\nCush for forty years (73:2), then he goes to Midian where Reuel\nputs him in prison for 10 years because Reuel thinks Moses is\nwanted by the Cushites.” [Deane Schaub, An Overview of the\nBook of Jasher, Logos Resource Pages].\n
6. How many plagues?<\/p>\n
a. The Bible lists 10 plagues – Exodus 7-12<\/p>\n
b. The Book of Jasher lists 15 (Book of Jasher 80:2-51)<\/p>\n
7. How was the Red Sea divided?<\/p>\n
a. In two parts – Exodus 14:22<\/p>\n b. ”And the waters of the sea were divided into twelve parts, and the\nchildren of Israel passed through on foot, with shoes, as a man\nwould pass through a prepared road.” (Book of Jasher 81:38)\n
8. Where did Pharaoh die?<\/p>\n
a. Psalms 136:15<\/p>\n b. ”And the Lord manifested to the children of Israel his wonders in\nEgypt and in the sea by the hand of Moses and Aaron. And when\nthe children of Israel had entered the sea, the Egyptians came after\nthem, and the waters of the sea resumed upon them, and they all\nsank in the water, and not one man was left excepting Pharaoh,\nwho gave thanks to the Lord and believed in him, therefore the\nLord did not cause him to perish at that time with the Egyptians.\nAnd the Lord ordered an angel to take him from amongst the\nEgyptians, who cast him upon the land of Ninevah and he reigned\nover it for a long time.” (Book of Jasher 81:39-41).\n
9. This is by no means an exhaustive list.<\/p>\n C. The best guess is that the Book of Jasher, 1840 edition is a collection of Jewish\nmyths brought together into one book.\n
IV. The Book of Jasher is false<\/p>\n
A. God does not lie – Titus 1:2<\/p>\n
B. God does not create confusion – I Corinthians 14:33<\/p>\n
C. Both the Bible and the Book of Jasher cannot be true.<\/p>\n
D. The evidence for the Bible is abundant<\/p>\n 1. The evidence for the Book of Jasher’s origins and imaginative claims do\nnot exist.\n 2. Sure, when a detail is lifted from the Bible, the Book of Jasher is correct,\nbut it is the rest that is the problem.\n 3. Like most works of men, they can’t leave truth alone and so errors are\nintroduced.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Canon of the Bible\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Samuel 1:17-27 I. It is no mystery that people are not happy with God’s word. Through the ages people have sought ought various reasons to modify it. A. No long ago, Dan Brown wrote a fictional book called The DaVinci Code. At the core of this book was the idea…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[660,920,130],"class_list":["post-32715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-apocrypha","tag-book-of-jasher","tag-canon"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9269,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-book-of-jasher\/","url_meta":{"origin":32715,"position":0},"title":"What is the Book of Jasher?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like to ask you about II Samuel 1:18. This verse speaks of 'The Book of Jasher'. What is this book? I have noticed other parts in the Old Testament that also refer to other books. Are the writers referring to other writings of the Bible? Or other\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32713,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-the-book-of-jasher-be-written-in-1625-when-it-is-mentioned-in-joshua-and-ii-samuel\/","url_meta":{"origin":32715,"position":1},"title":"How can the Book of Jasher be written in 1625 when it is mentioned in Joshua and II Samuel?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Being a member of the Body of Christ, I have found your answers to those seeking, sound and exact,\u00a0always\u00a0using the Word of God.\u00a0 In\u00a0your response on the Book of Jasher, you chose to focus on what the scholars believe was written in 1625; I am basing my question on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15179,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-have-some-books-been-left-out-of-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":32715,"position":2},"title":"Why have some books been left out of the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If the books in the Bible were written by apostles, was Moses considered an apostle? What of Isaiah and Samuel? Were they considered apostles? Is it not said in the book of Matthew that nothing was to be taken from the Old Testament? I'm just curious because if this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25887,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-ancient-writings-unreliable-because-the-book-of-jasher-differs-from-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":32715,"position":3},"title":"Are ancient writings unreliable because the Book of Jasher differs from the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Just a comment for your consideration. Jasher Chapter 81\u00a0 - here is an extract about Pharaoh. \"And the Lord manifested to the children of Israel his wonders in Egypt and in the sea by the hand of Moses and Aaron. And when the children of Israel had entered the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94813,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-canon-of-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":32715,"position":4},"title":"The Canon of the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 28, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Inspired Books The Canon of the Old Testament - Part 1 The Canon of the Old Testament - Part 2 The New Testament Canon False Books The Book of Enoch The Book of Jasher The Apocrypha New Testament Apocrypha - Infancy Gospels","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26035,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-jasher-be-right-about-jacob-spending-14-years-with-eber\/","url_meta":{"origin":32715,"position":5},"title":"Could Jasher be right about Jacob spending 14 years with Eber?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You wrote: 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32715\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}