Expert: Jim Miller - 10/5/2009

Question
QUESTION: I'm currently leading an adult Bible study on Abraham, and a friend of mine is pressuring me to use the Book of Jasher as a resource. He has a large paperback edition of the 1840 edition of the work.  I've not found any major commentary that refers to it.  An old Bible teacher friend of mine said there was some question re: the validity of the 1840 edition / translation / etc. of the work.  It might be a fake.  Even the editor of my friend's copy admitted he did not think the work belonged in canonized scripture.  This Book of Jasher says Sarai was Abram's niece (as does Josephus), but Gen. 20 says she was Abram's half sister.  I have not checked for other discrepancies, but I'm reluctant to use the work as a resource.  To me it reads like something out of ancient mythology or fictional literature, say, the Gilgamesh legend.  I've not found any reputable support for it.  Do you have any insights, information, and / or references into this work that many claim is the Book of Jasher referred to in the Old Testament?

ANSWER:     The Book of Jasher in the Bible is a lost history book.  The Book of Jasher that your friend has is a work of fiction created in the 19th century.  It is not even included in standard collections of the Pseudepigrapha (Pseudepigrapha are like the Apocrypha -- Bible type books from ancient times that didn't make it into either the Bible or the Apocrypha).  Your friend's Book of Jasher is not ancient at all.
   The idea that Sarah was the cousin or niece of Abraham, rather than his half-sister, is a tradition among the rabbis who have a problem with Abraham and Sarah violating the law of Moses (Lev 18:9; 20:17).  This tradition can be found in some Targums, Genesis Rabbah and other rabbinic commentaries.  Josephus shows that the tradition goes back to the 1st century.
   I hope this is helpful,
Jim Miller

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Your answer was extremely helpful.  But there are essays / articles out there which maintain that this one book, unlike a couple of other obvious false documents, is really valid.  You maintain that the true book of Jasher is a lost history book.  I want to believe that.  In fact, I do believe that. But what consensus is there among scholars to that effect?  You say it's lost.  What do you base your answer on?  How can I trust your response more than I trust the various essays which my friend is throwing at me to counter what you say in your note?  I suppose the issue is academic, but this friend's gullibility is a bit sad and also frightening.  I intend to double back and check the credentials of the author of my friend's defense article.  I thank you very much for helping me with this question.

Answer
  I did some research and found a couple of other books claiming to be the Book of Jasher.  None are ancient.  One was published out of Salt Lake City.  I have not been able to examine a copy yet, but it may be a Mormon text.  Another does have a Hebrew version, but the Hebrew is not ancient.
   Most important, I have a large collection of ancient writings that did not make it into the Bible.  I have studied a variety of scholarly sources on these works.  To date no reputable scholar has claimed to study even an ancient forgery claiming to be the Book of Jasher.  So far, no one has convinced scholars who work with ancient texts that their Book of Jasher is ancient.
That for me is proof that these works claiming to be the Book of Jasher are not even 2000 years old, much less 5000 years old (or older).
Jim Miller