{"id":9269,"date":"2007-04-06T11:13:38","date_gmt":"2007-04-06T16:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=9269"},"modified":"2024-11-13T21:51:23","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T03:51:23","slug":"what-is-the-book-of-jasher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-book-of-jasher\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Book of Jasher?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

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 writings from that time? Would these writings maybe be written by someone who was not of God, not a prophet? Since we have been told that the Bible is complete, then this book would not be part of God’s word, right? But if this is true, then why is it included?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

The history recorded in the Bible did not occur in isolation. The people mentioned in the Bible interacted with other people. For example, though the Bible is firm that there is only one God, still the Bible mentions a number of the gods people worshiped both within Israel and in the nations around them (see “Mythology<\/a>” for a list).<\/p>\n

In a similar vein, secular writers are sometimes quoted (Acts 17:28; Titus 1:12). This doesn’t mean that these quoted writers were inspired. It simply means they happened to say something useful in making a point.<\/p>\n

“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<\/em>” (II Samuel 1:17-18). The song that follows these verses, titled the Song of the Bow, could also be found in the Book of Jasher. Just as a children’s Bible storybook might copy a section of the Bible for a child to learn, the writer mentions that the Song of the Bow could be found in another book. But just as we don’t refer to a children’s Bible storybook as being inspired, there is no need to conclude that the Book of Jasher was an inspired book. It was just a book that happened to contain a copy of some inspired writing. That same book also contained a story from Joshua (Joshua 10:13).<\/p>\n

In the Notes on the Bible<\/a>, there is a list of other writings mentioned in the Bible. Because they are mentioned, it doesn’t mean they were inspired writings.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 writings from that time? Would…<\/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,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[920,130],"class_list":["post-9269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-book-of-jasher","tag-canon"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"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":9269,"position":0},"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":32715,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-book-of-jasher\/","url_meta":{"origin":9269,"position":1},"title":"The Book of Jasher","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Samuel 1:17-27 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is no mystery that people are not happy with God\u2019s word. Through the ages people have sought ought various reasons to modify it. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No long ago, Dan Brown wrote a fictional book called The DaVinci Code. At the core of\u2026","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":15179,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-have-some-books-been-left-out-of-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":9269,"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":9269,"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":44805,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-there-inspired-books-that-weve-lost\/","url_meta":{"origin":9269,"position":4},"title":"Aren’t there inspired books that we’ve lost?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you mean to tell me not one of these documents (below) did not exist or ever existed? I would like to read these 'lost books & or documents.' How could not one or two documents make it to existence today? Exodus 24:7 - Book of the Covenant Numbers\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":26035,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-jasher-be-right-about-jacob-spending-14-years-with-eber\/","url_meta":{"origin":9269,"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\/9269","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=9269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9269\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}