4,128 texts · Page 5 of 86
They were definitely outnumbered, and not exactly popular with the neighbors. But then, something amazing happened. Chapter 35 of the Book of Jasher opens with all the kings of the...
Today, we're diving into one of those: a chapter from the Book of Jasher. This isn't the Biblical Book of Jasher referenced in Joshua and Samuel, mind you (that one's lost to time,...
The Bible gives us glimpses, but the Book of Jasher, an ancient Hebrew text referenced in the Bible itself (Joshua 10:13, (2 Samuel 1:1)8), offers a more detailed narrative.. The c...
That’s exactly what happens to Pharaoh in Chapter 48 of the Book of Jasher. The story opens with a looming crisis: a famine. "In those days, after the death of Isaac, the Lord comm...
Remember Joseph? The Hebrew slave who correctly interpreted Pharaoh's dream about the famine? Well, Pharaoh hasn't forgotten. According to the Book of Jasher, after seeing that Jos...
It's one of those fascinating texts just outside the mainstream of the Hebrew Bible, referenced in the Bible itself (Joshua 10:13 and (2 Samuel 1:1)8), yet remaining somewhat myste...
To recap, the brothers have already journeyed to Egypt to buy food during a brutal famine, encountering the powerful and mysterious Egyptian viceroy– who is secretly their long-los...
Picking up where we left off, Jacob’s sons, finally convinced to bring their youngest brother Benjamin, journey back to Egypt. Can you imagine the tension? They're carrying gifts, ...
Remember Joseph, the favored son sold into slavery in Egypt? He's now a powerful figure, and his brothers, unknowingly standing before him, are begging for the release of their you...
Chapter 57 of the Book of Jasher gives us a glimpse into a world where old rivalries simmer, erupt, and reshape the landscape. The chapter opens with a clash: the sons of Esau wage...
We know the biblical account, but there are other traditions that fill in the gaps, offering a more detailed picture of his reign. Today, we’re diving into Chapter 58 of the Book o...
This tale comes from a different, less-known source: The Book of Jasher. Specifically, we’re diving into Chapter 60. Now, the Book of Jasher isn't part of the standard biblical can...
The chapter opens with Pharaoh, secure in his reign, commanding the construction of a magnificent palace. And who does he enlist to help? None other than the sons of Jacob, adding ...
Chapter 64 of the Book of Jasher throws us right into one of those cycles. We're back in a world of ancient grudges and shifting alliances. Balaam, son of Beor – yes, that Balaam, ...
The Book of Jasher, an ancient text referenced in the Bible itself (Joshua 10:13 and (2 Samuel 1:1)8), offers us a glimpse into just that – a world of expanded tales and alternativ...
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 Ja...
We all know the story of his dramatic rescue as a baby, floating down the Nile in a basket. But what happened next, after he was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter? The Book of Jasher, ...
It's considered by many to be part of the Apocrypha, a collection of writings of uncertain origin, that elaborates on stories from the Bible and fills in gaps. Think of it as histo...
Chapter 76 opens with Moses reigning as king in Cush, apparently thriving and ruling with justice for forty years! According to Jasher, "all the children of Cush loved Moses… and a...
There are entire books dedicated to filling in those gaps, offering tantalizing glimpses into the lives of our ancestors. One such book is the Book of Jasher, a work referenced in ...
The Book of Jasher, an ancient Hebrew text referenced in the Bible itself (Joshua 10:13 and (2 Samuel 1:1)8), fills in some of those gaps. It's like a behind-the-scenes look at the...
We know about Mount Sinai, the thunder, the lightning, the booming voice... but what about the days that followed?Book of Jasher and see what unfolded. The story picks up right aft...
That feeling of frustration, of being turned back just as you're reaching your goal... well, the Israelites knew it well. Chapter 85 of the Book of Jasher plunges us right into a m...
The teacher says "Aleph" and expects the child to repeat it. That's how Torah education works—has worked for centuries. But Ben Sira isn't a normal child. He's a newborn prodigy wh...
The teacher calls out the letter Bet. Ben Sira responds with a proverb that could have come straight from the book of Proverbs itself: "By the appearance of a beautiful woman have ...
For the letter Gimel, Ben Sira offers a proverb about trust: "Reveal your secret to one out of a thousand, even if you have many well-wishers." One out of a thousand. That's the ra...
The letter Dalet brings a warning about desire that cuts right to the bone: "Deprive your flesh of a graceful woman, like the flame of a coal." Like the flame of a coal. The metaph...
By the letter Hey, Ben Sira's proverbs have shifted from gentle warnings to something more direct: "Blind your eyes because of the graceful woman, lest you be caught in her trap." ...
The letter Vav arrives, and Ben Sira delivers one of his sharpest proverbs yet: "Woe to one who follows after his eyes! And know that they are the product of straying, and there is...
The letter Zayin brings a proverb that circles back to the teacher's earlier obsession with beards: "Do not be thin-bearded or thick-bearded. Scorn these things, because you do not...
The letter Chet opens with Ben Sira's most provocative proverb so far: "Males are dear to all, but woe to fathers of females." Let's be clear about what this is. The Alphabet of Be...
The letter Tet continues the theme of fatherhood and daughters with a proverb that's as bleak as it is brief: "A daughter is a false image to her father. Out of fear of her, he doe...
The letter Yud picks up exactly where the previous proverb left off, and it doesn't hold back: "The watchman does not sleep. When she is a minor—lest she be seduced or assaulted in...
The letter Kaf pushes the father's worry even further into the future: "When you marry the daughter, you worry about her the most—lest she not have children. And when you are older...
The letter Lamed marks a sharp turn. After several proverbs about daughters, Ben Sira pivots to marriage itself: "Do not sleep in your youth, and when you are old, do not marry an ...
The letter Mem—which in Hebrew also means "water"—brings a proverb built entirely around that elemental image: "The waters of a virgin wife are sweet and add strength; the waters o...
The letter Nun delivers a proverb about the domestic nightmare the Alphabet of Ben Sira seems to fear most—not infidelity, not poverty, but a wife who won't stop talking: "Shake yo...
The Alphabet of Ben Sira, a satirical and provocative medieval text composed between 700 and 1000 CE, doesn't shy away from blunt advice about marriage. In this proverb, tied to th...
"Blind your eyes because of a widowed woman, and do not covet her beauty in your heart." That's what Ben Sira says, in the proverb attached to the Hebrew letter Ayin (ע)—and it's a...
"Control your face around evil friends. Do not walk on the road with them. Hold your feet back around them, lest you be caught in their trap." This proverb, corresponding to the le...
"My son, hide your money during your lifetime and store it, and until the day of your death, do not give it to your heirs." This is the proverb of the letter Tzadi (צ) in the Alpha...
"Acquire for yourself money, and a good wife, fear of God, and accumulate sons for yourself, even a hundred of them." The letter Kuf (ק) in the Alphabet of Ben Sira delivers a prov...
"Distance yourself from an evil neighbor and do not be counted among their friends." So begins the proverb of the letter Resh (ר) in the Alphabet of Ben Sira. It sounds like a stra...
"Listen, master, to what I am saying. Rest yourself from starting quarrels with your neighbors, and if you see something evil about your friend, do not produce their slander on you...
"Acquire for yourself gold coins, and all money, but do not tell your wife where the money is, even if she is good." And with that, the alphabetical proverbs of the Alphabet of Ben...
Ben Sira's teacher is freaking out. The boy has just rattled off proverbs for every letter of the Hebrew alphabet with the confidence of a seasoned sage, and his educator can only ...
A medieval text composed between 700 and 1000 CE, the child prodigy Ben Sira mastered the entirety of human and divine knowledge in just seven years. The text lays it out year by y...
Ben Sira's reputation for impossible feats of knowledge—like counting every grain of wheat in a bushel at a glance—eventually reached the court of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. ...
