Editing Sefer haYashar (midrash) (section)

==Content==
The book covers [[biblical history]] from the creation of [[Adam and Eve]] until a summary of the initial [[Israelite]] conquest of [[Canaan]] in the beginning of the [[book of Judges]].

The Bible quotes a book of Jasher twice; once in Joshua 10:13 which can be found in Sefer haYashar 88:63-64, and in 2 Samuel 1:17-27 where David sings a song of lament called use of the bow however no parts of this song can be found in Sefer haYashar. 

But the book as a whole was written much later, as shown by chapter 10, which covers the descendants of [[Noah]], but uses [[Middle Ages|medieval]] names for territories and countries, most obviously ''Franza'' for France and ''Lumbardi'' in ''[[Italy|Italia]]'' for [[Lombardy]]. The text of this chapter closely follows the beginning of ''[[Josippon]]'', a tenth-century rabbinic text that lists the various peoples living in Europe in {{circa|950}}.

Most of its extra-Biblical accounts are found in nearly the same form in other medieval compilations, or in the [[Talmud]], other ''midrash'' or [[Arabic language|Arabic]] sources. For example, it includes the common tale that [[Lamech (descendant of Cain)|Lamech]] and his son [[Jabal (Bible)|Jabal]] accidentally killed [[Cain]], thus requiting Cain's wickedness for slaying [[Abel]].

There are five discrepancies when comparing it with chapter 5 of Genesis: When the Sefer relates that a son of Seth died "in the eighty-fourth year of the life of Noah," it calls that son ''Enoch'' instead of ''Enosh''. Enoch actually was Jared's son. Other than the confusion of the names, the date agrees with Genesis. The Sefer also relates that Jared died in the "336th year of the life of Noah" (instead of the 366th year, as in Genesis) and that Lamech died in the "195th year of the life of Noah (instead of the 595th year). It also gives different lifespans for Lamech (770 instead of 777) and Methuselah (960 instead of 969).

In its genealogy of Abram (7:19), it makes no mention of the [[Cainan]] between [[Arpachshad]] and [[Selah (biblical figure)|Selah]], in congruence with the [[Masoretic Text]] and the [[Samaritan Pentateuch]], but in conflict with the [[Septuagint]] and with the [[genealogy of Jesus]] in [[Luke 3]].

In its highly interpolated account of God's testing of Abraham concerning Isaac, it says in 23:50-51: "And when they were going along Isaac said to his father: Behold, I see here the fire and wood, and where then is the lamb that is to be the burnt offering before the Lord? And Abraham answered his son Isaac, saying: The Lord has made choice of thee my son, to be a perfect burnt offering instead of the lamb." This conflicts with the biblical account, in which Abraham's response was only: "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering."

The book, when recounting episodes from the pericope ''[[Shemot (parsha)|Shemot]]'', contains anecdotal material about [[Moses]] when he fled from [[Pharaoh]] after killing the Egyptian, and who is said to have fled to the [[Kingdom of Kush|land of Kush]] at the age of eighteen,<ref>{{cite book|last=anonymous|title=Sefer ha-Yashar ʻal ha-Torah  |publisher=Alter-Bergman|year=1955|location=Tel-Aviv|page=193 |language=he|oclc=762416207}}</ref> where he was made the king of Kush at the age of twenty-seven,<ref>{{cite book|last=anonymous|title=Sefer ha-Yashar ʻal ha-Torah  |publisher=Alter-Bergman|year=1955|location=Tel-Aviv|page=194 |language=he|oclc=762416207}}</ref> and there reigned for forty years before being deposed at the age of sixty-seven.<ref>{{cite book|last=anonymous|title=Sefer ha-Yashar ʻal ha-Torah  |publisher=Alter-Bergman|year=n.d.|location=Tel-Aviv|page=198 |language=he|oclc=762416207}}</ref> According to this narrative, which is also alluded to in [[Josephus]]' ''[[Antiquities of the Jews|Antiquities]]'' (2.10.[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0146%3Abook%3D2%3Asection%3D243 1–2]),<ref>Josephus' account of the story differs vastly, in that, according to Josephus, Moses had been sent by Pharaoh as a general to wage war against his enemies, the people of Kush.</ref><ref>Cf. [[Abraham ibn Ezra]]'s commentary on Numbers [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14084&st=&pgnum=143&hilite= 12:1] (Hebrew), where he wrote: "...and there are those who say that Moses reigned over Kush and took a Negro wife, etc." See also ''[[Yalkuṭ Shim'oni]]'' on Exodus, sect. 247:168.</ref>  Moses assisted the indigenous peoples of the country in their conquest of one of the rebellious cities (whose proprietor was Bilʻam the sorcerer) and which had been under siege for nine years. The narrative recounts how that when the enemy's country was infested with poisonous serpents, Moses contrived a stratagem how they could advance on the besieged city and take it without suffering harm from the vipers, by bringing along with them caged birds who fed upon snakes, and releasing the hungry birds in the enemy's territory.<ref>{{cite book|last=anonymous|title=Sefer ha-Yashar ʻal ha-Torah  |publisher=Alter-Bergman|year=1955|location=Tel-Aviv|pages=194–195 |language=he|oclc=762416207}}</ref> At this advice, they were able to take the city and they made Moses their king, and gave to him in marriage the deceased king's wife, whose name was Adoniya (the widow of Qiqanos).<ref>{{cite book|last=anonymous|title=Sefer ha-Yashar ʻal ha-Torah  |publisher=Alter-Bergman|year=1955|location=Tel-Aviv|page=195 |language=he|oclc=762416207}}</ref>