The Book of Jasher

Referred to in Joshua and Second Samuel

Faithfully Translated

FROM THE ORIGINAL HEBREW INTO ENGLISH

Chapter 36

Jacob and his House goes to Bethel, where the Lord
appears to him, calls his name Israel, and Blesses him. The Generations of Jacob
and Esau.

1 At that time the Lord appeared unto Jacob saying,
Arise, go to Bethel and remain there, and make there an altar to the Lord who appeareth
unto thee, who delivered thee and thy sons from affliction.

2 And Jacob rose up with his sons and all belonging
to him, and they went and came to Bethel according to the word of the Lord.

3 And Jacob was ninety-nine years old when he went
up to Bethel, and Jacob and his sons and all the people that were with him, remained
in Bethel in Luz, and he there built an altar to the Lord who appeared unto him,
and Jacob and his sons remained in Bethel six months.

4 At that time died Deborah the daughter of Uz, the
nurse of Rebecca, who had been with Jacob; and Jacob buried her beneath Bethel under
an oak that was there.

5 And Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel, the mother
of Jacob, also died at that time in Hebron, the same is Kireath-arba, and she was
buried in the cave of Machpelah which Abraham had bought from the children of Heth.

6 And the life of Rebecca was one hundred and thirty-three
years, and she died and when Jacob heard that his mother Rebecca was dead he wept
bitterly for his mother, and made a great mourning for her, and for Deborah her
nurse beneath the oak, and he called the name of that place Allon-bachuth.

7 And Laban the Syrian died in those days, for God
smote him because he transgressed the covenant that existed between him and Jacob.

8 And Jacob was a hundred years old when the Lord
appeared unto him, and blessed him and called his name Israel, and Rachel the wife
of Jacob conceived in those days.

9 And at that time Jacob and all belonging to him
journeyed from Bethel to go to his father’s house, to Hebron.

10 And whilst they were going on the road, and there
was yet but a little way to come to Ephrath, Rachel bare a son and she had hard
labor and she died.

11 And Jacob buried her in the way to Ephrath, which
is Bethlehem, and he set a pillar upon her grave, which is there unto this day;
and the days of Rachel were forty-five years and she died.

12 And Jacob called the name of his son that was born
to him, which Rachel bare unto him, Benjamin, for he was born to him in the land
on the right hand.

13 And it was after the death of Rachel, that Jacob
pitched his tent in the tent of her handmaid Bilhah.

14 And Reuben was jealous for his mother Leah on account
of this, and he was filled with anger, and he rose up in his anger and went and
entered the tent of Bilhah and he thence removed his father’s bed.

15 At that time the portion of birthright, together
with the kingly and priestly offices, was removed from the sons of Reuben, for he
had profaned his father’s bed, and the birthright was given unto Joseph, the kingly
office to Judah, and the priesthood unto Levi, because Reuben had defiled his father’s
bed.

16 And these are the generations of Jacob who were
born to him in Padan-aram, and the sons of Jacob were twelve.

17 The sons of Leah were Reuben the first born, and
Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and their sister Dinah; and the sons of
Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

18 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, were Gad and
Asher, and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid, were Dan and Naphtali; these are
the sons of Jacob which were born to him in Padan-aram.

19 And Jacob and his sons and all belonging to him
journeyed and came to Mamre, which is Kireath-arba, that is in Hebron, where Abraham
and Isaac sojourned, and Jacob with his sons and all belonging to him, dwelt with
his father in Hebron.

20 And his brother Esau and his sons, and all belonging
to him went to the land of Seir and dwelt there, and had possessions in the land
of Seir, and the children of Esau were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly in the
land of Seir.

21 And these are the generations of Esau that were
born to him in the land of Canaan, and the sons of Esau were five.

22 And Adah bare to Esau his first born Eliphaz, and
she also bare to him Reuel, and Ahlibamah bare to him Jeush, Yaalam and Korah.

23 These are the children of Esau who were born to
him in the land of Canaan; and the sons of Eliphaz the son of Esau were Teman, Omar,
Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz and Amalex, and the sons of Reuel were Nachath, Zerach, Shamah
and Mizzah.

24 And the sons of Jeush were Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth;
and the sons of Yaalam were Alah, Phinor and Kenaz.

25 And the sons of Korah were Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel
and Eram; these are the families of the sons of Esau according to their dukedoms
in the land of Seir.

26 And these are the names of the sons of Seir the
Horite, inhabitants of the land of Seir, Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishan, Ezer
and Dishon, being seven sons.

27 And the children of Lotan were Hori, Heman and
their sister Timna, that is Timna who came to Jacob and his sons, and they would
not give ear to her, and she went and became a concubine to Eliphaz the son of Esau,
and she bare to him Amalek.

28 And the sons of Shobal were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal,
Shepho, and Onam, and the sons of Zibeon were Ajah, and Anah, this was that Anah
who found the Yemim in the wilderness when he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.

29 And whilst he was feeding his father’s asses he
led them to the wilderness at different times to feed them.

30 And there was a day that he brought them to one
of the deserts on the sea shore, opposite the wilderness of the people, and whilst
he was feeding them, behold a very heavy storm came from the other side of the sea
and rested upon the asses that were feeding there, and they all stood still.

31 And afterward about one hundred and twenty great
and terrible animals came out from the wilderness at the other side of the sea,
and they all came to the place where the asses were, and they placed themselves
there.

32 And those animals, from their middle downward,
were in the shape of the children of men, and from their middle upward, some had
the likeness of bears, and some the likeness of the keephas, with tails behind them
from between their shoulders reaching down to the earth, like the tails of the ducheephath,
and these animals came and mounted and rode upon these asses, and led them away,
and they went away unto this day.

33 And one of these animals approached Anah and smote
him with his tail, and then fled from that place.

34 And when he saw this work he was exceedingly afraid
of his life, and he fled and escaped to the city.

35 And he related to his sons and brothers all that
had happened to him, and many men went to seek the asses but could not find them,
and Anah and his brothers went no more to that place from that day following, for
they were greatly afraid of their lives.

36 And the children of Anah the son of Seir, were
Dishon and his sister Ahlibamah, and the children of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban,
Ithran and Cheran, and the children of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan, and the
children of Dishon were Uz and Aran.

37 These are the families of the children of Seir
the Horite, according to their dukedoms in the land of Seir.

38 And Esau and his children dwelt in the land of
Seir the Horite, the inhabitant of the land, and they had possessions in it and
were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly, and Jacob and his children and all belonging
to them, dwelt with their father Isaac in the land of Canaan, as the Lord had commanded
Abraham their father.