The story continues, of course! And today, we're diving into Chapter 88 of the Book of Jasher to see what happened as the Israelites finally entered the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua.
The Book of Jasher (or, in Hebrew, Sefer haYashar) is an ancient text referenced in the Bible itself – (Joshua 10:13) and (2 (Samuel 1:1)8) both mention it. While not considered part of the canonical Hebrew Bible, it’s a fascinating source for expanding on biblical narratives and exploring Jewish history and legend.
So, what does Chapter 88 tell us?
Well, right after Moses' death, God speaks to Joshua, son of Nun, with a powerful message: "Rise up and pass the Jordan to the land which I have given to the children of Israel...Every place upon which the sole of your feet shall tread shall belong to you." It’s a bold declaration, a promise of inheriting the land flowing with milk and honey. God reassures Joshua, "As I was with Moses, so will I be with thee." But there's a condition: Joshua must be strong and courageous, observing all the laws that Moses commanded, turning neither to the right nor to the left. In other words, stick to the path, and success will follow.
Joshua, now the leader, gets right to work. He commands his officers to prepare the people for crossing the Jordan River in just three days. He also sends two spies to scout out the city of Jericho. They return with good news: "The Lord has delivered the whole land into our hand, and the inhabitants thereof are melted with fear because of us." Talk about a confidence boost!
The Israelites cross the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camp in Gilgal, near Jericho. They celebrate Passover, remembering their liberation from Egypt, as prescribed in the law of Moses. And here's a significant moment: the manna, the miraculous food that sustained them in the desert, ceases. Now, they'll eat the produce of the land of Canaan. A new chapter begins.
Jericho, however, is a problem. It's tightly shut up, no one going in or out. So, God gives Joshua a rather unconventional battle plan. For six days, the fighting men are to march around the city once a day, priests blowing trumpets. On the seventh day, they march around seven times. Then, at the sound of the trumpet, the people are to shout, and…the walls will fall down.
Sound a bit… unbelievable? Yet, that's exactly what happens! Joshua follows God's instructions to the letter. On the seventh day, after the seventh circuit, he commands the people to shout. "…the walls of Jericho fell down," the text tells us, "and all the people went up, every man straight before him, and they took the city."
But there's a catch. Everything in the city is to be considered accursed, or herem in Hebrew, meaning devoted to God for destruction. The people are warned not to take anything for themselves, lest they bring a curse upon the camp. All the silver, gold, brass, and iron are to be consecrated to the Lord's treasury. They utterly destroy everything in Jericho, man, woman, young, old, even the animals. Only the precious metals are spared for the treasury.
Joshua then pronounces a curse: whoever rebuilds Jericho will lay its foundation with the loss of his firstborn son and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest. A pretty serious warning!
Tragedy strikes. Someone disobeys. Achan, from the tribe of Judah, takes some of the accursed things – a beautiful garment, silver, and gold – and hides them in his tent. This act brings the anger of the Lord upon Israel.
Next, Joshua sends men to scout out the city of Ai. They report that it's a small city, easily taken with just a few thousand men. But in the ensuing battle, the Israelites are defeated, and thirty-six men are killed. This is a major blow, and Joshua is devastated. He tears his clothes, falls to the ground, and cries out to God, "Why, O Lord, didst thou bring this people over the Jordan?"
God reveals the reason: the Israelites have sinned by taking the accursed things. He demands that they destroy the accursed things from among them, or He will no longer be with them. Joshua assembles the people and uses the Urim (a method of divination using sacred lots) to identify the guilty party. The lot falls on Achan.
Achan confesses: he saw the beautiful garment, the silver, and the gold, and he coveted them. He admits to hiding them in his tent. Joshua retrieves the stolen items and brings Achan, his family, and all his possessions to the Valley of Achor. There, they are burned with fire, and Achan is stoned to death. The place is named the Valley of Achor (meaning "trouble") because Achan’s sin brought trouble upon Israel. Only then is the Lord's anger appeased.
With the sin purged, God assures Joshua of victory over Ai. He instructs Joshua to set an ambush. Joshua follows God's plan. The Israelites pretend to flee, drawing the men of Ai out of their city. The hidden Israelite soldiers then seize the undefended city and set it on fire. Trapped between the two Israelite forces, the men of Ai are utterly destroyed. The king of Ai is hanged.
The Israelites take the cattle and spoil of the city for themselves, as God permitted. The total number of people killed in Ai is twelve thousand.
Word spreads about the Israelites' victories at Jericho and Ai. The kings of Canaan band together to fight against Israel. However, the inhabitants of Gibeon, fearing for their lives, resort to trickery. They pretend to be from a distant land and ask Joshua to make a covenant with them. Joshua and the Israelite leaders, without consulting God, make a treaty of peace with them.
Later, they discover that the Gibeonites are actually their neighbors. The Israelites are bound by their oath not to kill them, so they make them hewers of wood and drawers of water, essentially turning them into servants.
When Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, hears about Gibeon's alliance with Israel, he gathers four other kings to attack Gibeon. The Gibeonites appeal to Joshua for help. Joshua and his army march all night and surprise the five kings.
The Lord throws the Amorite kings into a panic and the Israelites inflict heavy losses, pursuing them to Beth Horon. As they flee, God sends hailstones from heaven, killing more of them than the Israelites do with their swords.
And then comes one of the most famous moments in the Book of Joshua. As the day is drawing to a close, and the Israelites are still pursuing their enemies, Joshua cries out, "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou moon in the valley of Ajalon; until the nation shall have avenged itself upon its enemies."
And the sun stands still! The text says it remained in the middle of the heavens for "six and thirty moments," and the moon also stood still. "There was no day like that," the Book of Jasher proclaims, "before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened to the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel." A truly miraculous event.
So, what do we take away from this chapter? It's a story of faith, obedience, and the consequences of disobedience. We see the incredible power of God at work, but also the very human struggles of the Israelites as they navigate their new land. Joshua emerges as a strong leader, but even he makes mistakes, highlighting the importance of always seeking divine guidance. And perhaps most importantly, it reminds us that even after great victories, vigilance and adherence to God's will are essential for continued success. The journey is far from over.
Sacred-texts Apocrypha Index Previous Next Book of Jasher, Chapter 88 1 And it was after the death of Moses that the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, saying, 2 Rise up and pass the Jordan to the land which I have given to the children of Israel, and thou shalt make the children of Israel inherit the land. 3 Every place upon which the sole of your feet shall tread shall belong to you, from the wilderness of Lebanon unto the great river the river of Perath shall be your boundary. 4 No man shall stand up against thee all the days of thy life; as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee, only be strong and of good courage to observe all the law which Moses commanded thee, turn not from the way either to the right or to the left, in order that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest. 5 And Joshua commanded the officers of Israel, saying, Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, Prepare for yourselves provisions, for in three days more you will pass the Jordan to possess the land. 6 And the officers of the children of Israel did so, and they commanded the people and they did all that Joshua had commanded. 7 And Joshua sent two men to spy out the land of Jericho, and the men went and spied out Jericho. 8 And at the end of seven days they came to Joshua in the camp and said to him, The Lord has delivered the whole land into our hand, and the inhabitants thereof are melted with fear because of us. 9 And it came to pass after that, that Joshua rose up in the morning and all Israel with him, and they journeyed from Shittim, and Joshua and all Israel with him passed the Jordan; and Joshua was eighty-two years old when he passed the Jordan with Israel. 10 And the people went up from Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped in Gilgal at the eastern corner of Jericho. 11 And the children of Israel kept the Passover in Gilgal, in the plains of Jericho, on the fourteenth day at the month, as it is written in the law of Moses. 12 And the manna ceased at that time on the morrow of the Passover, and there was no more manna for the children of Israel, and they ate of the produce of the land of Canaan. 13 And Jericho was entirely closed against the children of Israel, no one came out or went in. 14 And it was in the second month, on the first day of the month, that the Lord said to Joshua, Rise up, behold I have given Jericho into thy hand with all the people thereof; and all your fighting men shall go round the city, once each day, thus shall you do for six days. 15 And the priests shall blow upon trumpets, and when you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall give a great shouting, that the walls of the city shall fall down; all the people shall go up every man against his opponent. 16 And Joshua did so according to all that the Lord had commanded him. 17 And on the seventh day they went round the city seven times, and the priests blew upon trumpets. 18 And at the seventh round, Joshua said to the people, Shout, for the Lord has delivered the whole city into our hands. 19 Only the city and all that it contains shall be accursed to the Lord, and keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest you make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it. 20 But all the silver and gold and brass and iron shall be consecrated to the Lord, they shall come into the treasury of the Lord. 21 And the people blew upon trumpets and made a great shouting, and the walls of Jericho fell down, and all the people went up, every man straight before him, and they took the city and utterly destroyed all that was in it, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and ass, with the edge of the sword. 22 And they burned the whole city with fire; only the vessels of silver and gold, and brass and iron, they put into the treasury of the Lord. 23 And Joshua swore at that time, saying, Cursed be the man who builds Jericho; he shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates thereof. 24 And Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, son of Judah, dealt treacherously in the accursed thing, and he took of the accursed thing and hid it in the tent, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 25 And it was after this when the children of Israel had returned from burning Jericho, Joshua sent men to spy out also Ai, and to fight against it. 26 And the men went up and spied out Ai, and they returned and said, Let not all the people go up with thee to Ai, only let about three thousand men go up and smite the city, for the men thereof are but few. 27 And Joshua did so, and there went up with him of the children of Israel about three thousand men, and they fought against the men of Ai. 28 And the battle was severe against Israel, and the men of Ai smote thirty-six men of Israel, and the children of Israel fled from before the men of Ai. 29 And when Joshua saw this thing, he tore his garments and fell upon his face to the ground before the Lord, he, with the elders of Israel, and they put dust upon their heads. 30 And Joshua said, Why O Lord didst thou bring this people over the Jordan? what shall I say after the Israelites have turned their backs against their enemies? 31 Now therefore all the Canaanites, inhabitants of the land, will hear this thing, and surround us and cut off our name. 32 And the Lord said to Joshua, Why dost thou fall upon thy face? rise, get thee off, for the Israelites have sinned, and taken of the accursed thing; I will no more be with them unless they destroy the accursed thing from amongst them. 33 And Joshua rose up and assembled the people, and brought the Urim by the order of the Lord, and the tribe of Judah was taken, and Achan the son of Carmi was taken. 34 And Joshua said to Achan, Tell me my son, what hast thou done, and Achan said, I saw amongst the spoil a goodly garment of Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight; I coveted them and took them, and behold they are all hid in the earth in the midst of the tent. 35 And Joshua sent men who went and took them from the tent of Achan, and they brought them to Joshua. 36 And Joshua took Achan and these utensils, and his sons and daughters and all belonging to him, and they brought them into the valley of Achor. 37 And Joshua burned them there with fire, and all the Israelites stoned Achan with stones, and they raised over him a heap of stones, therefore did he call that place the valley of Achor, so the Lord's anger was appeased, and Joshua afterward came to the city and fought against it. 38 And the Lord said to Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed, behold I have given into thy hand Ai, her king and her people, and thou shalt do unto them as thou didst to Jericho and her king, only the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof shall you take for a prey for yourselves; lay an ambush for the city behind it. 39 So Joshua did according to the word of the Lord, and he chose from amongst the sons of war thirty thousand valiant men, and he sent them, and they lay in ambush for the city. 40 And he commanded them, saying, When you shall see us we will flee before them with cunning, and they will pursue us, you shall then rise out of the ambush and take the city, and they did so. 41 And Joshua fought, and the men of the city went out toward Israel, not knowing that they were lying in ambush for them behind the city. 42 And Joshua and all the Israelites feigned themselves wearied out before them, and they fled by the way of the wilderness with cunning. 43 And the men of Ai gathered all the people who were in the city to pursue the Israelites, and they went out and were drawn away from the city, not one remained, and they left the city open and pursued the Israelites. 44 And those who were lying in ambush rose up out of their places, and hastened to come to the city and took it and set it on fire, and the men of Ai turned back, and behold the smoke of the city ascended to the skies, and they had no means of retreating either one way or the other. 45 And all the men of Ai were in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side, and they smote them so that not one of them remained. 46 And the children of Israel took Melosh king of Ai alive, and they brought him to Joshua, and Joshua hanged him on a tree and he died. 47 And the children of Israel returned to the city after having burned it, and they smote all those that were in it with the edge of the sword. 48 And the number of those that had fallen of the men of Ai, both man and woman, was twelve thousand; only the cattle and the spoil of the city they took to themselves, according to the word of the Lord to Joshua. 49 And all the kings on this side Jordan, all the kings of Canaan, heard of the evil which the children of Israel had done to Jericho and to Ai, and they gathered themselves together to fight against Israel. 50 Only the inhabitants of Gibeon were greatly afraid of fighting against the Israelites lest they should perish, so they acted cunningly, and they came to Joshua and to all Israel, and said unto them, We have come from a distant land, now therefore make a covenant with us. 51 And the inhabitants of Gibeon over-reached the children of Israel, and the children of Israel made a covenant with them, and they made peace with them, and the princes of the congregation swore unto them, but afterward the children of Israel knew that they were neighbors to them and were dwelling amongst them. 52 But the children of Israel slew them not; for they had sworn to them by the Lord, and they became hewers of wood and drawers of water. 53 And Joshua said to them, Why did you deceive me, to do this thing to us? and they answered him, saying, Because it was told to thy servants all that you had done to all the kings of the Amorites, and we were greatly afraid of our lives, and we did this thing. 54 And Joshua appointed them on that day to hew wood and to draw water, and he divided them for slaves to all the tribes of Israel. 55 And when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem heard all that the children of Israel had done to Jericho and to Ai, he sent to Hoham king of Hebron and to Piram king at Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish and to Deber king of Eglon, saying, 56 Come up to me and help me, that we may smite the children of Israel and the inhabitants of Gibeon who have made peace with the children of Israel. 57 And they gathered themselves together and the five kings of the Amorites went up with all their camps, a mighty people numerous as the sand of the sea shore. 58 And all these kings came and encamped before Gibeon, and they began to fight against the inhabitants of Gibeon, and all the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua, saying, Come up quickly to us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites have gathered together to fight against us. 59 And Joshua and all the fighting people went up from Gilgal, and Joshua came suddenly to them, and smote these five kings with a great slaughter. 60 And the Lord confounded them before the children at Israel, who smote them with a terrible slaughter in Gibeon, and pursued them along the way that goes up to Beth Horon unto Makkedah, and they fled from before the children of Israel. 61 And whilst they were fleeing, the Lord sent upon them hailstones from heaven, and more of them died by the hailstones, than by the slaughter of the children of Israel. 62 And the children of Israel pursued them, and they still smote them in the road, going on and smiting them. 63 And when they were smiting, the day was declining toward evening, and Joshua said in the sight of all the people, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley of Ajalon, until the nation shall have revenged itself upon its enemies. 64 And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Joshua, and the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and it stood still six and thirty moments, and the moon also stood still and hastened not to go down a whole day. 65 And there was no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened to the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel. 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