The Book of Jasher

Referred to in Joshua and Second Samuel

Faithfully Translated

FROM THE ORIGINAL HEBREW INTO ENGLISH

Chapter 37

Jacob Returns to Shechem. The Kings of Canaan
again assemble against Jacob. Jacob’s Ten Sons with One Hundred and Two of their
servants Fight against the Canaanites and Amorites, and are successful.

1 And in the one hundred and fifth year of the life
of Jacob, that is the ninth year of Jacob’s dwelling with his children in the land
of Canaan, he came from Padan-aram.

2 And in those days Jacob journeyed with his children
from Hebron, and they went and returned to the city of Shechem, they and all belonging
to them, and they dwelt there, for the children of Jacob obtained good and fat pasture
land for their cattle in the city of Shechem, the city of Shechem having then been
rebuilt, and there were in it about three hundred men and women.

3 And Jacob and his children and all belonging to
him dwelt in the part of the field which Jacob had bought from Hamor the father
of Shechem, when he came from Padan-aram before Simeon and Levi had smitten the
city.

4 And all those kings of the Canaanites and Amorites
that surrounded the city of Shechem, heard that the sons of Jacob had again come
to Shechem and dwelt there.

5 And they said, Shall the sons of Jacob the Hebrew
again come to the city and dwell therein, after that they have smitten its inhabitants
and driven them out? shall they now return and also drive out those who are dwelling
in the city or slay them?

6 And all the kings of Canaan again assembled, and
they came together to make war with Jacob and his sons.

7 And Jashub king of Tapnach sent also to all his
neighboring kings, to Elan king of Gaash, and to Ihuri king of Shiloh, and to Parathon
king of Chazar, and to Susi king of Sarton, and to Laban king of Bethchoran, and
to Shabir king of Othnay-mah, saying,

8 Come up to me and assist me, and let us smite Jacob
the Hebrew and his sons, and all belonging to him, for they are again come to Shechem
to possess it and to slay its inhabitants as before.

9 And all these kings assembled together and came
with all their camps, a people exceedingly plentiful like the sand upon the sea
shore, and they were all opposite to Tapnach.

10 And Jashub king of Tapnach went forth to them with
all his army, and he encamped with them opposite to Tapnach without the city, and
all these kings they divided into seven divisions, being seven camps against the
sons of Jacob.

11 And they sent a declaration to Jacob and his son,
saying, Come you all forth to us that we may have an interview together in the plain,
and revenge the cause of the men of Shechem whom you slew in their city, and you
will now again return to the city of Shechem and dwell therein, and slay its inhabitants
as before.

12 And the sons of Jacob heard this and their anger
was kindled exceedingly at the words of the kings of Canaan, and ten of the sons
of Jacob hastened and rose up, and each of them girt on his weapons of war; and
there were one hundred and two of their servants with them equipped in battle array.

13 And all these men, the sons of Jacob with their
servants, went toward these kings, and Jacob their father was with them, and they
all stood upon the heap of Shechem.

14 And Jacob prayed to the Lord for his sons, and
he spread forth his hands to the Lord, and he said, O God, thou art an Almighty
God, thou art our father, thou didst form us and we are the works of thine hands;
I pray thee deliver my sons through thy mercy from the hand of their enemies, who
are this day coming to fight with them and save them from their hand, for in thy
hand is power and might, to save the few from the many.

15 And give unto my sons, thy servants, strength of
heart and might to fight with their enemies, to subdue them, and make their enemies
fall before them, and let not my sons and their servants die through the hands of
the children of Canaan.

16 But if it seemeth good in thine eyes to take away
the lives of my sons and their servants, take them in thy great mercy through the
hands of thy ministers, that they may not perish this day by the hands of the kings
of the Amorites.

17 And when Jacob ceased praying to the Lord the earth
shook from its place, and the sun darkened, and all these kings were terrified and
a great consternation seized them.

18 And the Lord hearkened to the prayer of Jacob,
and the Lord impressed the hearts of all the kings and their hosts with the terror
and awe of the sons of Jacob.

19 For the Lord caused them to hear the voice of chariots,
and the voice of mighty horses from the sons of Jacob, and the voice of a great
army accompanying them.

20 And these kings were seized with great terror at
the sons of Jacob, and whilst they were standing in their quarters, behold the sons
of Jacob advanced upon them, with one hundred and twelve men, with a great and tremendous
shouting.

21 And when the kings saw the sons of Jacob advancing
toward them, they were still more panic struck, and they were inclined to retreat
from before the sons of Jacob as at first, and not to fight with them.

22 But they did not retreat, saying, It would be a
disgrace to us thus twice to retreat from before the Hebrews.

23 And the sons of Jacob came near and advanced against
all these kings and their armies, and they saw, and behold it was a very mighty
people, numerous as the sand of the sea.

24 And the sons of Jacob called unto the Lord and
said, Help us O Lord, help us and answer us, for we trust in thee, and let us not
die by the hands of these uncircumcised men, who this day have come against us.

25 And the sons of Jacob girt on their weapons of
war, and they took in their hands each man his shield and his javelin, and they
approached to battle.

26 And Judah, the son of Jacob, ran first before his
brethren, and ten of his servants with him, and he went toward these kings.

27 And Jashub, king of Tapnach, also came forth first
with his army before Judah, and Judah saw Jashub and his army coming toward him,
and Judah’s wrath was kindled, and his anger burned within him, and he approached
to battle in which Judah ventured his life.

28 And Jashub and all his army were advancing toward
Judah, and he was riding upon a very strong and powerful horse, and Jashub was a
very valiant man, and covered with iron and brass from head to foot.

29 And whilst he was upon the horse, he shot arrows
with both hands from before and behind, as was his manner in all his battles, and
he never missed the place to which he aimed his arrows.

30 And when Jashub came to fight with Judah, and was
darting many arrows against Judah, the Lord bound the hand of Jashub, and all the
arrows that he shot rebounded upon his own men.

31 And notwithstanding this, Jashub kept advancing
toward Judah, to challenge him with the arrows, but the distance between them was
about thirty cubits, and when Judah saw Jashub darting forth his arrows against
him, he ran to him with his wrath-excited might.

32 And Judah took up a large stone from the ground,
and its weight was sixty shekels, and Judah ran toward Jashub, and with the stone
struck him on his shield, that Jashub was stunned with the blow, and fell off from
his horse to the ground.

33 And the shield burst asunder out of the hand of
Jashub, and through the force of the blow sprang to the distance of about fifteen
cubits, and the shield fell before the second camp.

34 And the kings that came with Jashub saw at a distance
the strength of Judah, the son of Jacob, and what he had done to Jashub, and they
were terribly afraid of Judah.

35 And they assembled near Jashub’s camp, seeing his
confusion, and Judah drew his sword and smote forty-two men of the camp of Jashub,
and the whole of Jashub’s camp fled before Judah, and no man stood against him,
and they left Jashub and fled from him, and Jashub was still prostrate upon the
ground.

36 And Jashub seeing that all the men of his camp
had fled from him, hastened and rose up with terror against Judah, and stood upon
his legs opposite Judah.

37 And Jashub had a single combat with Judah, placing
shield toward shield, and Jashub’s men all fled, for they were greatly afraid of
Judah.

38 And Jashub took his spear in his hand to strike
Judah upon his head, but Judah had quickly placed his shield to his head against
Jashub’s spear, so that the shield of Judah received the blow from Jashub’s spear,
and the shield was split in too.

39 And when Judah saw that his shield was split, he
hastily drew his sword and smote Jashub at his ankles, and cut off his feet that
Jashub fell upon the ground, and the spear fell from his hand.

40 And Judah hastily picked up Jashub’s spear, with
which he severed his head and cast it next to his feet.

41 And when the sons of Jacob saw what Judah had done
to Jashub, they all ran into the ranks of the other kings, and the sons of Jacob
fought with the army of Jashub, and the armies of all the kings that were there.

42 And the sons of Jacob caused fifteen thousand of
their men to fall, and they smote them as if smiting at gourds, and the rest fled
for their lives.

43 And Judah was still standing by the body of Jashub,
and stripped Jashub of his coat of mail.

44 And Judah also took off the iron and brass that
was about Jashub, and behold nine men of the captains of Jashub came along to fight
against Judah.

45 And Judah hastened and took up a stone from the
ground, and with it smote one of them upon the head, and his skull was fractured,
and the body also fell from the horse to the ground.

46 And the eight captains that remained, seeing the
strength of Judah, were greatly afraid and they fled, and Judah with his ten men
pursued them, and they overtook them and slew them.

47 And the sons of Jacob were still smiting the armies
of the kings, and they slew many of them, but those kings daringly kept their stand
with their captains, and did not retreat from their places, and they exclaimed against
those of their armies that fled from before the sons of Jacob, but none would listen
to them, for they were afraid of their lives lest they should die.

48 And all the sons of Jacob, after having smitten
the armies of the kings, returned and came before Judah, and Judah was still slaying
the eight captains of Jashub, and stripping off their garments.

49 And Levi saw Elon, king of Gaash, advancing toward
him, with his fourteen captains to smite him, but Levi did not know it for certain.

50 And Elon with his captains approached nearer, and
Levi looked back and saw that battle was given him in the rear, and Levi ran with
twelve of his servants, and they went and slew Elon and his captains with the edge
of the sword.