The Book of Jasher, a text referenced in the Bible itself (Joshua 10:13 and (2 Samuel 1:1)8), gives us some intriguing details..
After Enoch ascended into heaven—yes, that Enoch—his son Methuselah took over as a leader. According to the Book of Jasher, the kings of the earth anointed Methuselah, and he reigned in his father's place. For a good long while, Methuselah kept things on the straight and narrow, teaching wisdom, knowledge, and the fear of God. He didn’t stray from the path, "either to the right or to the left."
But, as often happens, things eventually went south.
The text tells us that towards the end of Methuselah's life, people started turning away from God. They corrupted the earth, robbed each other, and just generally caused chaos. They wouldn't listen to Methuselah, rebelling against his teachings. Sound familiar? The midrash (rabbinic commentary) often paints a picture of increasing societal breakdown leading up to major divine interventions.
And the land itself reflected this moral decay. The Lord, exceedingly angry, stopped the earth from producing. People would sow seeds, hoping for a harvest, but instead, they'd get thorns and thistles. Imagine the desperation, the frustration! Yet, even this didn’t turn them around. They continued down their destructive path, provoking God, who "repented that he had made man." A pretty strong statement. The Book of Jasher then tells us that Lamech, Methuselah's son, was 160 years old when Seth, Adam's son, died at the ripe old age of 912. Talk about longevity!
Lamech then married Ashmua, the daughter of Elishaa, Enoch's son – so, his cousin. She conceived. Even though a little food started growing again, humanity didn't learn its lesson; they still trespassed and rebelled against God.
Then comes a pivotal moment: Lamech's wife gives birth to a son. This child is named Noah. Methuselah, his grandfather, gives him the name Noah, saying that "the earth was in his days at rest and free from corruption.” Lamech, his father, calls him Menachem, hoping that "this one shall comfort us in our works and miserable toil in the earth, which God had cursed." Two names, two hopes for the future. We see this naming tradition echoed in other parts of Jewish lore.
Noah grows up following the ways of his grandfather, Methuselah – a beacon of righteousness in a darkening world.
But the darkness continues to spread. The Book of Jasher emphasizes the widespread corruption: people taught each other evil practices and continued sinning. They made their own gods, robbed and plundered each other, and the earth became filled with violence.
The text gets even more specific: Judges and rulers took women by force. And here's where it gets really interesting. People started experimenting with mixing different animal species, "in order therewith to provoke the Lord." As we see here, the idea of kilayim, mixtures forbidden in Torah, extended beyond just plant life. This detail gives us a glimpse into the kinds of transgressions that were believed to have led to God's decision to bring the Flood.
God sees all this and declares, "I will blot out man that I created from the face of the earth… for I repent that I made them."
However, the Book of Jasher adds a poignant detail: all those who walked in the ways of the Lord died before the Flood. This was so they wouldn't have to witness the destruction. A mercy, perhaps?
And finally, we arrive at the key point: "Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord." God chose him and his children to rebuild the world.
So, what do we take away from this chapter? It's a stark reminder of the consequences of widespread corruption and the importance of remaining righteous, even when surrounded by darkness. It also highlights the theme of hope, embodied by Noah, even in the face of impending doom. It reminds us that even when things seem utterly bleak, there's always the potential for a new beginning.
Sacred-texts Apocrypha Index Previous Next Book of Jasher, Chapter 4 1 And all the days that Enoch lived upon earth, were three hundred and sixty-five years. 2 And when Enoch had ascended into heaven, all the kings of the earth rose and took Methuselah his son and anointed him, and they caused him to reign over them in the place of his father. 3 And Methuselah acted uprightly in the sight of God, as his father Enoch had taught him, and he likewise during the whole of his life taught the sons of men wisdom, knowledge and the fear of God, and he did not turn from the good way either to the right or to the left. 4 But in the latter days of Methuselah, the sons of men turned from the Lord, they corrupted the earth, they robbed and plundered each other, and they rebelled against God and they transgressed, and they corrupted their ways, and would not hearken to the voice of Methuselah, but rebelled against him. 5 And the Lord was exceedingly wroth against them, and the Lord continued to destroy the seed in those days, so that there was neither sowing nor reaping in the earth. 6 For when they sowed the ground in order that they might obtain food for their support, behold, thorns and thistles were produced which they did not sow. 7 And still the sons of men did not turn from their evil ways, and their hands were still extended to do evil in the sight of God, and they provoked the Lord with their evil ways, and the Lord was very wroth, and repented that he had made man. 8 And he thought to destroy and annihilate them and he did so. 9 In those days when Lamech the son of Methuselah was one hundred and sixty years old, Seth the son of Adam died. 10 And all the days that Seth lived, were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died. 11 And Lamech was one hundred and eighty years old when he took Ashmua, the daughter of Elishaa the son of Enoch his uncle, and she conceived. 12 And at that time the sons of men sowed the ground, and a little food was produced, yet the sons of men did not turn from their evil ways, and they trespassed and rebelled against God. 13 And the wife of Lamech conceived and bare him a son at that time, at the revolution of the year. 14 And Methuselah called his name Noah, saying, The earth was in his days at rest and free from corruption, and Lamech his father called his name Menachem, saying, This one shall comfort us in our works and miserable toil in the earth, which God had cursed. 15 And the child grew up and was weaned, and he went in the ways of his father Methuselah, perfect and upright with God. 16 And all the sons of men departed from the ways of the Lord in those days as they multiplied upon the face of the earth with sons and daughters, and they taught one another their evil practices and they continued sinning against the Lord. 17 And every man made unto himself a god, and they robbed and plundered every man his neighbor as well as his relative, and they corrupted the earth, and the earth was filled with violence. 18 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. 19 And the Lord said, I will blot out man that I created from the face of the earth, yea from man to the birds of the air, together with cattle and beasts that are in the field for I repent that I made them. 20 And all men who walked in the ways of the Lord, died in those days, before the Lord brought the evil upon man which he had declared, for this was from the Lord, that they should not see the evil which the Lord spoke of concerning the sons of men. 21 And Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord chose him and his children to raise up seed from them upon the face of the whole earth. Next: Chapter 5 Sacred Texts | Christianity « Previous: Book of Jasher, Chapter 3 Index Next: Book of Jasher, Chapter 5 »
