Book of Jasher 57
Chapter 57
1.
And it was after this that the sons
of Esau waged war with the sons of Jacob, and the sons of Esau fought with the
sons of Jacob in
was still lying dead, and not buried.
2.
And the battle was heavy between
them, and the sons of Esau were smitten before the sons of Jacob, and the sons
of Jacob slew of the sons of Esau eighty men, and not one died of the people of
the sons of Jacob; and the hand of Joseph prevailed over all the people of the
sons of Esau, and he took Zepho, the son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, and fifty
of his men captive, and he bound them with chains of iron, and gave them into
the hand of his servants to bring them to Egypt.
3.
And it came to pass when the sons of
Jacob had taken Zepho and his people captive, all those that remained were
greatly afraid of their lives from the house of Esau, lest they should also be
taken captive, and they all fled with Eliphaz the son of Esau and his people,
with Esau’s body, and they went on their road to Mount Seir.
4.
And they came unto
buried Esau in Seir, but they had not brought his head with them to Seir, for
it was buried in that place where the battle had been in
5.
And it came to pass when the sons of
Esau had fled from before the sons of Jacob, the sons of Jacob pursued them
unto the borders of Seir, but they did not slay a single man from amongst them
when they pursued them, for Esau’s body which they carried with them excited
their confusion, so they fled and the sons of Jacob turned back from them and
came up to the place where their brethren were in Hebron, and they remained
there on that day, and on the next day until they rested from the battle.
6.
And it came to pass on the third day
they assembled all the sons of Seir the Horite, and they assembled all the
children of the east, a multitude of people like the sand of the sea, and they
went and came down to Egypt to fight with Joseph and his brethren, in order to
deliver their brethren.
7.
And Joseph and all the sons of Jacob
heard that the sons of Esau and the children of the east had come upon them to
battle in order to deliver their brethren.
8.
And Joseph and his brethren and the
strong men of
and fought in the city of
and his brethren dealt out a tremendous blow amongst the sons of Esau and the
children of the east.
9.
And they slew of them six hundred
thousand men, and they slew amongst them all the mighty men of the children of
Seir the Horite; there were only a few of them left, and they slew also a great
many of the children of the east, and of the children of Esau; and Eliphaz the
son of Esau, and the children of the east all fled before Joseph and his
brethren.
10.
And Joseph and his brethren pursued
them until they came unto Succoth, and they yet slew of them in Succoth thirty
men, and the rest escaped and they fled each to his city.
11.
And Joseph and his brethren and the
mighty men of
from them with joy and cheerfulness of heart, for they had smitten all their
enemies.
12.
And Zepho the son of Eliphaz and his
men were still slaves in
of Jacob, and their pains increased.
13.
And when the sons of Esau and the
sons of Seir returned to their land, the sons of Seir saw that they had all
fallen into the hands of the sons of Jacob, and the people of Egypt, on account
of the battle of the sons of Esau.
14.
And the sons of Seir said unto the
sons of Esau, You have seen andtherefore you know that this camp was on your
account, and not one mighty man or an adept in war remaineth.
15.
Now therefore go forth from our land,
go from us to the
of the dwelling of your fathers; wherefore shall your children inherit the
effects of our children in latter days?
16.
And the children of Esau would not
listen to the children of Seir, and the children of Seir considered to make war
with them.
17.
And the children of Esau sent
secretly to Angeas king of
Dinhabah, saying,
18.
Send unto us some of thy men and let
them come unto us, and we will fight together with the children of Seir the
Horite, for they have resolved to fight with us to drive us away from the land.
19.
And Angeas king of Dinhabah did so,
for he was in those days friendly to the children of Esau, and Angeas sent five
hundred valiant infantry to the children of Esau, and eight hundred cavalry.
20.
And the children of Seir sent unto
the children of the east and unto the children of Midian, saying, You have seen
what the children of Esau have done unto us, upon whose account we are almost
all destroyed, in their battle with the sons of Jacob.
21.
Now therefore come unto us and assist
us, and we will fight them together, and we will drive them from the land and
be avenged of the cause of our brethren who died for their sakes in their
battle with their brethren the sons of Jacob.
22.
And all the children of the east
listened to the children of Seir, and they came unto them about eight hundred
men with drawn swords, and the children of Esau fought with the children of
Seir at that time in the wilderness of Paran.
23.
And the children of Seir prevailed
then over the sons of Esau, and the children of Seir slew on that day of the
children of Esau in that battle about two hundred men of the people of Angeas
king of Dinhabah.
24.
And on the second day the children of
Esau came again to fight a second time with the children of Seir, and the
battle was sore upon the children of Esau this second time, and it troubled
them greatly on account of the children of Seir.
25.
And when the children of Esau saw
that the children of Seir were more powerful than they were, some men of the
children of Esau turned and assisted the children of Seir their enemies.
26.
And there fell yet of the people of
the children of Esau in the second battle fifty-eight men of the people at
Angeas king of Dinhabah.
27.
And on the third day the children of
Esau heard that some of their brethren had turned from them to fight against
them in the second battle; and the children of Esau mourned when they heard
this thing.
28.
And they said, What shall we do unto
our brethren who turned from us to assist the children of Seir our enemies? and
the children of Esau again sent to Angeas king of Dinhabah, saying,
29.
Send unto us again other men that
with them we may fight with the children of Seir, for they have already twice
been heavier than we were.
30.
And Angeas again sent to the children
of Esau about six hundred valiant men, and they came to assist the children of
Esau.
31.
And in ten days’ time the children of
Esau again waged war with the children of Seir in the wilderness of Paran, and
the battle was very severe upon the children of Seir, and the children of Esau
prevailed at this time over the children of Seir, and the children of Seir were
smitten before the children of Esau, and the children of Esau slew from them
about two thousand men.
32.
And all the mighty men of the
children of Seir died in this battle, and there only remained their young
children that were left in their cities.
33.
And all Midian and the children of
the east betook themselves to flight from the battle, and they left the
children of Seir and fled when they saw that the battle was severe upon them,
and the children of Esau pursued all the children of the east until they
reached their land.
34.
And the children of Esau slew yet of
them about two hundred and fifty men and from the people of the children of
Esau there fell in that battle about thirty men, but this evil came upon them
through their brethren turning from them to assist the children of Seir the
Horite, and the children of Esau again heard of the evil doings of their
brethren, and they again mourned on account of this thing.
35.
And it came to pass after the battle,
the children of Esau turned back and came home unto Seir, and the children of
Esau slew those who had remained in the land of the children of Seir; they slew
also their wives and little ones, they left not a soul alive except fifty young
lads and damsels whom they suffered to live, and the children of Esau did not
put them to death, and the lads became their slaves, and the damsels they took
for wives.
36.
And the children of Esau dwelt in
Seir in the place of the children of Seir, and they inherited their land and
took possession of it.
37.
And the children of Esau took all
belonging in the land to the children of Seir, also their flocks, their
bullocks and their goods, and all belonging to the children of Seir, did the
children of Esau take, and the children of Esau dwelt in Seir in the place of
the children of Seir unto this day, and the children of Esau divided the land
into divisions to the five sons of Esau, according to their families.
38.
And it came to pass in those days,
that the children of Esau resolved to crown a king over them in the land of
which they became possessed. And they said to each other, Not so, for he shall
reign over us in our land, and we shall be under his counsel and he shall fight
our battles, against our enemies, and they did so.
39.
And all the children of Esau swore,
saying, That none of their brethren should ever reign over them, but a strange
man who is not of their brethren, for the souls of all the children of Esau
were embittered every man against his son, brother and friend, on account of
the evil they sustained from their brethren when they fought with the children
of Seir.
40.
Therefore the sons of Esau swore,
saying, From that day forward they would not choose a king from their brethren,
but one from a strange land unto this day.
41.
And there was a man there from the
people of Angeas king of Dinhabah; his name was Bela the son of Beor, who was a
very valiant man, beautiful and comely and wise in all wisdom, and a man of
sense and counsel; and there was none of the people of Angeas like unto him.
42.
And all the children of Esau took him
and anointed him and they crowned him for a king, and they bowed down to him,
and they said unto him, May the king live, may the king live.
43.
And they spread out the sheet, and
they brought him each man earrings of gold and silver or rings or bracelets,
and they made him very rich in silver and in gold, in onyx stones and bdellium,
and they made him a royal throne, and they placed a regal crown upon his head,
and they built a palace for him and he dwelt therein, and he became king over
all the children of Esau.
44.
And the people of Angeas took their
hire for their battle from the children of Esau, and they went and returned at
that time to their master in Dinhabah.
45.
And Bela reigned over the children of
Esau thirty years, and the children of Esau dwelt in the land instead of the
children of Seir, and they dwelt securely in their stead unto this day.
