International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Jashar, Book of
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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Jashar, Book of
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jā´shar, jash´ar (היּש×ר ספר, sÌ£eÌ„pher ha-yaÌ„shaÌ„r; the King James Version Book of Jasher, margin “the book of the uprightâ€): The title of an ancient Hebrew national song-book (literally, “book of the righteous oneâ€) from which two quotations are made in the Old Testament: (1) -14, the command of Joshua to the sun and moon, “Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon.... Is not this written in the book of Jashar?†(see BETH-HORON; Septuagint in this place omits the reference to Jashar); and (2) , “the song of the bow,†or lament of David over Saul and Jonathan. (3) Some conjecture a third extract in , “Then spake Solomon, Yahweh hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.†The words of Yahweh are quoted by Septuagint in as “written in the book of the song†(en biblıÌoÌ„ teÌ„Ìs oÌ„deÌ„Ìs), and it is pointed out that the words “the song†(in Hebrew השּ×יר, ha-shı̄r) might easily be a corruption of היּש×ר, ha-yaÌ„shaÌ„rÌŒ. A similar confusion (“song†for “righteousâ€) may explain the fact that the Peshitta Syriac of Joshua has for a title “the book of praises or hymns.†The book evidently was a well-known one, and may have been a gradual collection of religious and national songs. It is conjectured that it may have included the Song of Deborah (Jdg 5), and older pieces now found in the Pentateuch (e.g. , ; -27; -29); this, however, is uncertain. On the curious theories and speculations of the rabbis and others about the book (that it was the Book of the Law, of Genesis, etc.), with the fantastic reconstructive theory of Dr. Donaldson in his Jashar, see the full article in HDB.