There are so many fascinating texts that offer different perspectives and details on familiar narratives. Today, we're diving into a chapter from one of these books: the Book of Jasher. Specifically, we'll be looking at Chapter 67, which gives us its own take on the events leading up to the birth of Moses.
The chapter begins by setting the stage with Amram, a man from the tribe of Levi, marrying Jochebed. Now, here's a detail you don't often hear: Jasher tells us Jochebed was 126 years old when they married! From this union, Miriam is born, her name a reflection of the bitterness (maror) the Israelites were experiencing under Egyptian rule. Then comes Aaron, born at a time when Pharaoh's cruelty was reaching new heights, with the spilling of Israelite children's blood.
But before we get to Moses, the Book of Jasher takes a detour, introducing us to some other players. We hear of the death of Zepho, king of Chittim, and the ascension of Janeas to the throne. And then – get this – Balaam, yes, that Balaam, the one with the talking donkey in the Book of Numbers, enters the scene. According to Jasher, Balaam flees from Chittim to Egypt and becomes a highly honored counselor to Pharaoh. Imagine that: Balaam, advisor to Pharaoh!
It’s in Pharaoh's 130th year that he has a disturbing dream. He sees an old man with merchant's scales. In one scale, the old man places all the elders and nobles of Egypt, bound together. In the other? A milk kid. And the kid outweighs them all! Can you picture the shock?
Naturally, Pharaoh is deeply troubled. He summons his wise men, including Balaam, to interpret the dream. Balaam, never one to miss an opportunity for doom and gloom, tells Pharaoh the dream signifies a great evil that will befall Egypt: a son will be born to Israel who will destroy Egypt and lead the Israelites to freedom.
So, what's a Pharaoh to do? He asks Balaam for advice on how to prevent this prophecy from coming true. Balaam suggests consulting Pharaoh's other counselors, Reuel the Midianite (who some identify with Jethro, Moses' future father-in-law!) and Job the Uzite (yes, that Job!).
Reuel, surprisingly, advises Pharaoh to leave the Hebrews alone, reminding him of the consequences faced by those who harmed Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He argues that the God of Israel fiercely protects his chosen people. He even brings up Pharaoh's own ancestor who took Sarah, Abraham's wife, and was afflicted with plagues as a result! It's a powerful speech, urging caution and respect.
But Pharaoh is unmoved. He turns to Job, who simply says, "Do as you see fit." Talk about unhelpful advice!
Finally, Pharaoh asks Balaam again. Balaam acknowledges that the Israelites have been protected from every previous attempt to harm them. Fire? Think of Abraham surviving the fiery furnace. Swords? Remember Isaac and the ram. Hard labor? Jacob prospered despite Laban's oppression.
Balaam then proposes a truly horrific solution: infanticide. He suggests that Pharaoh order all newborn Hebrew male children to be thrown into the river. This, he argues, is something their ancestors never faced, and therefore the only way to wipe out the Israelites.
And tragically, Pharaoh agrees. He issues a decree that every male Hebrew child born from that day forward must be thrown into the Nile, while the female children are allowed to live.
The chapter then describes the heartbreaking reality of this decree. Some Israelite men separate from their wives to avoid bringing more children into the world. Others remain with their wives, and when the time comes to give birth, the women go to the fields, deliver their babies alone, and leave them there.
But here's where the story takes a turn towards the miraculous. The Book of Jasher tells us that God sends angels to care for these abandoned infants. The angels wash, anoint, and clothe them. They even provide them with two smooth stones, one yielding milk and the other honey! The babies grow miraculously, hidden by their own rapidly growing hair.
When God decides the time is right, the earth opens up and swallows the children, protecting them until they are grown. Then, the earth spits them back out, and they return to their families, flourishing like plants in a field.
The Egyptians, witnessing this miracle, attempt to plow the fields to harm the children, but they are unable to. The Israelites continue to multiply, despite Pharaoh's cruel decree. Yet, Pharaoh's officers continue their gruesome task, snatching babies from their mothers and throwing them into the river.
What a powerful, if unsettling, chapter! It’s a reminder that even in the darkest of times, hope, resilience, and the possibility of divine intervention can persist. The Book of Jasher’s telling of these events adds layers of complexity and wonder to a story we think we know, prompting us to consider the many untold narratives woven into the fabric of our history. How does this version of the story change your understanding of the Exodus narrative? What does it tell us about the nature of evil, and the enduring strength of the human spirit?
Sacred-texts Apocrypha Index Previous Next Book of Jasher, Chapter 67 1 There was a man in the land of Egypt of the seed of Levi, whose name was Amram, the son of Kehath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. 2 And this man went and took a wife, namely Jochebed the daughter of Levi his father's sister, and she was one hundred and twenty-six years old, and he came unto her. 3 And the woman conceived and bare a daughter, and she called her name Miriam, because in those days the Egyptians had embittered the lives of the children of Israel. 4 And she conceived again and bare a son and she called his name Aaron, for in the days of her conception, Pharaoh began to spill the blood of the male children of Israel. 5 In those days died Zepho the son of Eliphaz, son of Esau, king of Chittim, and Janeas reigned in his stead. 6 And the time that Zepho reigned over the children of Chittim was fifty years, and he died and was buried in the city of Nabna in the land of Chittim. 7 And Janeas, one of the mighty men of the children of Chittim, reigned after him and he reigned fifty years. 8 And it was after the death of the king of Chittim that Balaam the son of Beor fled from the land of Chittim, and he went and came to Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 And Pharaoh received him with great honor, for he had heard of his wisdom, and he gave him presents and made him for a counsellor, and aggrandized him. 10 And Balaam dwelt in Egypt, in honor with all the nobles of the king, and the nobles exalted him, because they all coveted to learn his wisdom. 11 And in the hundred and thirtieth year of Israel's going down to Egypt, Pharaoh dreamed that he was sitting upon his kingly throne, and lifted up his eyes and saw an old man standing before him, and there were scales in the hands of the old man, such scales as are used by merchants. 12 And the old man took the scales and hung them before Pharaoh. 13 And the old man took all the elders of Egypt and all its nobles and great men, and he tied them together and put them in one scale. 14 And he took a milk kid and put it into the other scale, and the kid preponderated over all. 15 And Pharaoh was astonished at this dreadful vision, why the kid should preponderate over all, and Pharaoh awoke and behold it was a dream. 16 And Pharaoh rose up early in the morning and called all his servants and related to them the dream, and the men were greatly afraid. 17 And the king said to all his wise men, Interpret I pray you the dream which I dreamed, that I may know it. 18 And Balaam the son of Beor answered the king and said unto him, This means nothing else but a great evil that will spring up against Egypt in the latter days. 19 For a son will be born to Israel who will destroy all Egypt and its inhabitants, and bring forth the Israelites from Egypt with a mighty hand. 20 Now therefore, O king, take counsel upon this matter, that you may destroy the hope of the children of Israel and their expectation, before this evil arise against Egypt. 21 And the king said unto Balaam, And what shall we do unto Israel? surely after a certain manner did we at first counsel against them and could not prevail over them. 22 Now therefore give you also advice against them by which we may prevail over them. 23 And Balaam answered the king, saying, Send now and call thy two counsellors, and we will see what their advice is upon this matter and afterward thy servant will speak. 24 And the king sent and called his two counsellors Reuel the Midianite and Job the Uzite, and they came and sat before the king. 25 And the king said to them, Behold you have both heard the dream which I have dreamed, and the interpretation thereof; now therefore give counsel and know and see what is to be done to the children of Israel, whereby we may prevail over them, before their evil shall spring up against us. 26 And Reuel the Midianite answered the king and said, May the king live, may the king live forever. 27 If it seem good to the king, let him desist from the Hebrews and leave them, and let him not stretch forth his hand against them. 28 For these are they whom the Lord chose in days of old, and took as the lot of his inheritance from amongst all the nations of the earth and the kings of the earth; and who is there that stretched his hand against them with impunity, of whom their God was not avenged? 29 Surely thou knowest that when Abraham went down to Egypt, Pharaoh, the former king of Egypt, saw Sarah his wife, and took her for a wife, because Abraham said, She is my sister, for he was afraid, lest the men of Egypt should slay him on account of his wife. 30 And when the king of Egypt had taken Sarah then God smote him and his household with heavy plagues, until he restored unto Abraham his wife Sarah, then was he healed. 31 And Abimelech the Gerarite, king of the Philistines, God punished on account of Sarah wife of Abraham, in stopping up every womb from man to beast. 32 When their God came to Abimelech in the dream of night and terrified him in order that he might restore to Abraham Sarah whom he had taken, and afterward all the people of Gerar were punished on account of Sarah, and Abraham prayed to his God for them, and he was entreated of him, and he healed them. 33 And Abimelech feared all this evil that came upon him and his people, and he returned to Abraham his wife Sarah, and gave him with her many gifts. 34 He did so also to Isaac when he had driven him from Gerar, and God had done wonderful things to him, that all the water courses of Gerar were dried up, and their productive trees did not bring forth. 35 Until Abimelech of Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Pichol the captain of his host, went to him and they bent and bowed down before him to the ground. 36 And they requested of him to supplicate for them, and he prayed to the Lord for them, and the Lord was entreated of him and he healed them. 37 Jacob also, the plain man, was delivered through his integrity from the hand of his brother Esau, and the hand of Laban the Syrian his mother's brother, who had sought his life; likewise from the hand of all the kings of Canaan who had come together against him and his children to destroy them, and the Lord delivered them out of their hands, that they turned upon them and smote them, for who had ever stretched forth his hand against them with impunity? 38 Surely Pharaoh the former, thy father's father, raised Joseph the son of Jacob above all the princes of the land of Egypt, when he saw his wisdom, for through his wisdom he rescued all the inhabitants of the land from the famine. 39 After which he ordered Jacob and his children to come down to Egypt, in order that through their virtue, the land of Egypt and the land of Goshen might be delivered from the famine. 40 Now therefore if it seem good in thine eyes, cease from destroying the children of Israel, but if it be not thy will that they shall dwell in Egypt, send them forth from here, that they may go to the land of Canaan, the land where their ancestors sojourned. 41 And when Pharaoh heard the words of Jethro he was very angry with him, so that he rose with shame from the king's presence, and went to Midian, his land, and took Joseph's stick with him. 42 And the king said to Job the Uzite, What sayest thou Job, and what is thy advice respecting the Hebrews? 43 So Job said to the king, Behold all the inhabitants of the land are in thy power, let the king do as it seems good in his eyes. 44 And the king said unto Balaam, What dost thou say, Balaam, speak thy word that we may hear it. 45 And Balaam said to the king, Of all that the king has counselled against the Hebrews will they be delivered, and the king will not be able to prevail over them with any counsel. 46 For if thou thinkest to lessen them by the flaming fire, thou canst not prevail over them, for surely their God delivered Abraham their father from Ur of the Chaldeans; and if thou thinkest to destroy them with a sword, surely Isaac their father was delivered from it, and a ram was placed in his stead. 47 And if with hard and rigorous labor thou thinkest to lessen them, thou wilt not prevail even in this, for their father Jacob served Laban in all manner of hard work, and prospered. 48 Now therefore, O King, hear my words, for this is the counsel which is counselled against them, by which thou wilt prevail over them, and from which thou shouldst not depart. 49 If it please the king let him order all their children which shall be born from this day forward, to be thrown into the water, for by this canst thou wipe away their name, for none of them, nor of their fathers, were tried in this manner. 50 And the king heard the words of Balaam, and the thing pleased the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of Balaam. 51 And the king ordered a proclamation to be issued and a law to be made throughout the land of Egypt, saying, Every male child born to the Hebrews from this day forward shall be thrown into the water. 52 And Pharaoh called unto all his servants, saying, Go now and seek throughout the land of Goshen where the children of Israel are, and see that every son born to the Hebrews shall be cast into the river, but every daughter you shall let live. 53 And when the children of Israel heard this thing which Pharaoh had commanded, to cast their male children into the river, some of the people separated from their wives and others adhered to them. 54 And from that day forward, when the time of delivery arrived to those women of Israel who had remained with their husbands, they went to the field to bring forth there, and they brought forth in the field, and left their children upon the field and returned home. 55 And the Lord who had sworn to their ancestors to multiply them, sent one of his ministering angels which are in heaven to wash each child in water, to anoint and swathe it and to put into its hands two smooth stones from one of which it sucked milk and from the other honey, and he caused its hair to grow to its knees, by which it might cover itself; to comfort it and to cleave to it, through his compassion for it. 56 And when God had compassion over them and had desired to multiply them upon the face of the land, he ordered his earth to receive them to be preserved therein till the time of their growing up, after which the earth opened its mouth and vomited them forth and they sprouted forth from the city like the herb of the earth, and the grass of the forest, and they returned each to his family and to his father's house, and they remained with them. 57 And the babes of the children of Israel were upon the earth like the herb of the field, through God's grace to them. 58 And when all the Egyptians saw this thing, they went forth, each to his field with his yoke of oxen and his ploughshare, and they ploughed it up as one ploughs the earth at seed time. 59 And when they ploughed they were unable to hurt the infants of the children of Israel, so the people increased and waxed exceedingly. 60 And Pharaoh ordered his officers daily to go to Goshen to seek for the babes of the children of Israel. 61 And when they had sought and found one, they took it from its mother's bosom by force, and threw it into the river, but the female child they left with its mother; thus did the Egyptians do to the Israelites all the days. 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