Book of Jasher 29
Chapter 29
1.
And Isaac the son of Abraham became
old and advanced in days, and his eyes became heavy through age; they were dim
and could not see.
2.
At that time Isaac called unto Esau his
son, saying, Get I pray thee thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, rise up and
go forth into the field and get me some venison, and make me savory meat and
bring it to me, that I may eat in order that I may bless thee before my death,
as I have now become old and gray-headed.
3.
And Esau did so; and he took his
weapon and went forth into the field to hunt for venison, as usual, to bring to
his father as he had ordered him, so that he might bless him.
4.
And Rebecca heard all the words that
Isaac had spoken unto Esau, and she hastened and called her son Jacob, saying,
Thus did thy father speak unto thy brother Esau, and thus did I hear, now
therefore hasten thou and make that which I shall tell thee.
5.
Rise up and go, I pray thee, to the
flock and fetch me two fine kids of the goats, and I will get the savory meat
for thy father, and thou shalt bring the savory meat
that he may eat before thy brother shall have come from the chase, in order
that thy father may bless thee.
6.
And Jacob hastened and did as his
mother had commanded him, and he made the savory meat and brought it before his
father before Esau had come from his chase.
7.
And Isaac said unto Jacob, Who art
thou, my son? And he said, I am thy first born Esau, I have done as thou didst
order me, now therefore rise up I pray thee, and eat of my hunt, in order that
thy soul may bless me as thou didst speak unto me.
8.
And Isaac rose up and he ate and he
drank, and his heart was comforted, and he blessed Jacob and Jacob went away
from his father; and as soon as Isaac had blessed Jacob and he had gone away
from him, behold Esau came from his hunt from the field, and he also made
savory meat and brought it to his father to eat thereof and to bless him.
9.
And Isaac said unto Esau, And who was
he that has taken venison and brought it me before thou camest
and whom I did bless? And Esau knew that his brother Jacob had done this, and
the anger of Esau was kindled against his brother Jacob that he had acted thus
toward him.
10.
And Esau said, Is he not rightly
called Jacob? for he has supplanted me twice, he took away my birthright and
now he has taken away my blessing; and Esau wept greatly; and when Isaac heard
the voice of his son Esau weeping, Isaac said unto Esau, What can I do, my son,
thy brother came with subtlety and took away thy blessing; and Esau hated his
brother Jacob on account of the blessing that his father had given him, and his
anger was greatly roused against him.
11.
And Jacob was very much afraid of his
brother Esau, and he rose up and fled to the house of Eber
the son of Shem, and he concealed himself there on account of his brother, and
Jacob was sixty-three years old when he went forth from the land of Canaan from
Hebron, and Jacob was concealed in Eber’s house
fourteen years on account of his brother Esau, and he there continued to learn
the ways of the Lord and his commandments.
12.
And when Esau saw that Jacob had fled
and escaped from him, and that Jacob had cunningly obtained the blessing, then
Esau grieved exceedingly, and he was also vexed at his father and mother; and
he also rose up and took his wife and went away from his father and mother to
the land of Seir, and he dwelt there; and Esau saw
there a woman from amongst the daughters of Heth
whose name was Bosmath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and he took her for a wife in addition to
his first wife, and Esau called her name Adah, saying
the blessing had in that time passed from him.
13.
And Esau dwelt in the
without seeing his father and mother, and afterward Esau took his wives and
rose up and returned to the
placed his two wives in his father’s house in
14.
And the wives of Esau vexed and
provoked Isaac and Rebecca with their works, for they walked not in the ways of
the Lord, but served their father’s gods of wood and stone as their father had
taught them, and they were more wicked than their father.
15.
And they went according to the evil
desires of their hearts, and they sacrificed and burnt incense to the Baalim, and Isaac and Rebecca became weary of them.
16.
And Rebecca said, I am weary of my
life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob take
a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which
are of the daughters of the land, what good then is life unto me?
17.
And in those days Adah
the wife of Esau conceived and bare him a son, and Esau called the name of the
son that was born unto him Eliphaz, and Esau was
sixty-five years old when she bare him.
18.
And Ishmael the son of Abraham died
in those days, in the sixty-forth year of the life of Jacob, and all the days
that Ishmael lived were one hundred and thirty-seven years and he died.
19.
And when Isaac heard that Ishmael was
dead he mourned for him, and Isaac lamented over him many days.
20.
And at the end of fourteen years of
Jacob’s residing in the house of Eber, Jacob desired
to see his father and mother, and Jacob came to the house of his father and
mother to Hebron, and Esau had in those days forgotten what Jacob had done to
him in having taken the blessing from him in those days.
21.
And when Esau saw Jacob coming to his
father and mother he remembered what Jacob had done to him, and he was greatly
incensed against him and he sought to slay him.
22.
And Isaac the son of Abraham was old
and advanced in days, and Esau said, Now my father’s time is drawing nigh that
he must die, and when he shall die I will slay my brother Jacob.
23.
And this was told to Rebecca, and she
hastened and sent and called for Jacob her son, and she said unto him, Arise,
go and flee to Haran to my brother Laban, and remain there for some time, until thy brother’s
anger be turned from thee and then shalt thou come
back.
24.
And Isaac called unto Jacob and said
unto him, Take not a wife from the daughters of Canaan, for thus did our father
Abraham command us according to the word of the Lord which he had commanded
him, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; if thy children keep my
covenant that I have made with thee, then will I also perform to thy children
that which I have spoken unto thee and I will not forsake them.
25.
Now therefore my son hearken to my
voice, to all that I shall command thee, and refrain from taking a wife from
amongst the daughters of Canaan; arise, go to Haran
to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father, and take
unto thee a wife from there from the daughters of Laban
thy mother’s brother.
26.
Therefore take heed lest thou shouldst forget the Lord thy God and all his ways in the
land to which thou goest, and shouldst
get connected with the people of the land and pursue vanity and forsake the
Lord thy God.
27.
But when thou comest
to the land serve there the Lord, do not turn to the right or to the left from
the way which I commanded thee and which thou didst learn.
28.
And may the Almighty God grant thee
favor in the sight of the people of the earth, that thou mayest
take there a wife according to thy choice; one who is good and upright in the
ways of the Lord.
29.
And may God give unto thee and thy
seed the blessing of thy father Abraham, and make thee fruitful and multiply
thee, and mayest thou become a multitude of people in
the land whither thou goest, and may God cause thee
to return to this land, the land of thy father’s dwelling, with children and
with great riches, with joy and with pleasure.
30.
And Isaac finished commanding Jacob
and blessing him, and he gave him many gifts, together with silver and gold,
and he sent him away; and Jacob hearkened to his father and mother; he kissed
them and arose and went to Padan-aram; and Jacob was
seventy-seven years old when he went out from the
31.
And when Jacob went away to go to Haran Esau called unto his son Eliphaz,
and secretly spoke unto him, saying, Now hasten, take thy sword in thy hand and
pursue Jacob and pass before him in the road, and lurk for him, and slay him
with thy sword in one of the mountains, and take all belonging to him and come
back.
32.
And Eliphaz
the son of Esau was an active man and expert with the bow as his father had
taught him, and he was a noted hunter in the field and a valiant man.
33.
And Eliphaz
did as his father had commanded him, and Eliphaz was
at that time thirteen years old, and Eliphaz rose up
and went and took ten of his mother’s brothers with him and pursued Jacob.
34.
And he closely followed Jacob, and he
lurked for him in the border of the
the city of
35.
And Jacob saw Eliphaz
and his men pursuing him, and Jacob stood still in the place in which he was
going, in order to know what this was, for he did not know the thing; and Eliphaz drew his sword and he went on advancing, he and his
men, toward Jacob; and Jacob said unto them, What is to do with you that you
have come hither, and what meaneth it that you pursue
with your swords.
36.
And Eliphaz
came near to Jacob and he answered and said unto him, Thus did my father
command me, and now therefore I will not deviate from the orders which my
father gave me; and when Jacob saw that Esau had spoken to Eliphaz
to employ force, Jacob then approached and supplicated Eliphaz
and his men, saying to him,
37.
Behold all that I have and which my
father and mother gave unto me, that take unto thee and go from me, and do not
slay me, and may this thing be accounted unto thee a righteousness.
38.
And the Lord caused Jacob to find
favor in the sight of Eliphaz the son of Esau, and
his men, and they hearkened to the voice of Jacob, and they did not put him to
death, and Eliphaz and his men took all belonging to
Jacob together with the silver and gold that he had brought with him from
Beersheba; they left him nothing.
39.
And Eliphaz
and his men went away from him and they returned to Esau to
him all that had occurred to them with Jacob, and they gave him all that they
had taken from Jacob.
40.
And Esau was indignant at Eliphaz his son, and at his men that were with him, because
they had not put Jacob to death.
41.
And they answered and said unto Esau,
Because Jacob supplicated us in this matter not to slay him, our pity was
excited toward him, and we took all belonging to him and brought it unto thee;
and Esau took all the silver and gold which Eliphaz
had taken from Jacob and he put them by in his house.
42.
At that time when Esau saw that Isaac
had blessed Jacob, and had commanded him, saying, Thou shalt
not take a wife from amongst the daughters of Canaan, and that the daughters of
Canaan were bad in the sight of Isaac and Rebecca,
43.
Then he went to the house of Ishmael
his uncle, and in addition to his older wives he took Machlath
the daughter of Ishmael, the sister of Nebayoth, for
a wife.
