Partial Critique ​o​f The Book of Jasher

[Posted August 1, 2020]

​T​o Mike,

Greetings​,​ Brother Mike​.​ I hope you and Sandi are doing well. Kindly comment on this Scripture below regarding the reference to the Book of Jasher.

2 Samuel 1:18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)

Also:

Joshua 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

I thought this book is one of those apocryphas that are not inspired​.​ ​W​hy is it being referenced? What do we make of it?

Your brother, thanking God for the wisdom He has bestowed on you for our good and the privilege to partake of it with His saints.

M​____

Hi M​____,

Thank you for your question.

You ask:

“I thought this book [of Jasher] is one of those apocryphas that are not inspired​.​ ​W​hy is it being referenced? What do we make of it?

The reason the book of Jasher is not included in the scripture is that the holy spirit did not see fit to retain it​,​ and it no longer exists. The existing ‘Books of Jasher’ (there are several versions) are simply and obviously falsified, deceitful,​ ​spurious forgeries. It is not even apocryphal. It is simply spurious. In other words​,​ it is not “the book of Jasher” referred to in scripture. The real ‘book of Jasher’ simply has not been preserved along with about 21 other books referred to in the Old Testament.

Anyone who has any ability to hear the voice of the True Shepherd has to read very little in the book of Jasher before he realizes that it is indeed a spurious book passing itself off as the book mentioned in scripture. It most certainly is no such thing!

There are two sections of scripture which we must keep in mind as we “try the spirits” (1Jo 4:1) of such spurious works as the Book of Jasher, the book of Enoch, and any of the other books mentioned in scripture which are not included in the holy spirit inspired canon of scripture, which are the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament.

The first section of scripture is:

Joh 10:4  After he has brought out all his sheep, he walks ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.
Joh 10:5  They won’t follow a stranger. Instead, they will run away from a stranger because they don’t recognize his voice. (GWV)

The voice of the True Shepherd is not to be found in the book of Jasher​,​ as I will demonstrate with ​just a few examples in the form of quotes from the book of Jasher​,​ which flatly contradict​s​ scripture.

The second section which we must keep in mind tells us the same thing Christ is telling us in John 10:4-5, but in these words:

1Co 4:6  Brothers and sisters, I have applied this to Apollos and myself for your sake. You should learn from us not to go beyond what is written in Scripture. Then you won’t arrogantly place one of us in opposition to the other. (GWV)

Anything which adds to the scriptures is “go[ing] beyond what is written”. Anything which flatly contradicts scripture is “go[ing] beyond what is written​”​ in Scripture and is not the voice of the True Shepherd.

Here are a few of the patently unscriptural passages from the book of Jasher, which I have in my possession:

Book of Jasher ​C​ritique

Book of Jasher:

Jasher 1:18…what is there between me and thee that thou comest to dwell and bring thy flock to feed in my land?
Jasher 1:19 And Abel answered his brother Cain and said unto him, What is there between me and thee, that thou eat the flesh of my flock…

Bible:

Gen 1:29  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. [The meat of animals was not eaten before the flood,]

Only after the flood of Noah do we read:

Gen 9:3  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Book of Jasher:

Jasher 1:20 And now therefore, put off the wool of my sheep with which thou hast clothed thyself, and recompense me for their fruit and flesh which thou hast eaten…I will then go from thy land as thou hast said. [These are not the words of “righteous Abel”.]

Bible:

Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

The Book of Jasher:

Jasher 1:26 And after this Cain repented having slain his brother…

Bible:

Gen 4:9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? [No indication in scripture of any spirit of repentance]

Book of Jasher:

Jasher 2:14 Cainan reigned over the whole earth [pg 4, ch 2]

Bible:

Gen 5:12  And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:
Gen 5:13  And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:14  And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

That is all the scriptures have to say about Cainan. Jasher is speaking “above what is written”.

Book of Jasher:

Jasher 3:9 And all the kings of the sons of men, both first and last, together with their princes and judges, came to Enoch when they heard of his wisdom, and they bowed down to him, and they also required of Enoch to reign over them, to which he consented.
Jasher 3:10 And they assembled in all, one hundred and thirty kings and princes, and they made Enoch king over them and they were all under his power and command.

Jasher 3:20 …they feared to approach [Enoch] on account of the Godlike awe that was seated upon his countenance.

There is no scripture to back up any of this. This writer is “speaking above what is written”.

Book of Jasher:

Jasher 3:23 …an angel of the Lord…wished to bring [Enoch] up to heaven to make him reign there over the sons of God.

Jasher 3:26-29 (a horse descended from heaven to take Enoch to heaven.)

Jasher 3:36 (pg 8) …upon the seventh day that Enoch ascended into heaven in a whirlwind, with horses and chariots of fire.

The Bible;

Gen 5:21  And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
Gen 5:22  And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:23  And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
Gen 5:24  And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

The ‘whirlwind and chariots of fire’ refers to Elijah, not Enoch. Totally spurious!

Joh 3:13  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Heb 11:5  By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

“Translated” does not ​equate to “ascended up to heaven” as this spurious book tells us.

“That he should not see death” indicates that Enoch was “hated of all men” not proclaimed a king. Later in this same 11^th chapter of Hebrews we are told that Enoch “died in faith, not having received the promise”:

Heb 11:13  These all [including Enoch] died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Book of Jasher:

Jasher 4:13 And the wife of Lamech conceived…

The book of Jasher always puts the emphasis on the woman, whereas the bible puts it on the man.

Bible:

Gen 5:3  And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
Gen 5:6  And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:

Gen 5:9  And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:

Gen 5:28 Lamech…begat a son.

Jasher has what Christ called “the voice of a stranger” throughout.

Book of Jasher:

Jasher 6:28 And the ark…was tossed upon the waters so that all the living creatures within were turned about like pottage in a cauldron.

The Bible:

Gen 7:17 …the waters increased, and bare up the ark and it was lift up above the earth.

Book of Jasher:

Jasher 7:24-30 (pg 15) (It is claimed that Adam and Eve’s garments God made were given to Enoch, then Methuselah, then Noah, then were stolen by Ham and later given to Cush, then to Nimrod after he grew up, and when he put them on, he became strong. Total hogwash with no scripture to verify such statements!)

Jasher 9:4-6 (It is claimed Abraham was raised in a cave to be saved from death by Nimrod for ten years [or three – not clear] then was raised with Noah and Shem [39 years] to learn God’s ways.

Jasher 12 (pg 30-31) [There is a recounting of Abraham (because he had destroyed Terah’s gods) and his brother being put in a fiery furnace in which Haran died but Abram was three days walking around in it. All totally spurious!]

Book of Jasher:

​Jasher ​8:1 And it was in the night that Abram was born, that all the servants of Terah, and all the wise men of Nimrod, and his conjurors came and ate and drank in the house of Terah, and they rejoiced with him on that night.
​Jasher ​8:2 And when all the wise men and conjurors went out from the house of Terah, they lifted up their eyes toward heaven that night to look at the stars, and they saw, and behold one very large star came from the east and ran in the heavens, and he swallowed up the four stars from the four sides of the heavens.
​Jasher ​8:3 And all the wise men of the king and his conjurors were astonished at the sight, and the sages understood this matter, and they knew its import.
​Jasher ​8:4 And they said to each other, This only betokens the child that has been born to Terah this night, who will grow up and be fruitful, and multiply, and possess all the earth, he and his children for ever, and he and his seed will slay great kings, and inherit their lands.
​Jasher ​8:5 And the wise men and conjurors went home that night, and in the morning all these wise men and conjurors rose up early, and assembled in an appointed house.
​Jasher ​8:6 And they spoke and said to each other, Behold the sight that we saw last night is hidden from the king, it has not been made known to him.
​Jasher ​8:7 And should this thing get known to the king in the latter days, he will say to us, Why have you concealed this matter from me, and then we shall all suffer death; therefore, now let us go and tell the king the sight which we saw, and the interpretation thereof, and we shall then remain clear.

The Bible:

Gen 12:1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

It was “the Lord” who made this prophecy to Abram, not the “conjurors [and] wise men of Nimrod”. This is definitely not the voice of the True Shepherd.

Book of Jasher:

Jasher 13:5 (pg 33) …Abram was fifty years old when he went from Haran.

The Bible:

Gen 12:4  So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

Book of Jasher:

​Jasher ​18:4 And the Lord appeared to him in the plain of Mamre, and sent three of his ministering angels to visit him, and he was sitting at the door of the tent, and he lifted his eyes and saw, and lo three men were coming from a distance, and he rose up and ran to meet them, and he bowed down to them and brought them into his house.

The Bible:

Gen 18:1  And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
Gen 18:2  And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
Gen 18:3  And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
Gen 18:4  Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
Gen 18:5  And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
Gen 18:6  And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
Gen 18:7  And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
Gen 18:8  And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

The scriptures say nothing of Abraham bringing the three men into his tent​, let alone a house​. Speaking or even thinking “above what is written”​ is spurious!

1Co 4:6  Now these things, brothers, I applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us ye might learn not to think above that which is written, so that ye may not be puffed up, one over the one against the other.

Book of Jasher:

Jasher 20:6  [at the birth of Isaac] Also Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor his brother, came from Haran, they and all belonging to them…

The Bible:

Gen 11:32  And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Gen 12:4  So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

Terah died in Haran before Abram left Haran at 75 years of age.

I will take the time to give one more spurious story from this book of total fiction. Notice how this writer has taken the wording of the first chapter of Job and applied to the story of Abraham offering up his son, Isaac:

Book of Jasher:

Jasher 22:46 And the day arrived when the sons of God came and placed themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with the sons of God before the Lord.
Jasher 22:47 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? and Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
Jasher 22:48 And the Lord said to Satan, What is thy word to me concerning all the children of the earth? and Satan answered the Lord and said, I have seen all the children of the earth who serve thee and remember thee when they require anything from thee.
Jasher 22:49 And when thou givest them the thing which they require from thee, they sit at their ease, and forsake thee and they remember thee no more.
Jasher 22:50 Hast thou seen Abraham the son of Terah, who at first had no children, and he served thee and erected altars to thee wherever he came, and he brought up offerings upon them, and he proclaimed thy name continually to all the children of the earth.
Jasher 22:51 And now that his son Isaac is born to him, he has forsaken thee, he has made a great feast for all the inhabitants of the land, and the Lord he has forgotten.
Jasher 22:52 For amidst all that he has done he brought thee no offering; neither burnt offering nor peace offering, neither ox, lamb nor goat of all that he killed on the day that his son was weaned.
Jasher 22:53 Even from the time of his son’s birth till now, being thirty-seven years, he built no altar before thee, nor brought any offering to thee, for he saw that thou didst give what he requested before thee, and he therefore forsook thee.
Jasher 22:54 And the Lord said to Satan, Hast thou thus considered my servant Abraham? for there is none like him upon earth, a perfect and an upright man before me, one that feareth God and avoideth evil; as I live, were I to say unto him, Bring up Isaac thy son before me, he would not withhold him from me, much more if I told him to bring up a burnt offering before me from his flock or herds.
Jasher 22:55 And Satan answered the Lord and said, Speak then now unto Abraham as thou hast said, and thou wilt see whether he will not this day transgress and cast aside thy words.

The Bible:

Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Heb 11:18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Heb 11:19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

Jasher 22:46-55 is a mixture of plagiarism and heresy. Nowhere in scripture is there any such an account of Satan coming in the midst of the sons of God and being asked by the Lord, “Whence came ye?” except in the book of Job. This is rank plagiarism mixed with the heresy that Abraham forsook the Lord. This is not the voice of our Shepherd. It is clearly the voice of a stranger:

Joh 10:4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

I could go on and on demonstrating the heresies of this spurious book, but this should be quite sufficient for anyone who knows the voice of the Truth Shepherd.

I hope I have helped you to see some of the heresies which are found in these few examples.

Your fellow servant, Mike