The Book of Jasher's Account of Abraham: A Historical Analysis

"Is it not written in the book of Jasher?"

Twice the Bible mentions an ancient book called The book of Jasher (see Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18). It is reported to have been written prior to Moses writing Genesis. The book of Jasher is not inspired, but it does contain some very interesting historical details that corroborate the biblical account. For example, did you know that:

• When Noah entered the ark with his family, he also brought with him the garments of animal skin that God had made for Adam (Jasher 7:24-26; cf. Gen. 3:21).

• After the flood, Ham stole the garments of animal skin from Noah and concealed them from his brothers. When Ham's son Cush was born, Ham gave the garments to Cush. Cush in turn gave the garments to his son Nimrod, who became strong when he wore them (Jasher 7:24-30).

• Nimrod built the tower of Babel after the flood (Jasher 9:20-39; Gen. 10:8-10).

• Terah, Abram's father, was a great prince in Nimrod's kingdom (Jasher 7:41, 7:49, 7:51, 8:9).

• When Abram was born, Nimrod wanted to kill him. (Satan used a similar tactic in the the New Testament when king Herod tried to kill baby Jesus.) Nimrod wanted to kill Abram because at the time of Abram's birth, there was a sign in the heavens: one large star came from the east [cf. Genesis 1:14; Matthew 2:2] and ran in the heavens and swallowed up four other stars from the four sides of the heavens. The king's wise men interpreted the sign in the heavens to mean that Terah's seed would possess all the earth, and slay great kings, and inherit their lands (Jasher, Chapter 8). Years later, after Abraham's death, it was Abraham's grandson Esau who slayed Nimrod with the sword (Jasher 27:16).

• Terah took his son secretly, together with his mother and nurse, and he concealed them in a cave, and he brought them their provisions monthly. Abram was in the cave ten years (Jasher 8:32-36).

• When Abram was ten years old, he went to live with Noah and Shem, who taught him the ways of the Lord (Jasher 9:5-19). Abram lived in Noah's house for 39 years (Jasher 9:6).

• When Abram grew up, he returned to Terah's house and destroyed his father's idols (Jasher 11:13-49). In the Bible, when Joshua reviews Israel's history to the tribes of Israel after the conquest of the land of Canaan, he describes how Terah was indeed an idolater. In Joshua 24:2, Joshua says, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: 'From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.'"

• Abram was brought before Nimrod to answer for his actions and to explain why he destroyed Terah's idols. Abram boldly rebuked Nimrod for his evil ways and testified of the one true God (Jasher 11:50-61).

• Nimrod's anger was kindled against Abram, and he commanded that Abram and his brother Haran be thrown into a fiery furnace (Jasher 12:20-26). These events are generally considered historically accurate and true to fact, as noted, for example, in the 19th century British encyclopedia edited by the Rev. Abraham Rees (1743-1825), which describes these events from Abram's life as follows: "Abraham...destroyed them all [all of Terah's idols], excepting the largest, before his father's return; and he told him, that having presented an oblation of flour to the idols, the stoutest of them, in whose hand he had placed a hatchet, hewed the others to pieces with that weapon. Terah replied, that this was bantering, because the idols had not sense to act in this manner; upon which Abraham retorted these words upon his father against the worship of such gods. But he was delivered up by Terah to Nimrod, the sovereign of the country, and because he refused to worship the fire, according to his order, he was thrown into the midst of the flames, from which he escaped uninjured. Mr. David Levi, in his Lingua Sacra, has given an account of this tradition, extracted from Medrash Bereschith; and it is related by Jerome, (Trad. Hebraic. in Genesin,) who seems to admit its general credibility." (Abraham Rees, The Cyclopaedia [London, 1819], 39 Vols., Vol. 1, see under the heading "ABRAHAM"). There is also a very interesting comment in the notes of Dr. Adam Clark's Commentary of the Old Testament, see his note on 2 Chronicles 28:3, which reads as follows: "Verse 3. Burnt his children in the fire] There is a most remarkable addition here in the Chaldee, which I shall give at length:—'Ahaz burnt his children in the fire; but the WORD of the Lord snatched Hezekiah from among them; for it was manifest before the Lord, that the three righteous men, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were to proceed from him; who should deliver up their bodies that they might be cast into a burning fiery furnace, on account of the great and glorious NAME; and from which they should escape. First, Abram escaped from the furnace of fire among the Chaldeans, into which he had been cast by Nimrod, because he would not worship their idols. Secondly, Tamar escaped burning in the house of judgment of Judah, who had said, Bring her out that she may be burnt. Thirdly, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz escaped from burning, when Ahaz his father cast him into the valley of the son of Hinnom, on the altars of Tophet. Fourthly, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, escaped from the burning fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Fifthly, Joshua, the son of Josedek the high-priest, escaped, when the impious Nebuchadnezzar had cast him into a burning fiery furnace, with Achaab the son of Kolia, and Zedekiah the son of Maasiah, the false prophet. They were consumed by fire [see Jeremiah 29:22]; but Joshua the son of Josedek escaped, because of his righteousness [see Zechariah 3:1-2].'" Indeed, in the Bible, the LORD says through the prophet Isaiah, "When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze" (Isaiah 43:2).

• Although Abram's brother Haran died (this is mentioned in Genesis 11:28) in the flames because his heart was not right with God, Abram miraculously survived three days and three nights in the fiery furnace, and not even his clothes were burned (Jasher 12:20-27). This is similar to what happened to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego centuries later at the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar (see Daniel chapter 3), who incidentally was also a Babylonian king. Babylonian kings of that period were inclined to emulate an earlier great king and copy the accomplishments of their predecessors. 

• Because of the miracle of Abram surviving the fiery furnace, Nimrod and all the people of the city gave Abram many gifts of silver and gold (Jasher 12:39-40).

• Nimrod also gave Abram his servant Eliezer (Jasher 12:39; cf. Gen. 15:2-3, 24:1-2).

• Abram went forth from the king in peace, and many of the king's servants followed him, and about three hundred men joined him (Jasher 12:41; cf. Gen. 14:14). Incidentally, "the 318 trained men born in (Abram's) household" mentioned in Genesis 14:14 were probably the children of the original three hundred men that joined Abram years earlier in the land of the Chaldeans, the ones mentioned in Jasher 12:41.

• Several years later, Nimrod's heart was again turned against Abram and the king again tried to kill him (Jasher 12:45-58). But Eliezer warned Abram of the plot, and Abram and his family fled to Noah's house for safety (Jasher 12:59-70).

• Abram and his family left Ur of the Chaldeans and set out for the land of Canaan, and they settled in Haran for some time (Jasher chapter 13; cf. Gen. 11:31).

• God called Abram to leave Haran when he was seventy-five years old (Jasher 13:26; cf. Gen. 12:4).

• Nimrod king of Babylon was known as Amraphel (Jasher 11:6, 27:2). This is the same Amraphel of Shinar mentioned in Genesis 14. This is also the same Amraphel who went to war with the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and overpowered them and captured Abram's nephew Lot (who was then living in Sodom), and Abram went and rescued his nephew from Amraphel. The account of this war between Amraphel (Nimrod) and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah is mentioned in Genesis 14. This war is also mentioned several times in The Book of Jasher (11:10-11, 13:12-16, and chapter 16). Concerning the identification of Amraphel with Nimrod, Martin McNamara writes: "Amraphel is first identified with Nimrod. This identification is well attested in Rabbinic texts. In Gen. R. [Genesis Rabbah] 42:4, for instance, Amraphel is designated with three names: Cush, Nimrod and Amraphel." (McNamara, Paul V. M. Flesher, Editor, Targum and Scripture [Leiden: Brill, 2002], p. 25, Appendix 2.) Also see The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia (available online at www.studylight.org), entry under "Nimrod".

• Melchizedek (called Adonizedek in The book of Jasher) was Noah's son Shem, a priest of God (Jasher 16:11-12; cf. Gen. 14:18-20). Johnson's Universal Cyclopaedia affirms: "Jewish traditions, recorded in the Targums as well as in....rabbinical writings, identified Melchizedek with the patriarch Shem, who, according to the current biblical chronology, was still living at that period. This was the prevalent Jewish opinion in the time of Jerome, was adopted by Luther and Melanchthon, and by Selden, Lightfoot, and Jackson among English writers." (Johnson's Universal Cyclopaedia [New York: 1889], 8 Vols., Vol. 5, p. 342, under the heading "MELCHIZEDEK".)

• The book of Jasher (chapter 27) also describes how Esau killed Nimrod. (Abraham no doubt had related to his son Isaac the account of how Nimrod had twice tried to kill him, and also how Nimrod had captured Lot. Esau no doubt wanted revenge on Nimrod for all the evil he had done to his family.) The book of Jasher describes how Esau one evening surprised Nimrod in a field and killed him by cutting off his head with a sword. Esau then fought and killed the two men that were with Nimrod. Esau also took the garment of animal skin worn by Nimrod (the garment of  animal skin that God had made for Adam). This is when Esau came in from the field exhausted, and sold his birthright to his brother Jacob in exchange for a pot of lentil stew (Jasher 27:11-14; as recorded in Genesis 25:29-34). Nimrod was 215 years old when he died by the hand of Esau (Jasher 27:15). A similar account is related in the Jewish Talmud, with the only difference being that Esau shot Nimrod through the heart with an arrow (see The Talmud, translated by H. Polano [Philadelphia, 1876], p. 58). Of course, both accounts could be true; Esau could have first shot Nimrod through with an arrow and then cut off his head with a sword.

Dr. Kent Hovind is an expert on the creation account as recorded in the book of Genesis, and his "Longevity Chart" confirms several important facts listed above, namely, that "Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood" (Gen. 9:28), and according to the genealogy given in Genesis, Noah was a contemporary of Abraham for 58 years! In the chart, Dr. Hovind affirms: "All ten of Abraham's post-Flood ancestors (even Noah) were alive for his early life (imagine family reunions)!" What's more, Noah's son Shem lived for another five hundred years after the flood (Gen. 11:10-11), and he actually outlived Abraham! Dr. Hovind affirms: "Shem knew Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Genesis chapters 10-11 also make it clear that Abraham was a descendent of Noah through the line of Shem and his son Eber, and from him comes the name "Hebrew" (Gen. 14:13).