Reasons Why the Current Book of Jasher is not Legitimate

Revision: 4/5/20

Reasons Why the Current Book of Jasher is not Legitimate

The Mysterious Circumstances of the Book's “Rediscovery”

The so-called “Book of Jasher” as we have it today, is evidently not the same “Book of Jasher” mentioned in both Joshua and Samuel in the Bible. There is evidence is a modern composition.

In order to accept this current Book of Jasher as the authentic one mentioned in the Bible, we have to account for all the time which the book was missing.

You see, after Samuel quoted the Book of Jasher around about 1,000 years before Christ, the book went missing... The Biblical Book of Jasher was never again quoted from, referred to, or alluded to by any writer before the time of Christ, and after the time of Christ, until the 17th century AD when the claim was made it had been rediscovered.

Because of this, there is an entire list of questions which we need to be able to answer about Jasher or about any book, in order to validate its being authentic after so long a disuse. As it turns out every one of these questions have never been answered about this so-called “Book of Jasher”. These questions are:

Who was the person who rediscovered the Book of Jasher?
What was the condition of the scroll or book when it was found?
Where was this lost book found when It was rediscovered?
When was this previously lost Book of Jasher rediscovered?
Has this manuscript been dated?
Where is this scroll of the Book of Jasher located today?

Apparently, it's lost again?!

The above questions need answers. In fact, these questions need to be answered about any ancient book when resicovered, not just Jasher. The modern “Book of Jasher” lacks provenance. Provenance has to do with the circumstances or the record of ownership of any object of art, or antique, or document which we then use as a guide to judge the object's authenticity.

All of the manuscripts of the Books of the Bible have provenance. The modern Book of Jasher has none.

Evidence the Current Book of Jasher is not Legitimate

As an example of another ancient book which does not have the problems the modern Book of Jasher has, we turn our attention to the Book of Enoch...

Though the Book of Enoch had been widely popular, after the destruction of Israel’s temple by Rome, Jews, and later, Christians too, began to reject the Book of Enoch. This was done in a number of ways. One method was to propose an alternative storyline to the well-known Enochan saga. The idea presented in the Book of Enoch, that angels had the ability to fall into sexual sin was thought to be repugnant and unthinkable. Because of this a number of alternative storylines began to be proposed in order to airbrush out the (well-known) story of angelic promiscuity.

The Books of Adam and Eve

As an example of an attempt to re-write the central story found in Book of Enoch, take the following quote from “The Books of Adam and Eve”, a book written sometime late in the first century AD.

“And when they looked at the daughters of Cain, at their beautiful figures, and at their hands and feet dyed with colour, and tattooed in ornaments on their faces, the fire of sin was kindled in them. Then Satan made them look most beautiful before the sons of Seth, as he also made the sons of Seth appear of the fairest in the eyes of the daughters of Cain, so that the daughters of Cain lusted after the sons of Seth like ravenous beasts, and the sons of Seth after the daughters of Cain, until they committed abomination with them” (2 Adam and Eve 20:21-32).

There! So simple! Instead of angels cavorting with human women, it was the sons of Seth falling for beautiful, unbelieving, daughters of Cain.

The “Book of Jasher’s” Version of This

The current book circulating as the “Book of Jasher” attemps to do this too, but takes a different approach.

“And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order therewith to provoke the Lord; and God saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals” (Jasher 4:18).

There it is! The unmistakable thumbprint of the author of the modern Book of Jasher which demonstrates that book is not that ancient after all! In fact, whenever you find this line of thought in any book, it is a clear indication that book was written after Judaism suffered the experience of AD 70. After AD 70, efforts were made to “re-write” the (at that time, well-known) saga of the Book of Enoch. They were trying to present a completely new and different way to interpret Genesis 6:1-4.

Before AD 70, ALL ancient books support and corroborate the story as told in Enoch's book. Only after AD 70 did writings begin to show up which removed the angels from the narrative and insert sons of Seth or in this case ‘judges and rulers’. This clearly marks the “Book of Jasher” as having been written after the destruction of Israel in the first century.

A Possible Rebuttal?

I once had someone tell me the “judges and rulers” in Jasher were in fact the angels who sinned. But that can’t be the case.

That would mean before the fall of the Watchers, they were “judges and rulers” over mankind. But according to the Book of Enoch, the rule of the Watchers over the sons of men, began after their fall into sin, not before as this version of “Jasher” has it. In Enoch 7 and 8, the rule of the Watchers over mankind was set up by their sinful indoctrination of mankind, which began after the angels sinned. The goal of the Watchers ruling over man was to replace God's rulership over mankind.

What Do the Most Reliable Sources Say?

Comparing counterfeits with a true original is a great method for spotting the differences. The following quotes are from Genesis, Enoch and Jubilees...

The Book of Genesis

“When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.’ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown,” (Genesis 6:1-4 ESV).

“And it happened, when humans began to become numerous upon the land, and they had daughters, the angels of God, having seen the daughters of humans, that they were beautiful, took for themselves women from all whom they picked out. The Lord God said, 'My breath will not at all reside in these humans for very long because they are flesh, but their days will be one hundred and twenty years.' Now giants were upon the land in those days, and after that, whenever the sons of God visited the daughters of humans, they fathered children for themselves; those were the giants who were from long ago, the people of renown,” (Genesis 6:1-4 from The Lexham English Septuagint).

The Book of Enoch

“And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: "Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.” (Book of Enoch 6:1-2 RHC).

The Book of Jubilees

“And it happened, when the sons of the children of men commenced to increase over the face of the whole earth and daughters were born to them, that the angels of the Lord saw them in one year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful to look upon; and they took unto themselves wives from all of them whomever they chose, and they bore them sons, and these were giants. And injustice increased over the earth and all flesh corrupted its way, from men to animals and to beasts and to birds and to all that walks upon the earth; all corrupted their ways and their orders and began to devour each other, and unrighteousness increased over the earth, and all the thoughts of the knowledge of all the sons of men were thus wicked all the days,” (Book of Jubilees 5:1-2).

Facts About the Book Currently Being Called “The Book of Jasher”

It was not found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
It does not have quotes, references and allusions to it in books written after the time of Samuel but before the time of Christ.
It does not have quotes, references and allusions to it in books written during the Apostolic Age.
It does not have quotes, references and allusions to it in books written during the first sixteen centuries of Christianity.
It was never in any bound copy of the Bible for any Jewish or Christian group.
It does not have a clear rediscovery point, but is shrouded in secrecy.

In a word, the Book of Jasher that exists today lacks provenance, therefore it cannot be validated historically as being the same book used by Joshua and Samuel. Missing for 2,600 years then, voila! There it is? I don't think so!

“But the ‘Book of Jasher’ is quoted both by Joshua and Samuel!”

The most common defense for the Book of Jasher which I often hear is, “But the ‘Book of Jasher’ is quoted both by Joshua and Samuel!”

Obviously, a book written in the 17th century AD, would be written by someone with access to both the books of Joshua and Samuel in order to quote from! This is the scenario outlined in the graphic below...

The most likely conclusion to all this is the current Book of Jasher is a book composed in modern times.

Revision: 4/5/20