The version we're looking at today is a medieval text that claims to be that lost book. Think of it as a kind of ancient historical fiction, filling in gaps and offering its own unique perspective on biblical events.
Chapter 10 picks up after the Tower of Babel. Remember that story? Humanity, united and speaking one language, tries to build a tower reaching to heaven. God, not thrilled with this ambition, scatters them across the earth and confuses their languages. What happens next?
The Book of Jasher tells us that after this scattering, the sons of men "spread forth into many divisions… dispersed into the four corners of the earth," each family developing its own language, settling its own land, and building its own cities. Each group named their new home after themselves, their children, or significant events. It's a story of rebuilding, of diversification, and of laying the foundations for the world as we know it.
Specifically, the text details the descendants of Noah's sons – Japheth, Ham, and Shem – and the lands they populated. The sons of Japheth, according to Jasher, spread throughout Europe and parts of Asia. We hear about the Francum (likely the Franks) in the land of Franza (France), the Bartonim in Bartonia (perhaps Britain), and the Javanim in Makdonia (Macedonia). The children of Tugarma are said to have become ten families, settling in the north and building cities along the rivers Hithlah and Italac. It's like a very ancient, somewhat speculative, map of the world taking shape.
Then comes the line of Ham, traditionally associated with Africa and parts of the Middle East. His descendants, including Cush, Mitzraim (Egypt), Phut, and Canaan, also built cities and named them accordingly. We even get a mention of the infamous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, built by four men who named them after themselves.
Finally, we have the line of Shem, often associated with the Semitic peoples. His descendants, including Elam, Ashur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram, also went their separate ways, building cities and establishing their own identities. Notably, we learn that Ashur and his family ventured to a distant land and built the cities of Ninevah, Resen, Calach, and Rehobother, remaining there to this day.
It's fascinating to see how this text attempts to connect biblical figures to later nations and cultures. It's important to remember that this is one particular tradition, and not necessarily a historically accurate account. Modern historians and linguists have different theories about the origins of languages and the migrations of peoples.
But the Book of Jasher isn't really trying to be a modern history textbook. It's more interested in telling a story about origins, about how the world as the author knew it came to be. It’s about giving names and identities to the nations, grounding them in a biblical narrative.
It’s also a reminder that even after a cataclysmic event like the Tower of Babel, humanity persevered. People rebuilt, they adapted, and they created new societies. Each group, while distinct, was still part of the larger human family, descended from Noah and ultimately connected to one another.
What does it all mean? Perhaps it's a call to remember our shared ancestry, even as we celebrate our diverse cultures and identities. Maybe it’s an encouragement to build bridges, rather than towers that reach for the sky in hubris. Whatever you take away from it, the Book of Jasher offers a unique and thought-provoking glimpse into how one ancient tradition understood the origins of our world.
Sacred-texts Apocrypha Index Previous Next Book of Jasher, Chapter 10 1 And Peleg the son of Eber died in those days, in the forty-eighth year of the life of Abram son of Terah, and all the days of Peleg were two hundred and thirty-nine years. 2 And when the Lord had scattered the sons of men on account of their sin at the tower, behold they spread forth into many divisions, and all the sons of men were dispersed into the four corners of the earth. 3 And all the families became each according to its language, its land, or its city. 4 And the sons of men built many cities according to their families, in all the places where they went, and throughout the earth where the Lord had scattered them. 5 And some of them built cities in places from which they were afterward extirpated, and they called these cities after their own names, or the names of their children, or after their particular occurrences. 6 And the sons of Japheth the son of Noah went and built themselves cities in the places where they were scattered, and they called all their cities after their names, and the sons of Japheth were divided upon the face of the earth into many divisions and languages. 7 And these are the sons of Japheth according to their families, Gomer, Magog, Medai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras; these are the children of Japheth according to their generations. 8 And the children of Gomer, according to their cities, were the Francum, who dwell in the land of Franza, by the river Franza, by the river Senah. 9 And the children of Rephath are the Bartonim, who dwell in the land of Bartonia by the river Ledah, which empties its waters in the great sea Gihon, that is, oceanus. 10 And the children of Tugarma are ten families, and these are their names: Buzar, Parzunac, Balgar, Elicanum, Ragbib, Tarki, Bid, Zebuc, Ongal and Tilmaz; all these spread and rested in the north and built themselves cities. 11 And they called their cities after their own names, those are they who abide by the rivers Hithlah and Italac unto this day. 12 But the families of Angoli, Balgar and Parzunac, they dwell by the great river Dubnee; and the names of their cities are also according to their own names. 13 And the children of Javan are the Javanim who dwell in the land of Makdonia, and the children of Medaiare are the Orelum that dwell in the land of Curson, and the children of Tubal are those that dwell in the land of Tuskanah by the river Pashiah. 14 And the children of Meshech are the Shibashni and the children of Tiras are Rushash, Cushni, and Ongolis; all these went and built themselves cities; those are the cities that are situate by the sea Jabus by the river Cura, which empties itself in the river Tragan. 15 And the children of Elishah are the Almanim, and they also went and built themselves cities; those are the cities situate between the mountains of Job and Shibathmo; and of them were the people of Lumbardi who dwell opposite the mountains of Job and Shibathmo, and they conquered the land of Italia and remained there unto this day. 16 And the children of Chittim are the Romim who dwell in the valley of Canopia by the river Tibreu. 17 And the children of Dudonim are those who dwell in the cities of the sea Gihon, in the land of Bordna. 18 These are the families of the children of Japheth according to their cities and languages, when they were scattered after the tower, and they called their cities after their names and occurrences; and these are the names of all their cities according to their families, which they built in those days after the tower. 19 And the children of Ham were Cush, Mitzraim, Phut and Canaan according to their generation and cities. 20 All these went and built themselves cities as they found fit places for them, and they called their cities after the names of their fathers Cush, Mitzraim, Phut and Canaan. 21 And the children of Mitzraim are the Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuchim, Pathrusim, Casluchim and Caphturim, seven families. 22 All these dwell by the river Sihor, that is the brook of Egypt, and they built themselves cities and called them after their own names. 23 And the children of Pathros and Casloch intermarried together, and from them went forth the Pelishtim, the Azathim, and the Gerarim, the Githim and the Ekronim, in all five families; these also built themselves cities, and they called their cities after the names of their fathers unto this day. 24 And the children of Canaan also built themselves cities, and they called their cities after their names, eleven cities and others without number. 25 And four men from the family of Ham went to the land of the plain; these are the names of the four men, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim. 26 And these men built themselves four cities in the land of the plain, and they called the names of their cities after their own names. 27 And they and their children and all belonging to them dwelt in those cities, and they were fruitful and multiplied greatly and dwelt peaceably. 28 And Seir the son of Hur, son of Hivi, son of Canaan, went and found a valley opposite to Mount Paran, and he built a city there, and he and his seven sons and his household dwelt there, and he called the city which he built Seir, according to his name; that is the land of Seir unto this day. 29 These are the families of the children of Ham, according to their languages and cities, when they were scattered to their countries after the tower. 30 And some of the children of Shem son of Noah, father of all the children of Eber, also went and built themselves cities in the places wherein they were scattered, and they called their cities after their names. 31 And the sons of Shem were Elam, Ashur, Arpachshad, Lud and Aram, and they built themselves cities and called the names of all their cities after their names. 32 And Ashur son of Shem and his children and household went forth at that time, a very large body of them, and they went to a distant land that they found, and they met with a very extensive valley in the land that they went to, and they built themselves four cities, and they called them after their own names and occurrences. 33 And these are the names of the cities which the children of Ashur built, Ninevah, Resen, Calach and Rehobother; and the children of Ashur dwell there unto this day. 34 And the children of Aram also went and built themselves a city, and they called the name of the city Uz after their eldest brother, and they dwell therein; that is the land of Uz to this day. 35 And in the second year after the tower a man from the house of Ashur, whose name was Bela, went from the land of Ninevah to sojourn with his household wherever he could find a place; and they came until opposite the cities of the plain against Sodom, and they dwelt there. 36 And the man rose up and built there a small city, and called its name Bela, after his name; that is the land of Zoar unto this day. 37 And these are the families of the children of Shem according to their language and cities, after they were scattered upon the earth after the tower. 38 And every kingdom, city, and family of the families of the children of Noah built themselves many cities after this. 39 And they established governments in all their cities, in order to be regulated by their orders; so did all the families of the children of Noah forever. 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