Book of Jasher 21
Chapter 21
1.
And it was at that time at the end of
a year and four months of Abraham’s dwelling in the land of the Philistines in Gerar, that God visited Sarah, and the Lord remembered her,
and she conceived and bare a son to Abraham.
2.
And Abraham called the name of the
son which was born to him, which Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
3.
And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac
at eight days old, as God had commanded Abraham to do unto his seed after him;
and Abraham was one hundred, and Sarah ninety years old, when Isaac was born to
them.
4.
And the child grew up and he was
weaned, and Abraham made a great feast upon the day that Isaac was weaned.
5.
And Shem and Eber
and all the great people of the land, and Abimelech
king of the Philistines, and his servants, and Phicol,
the captain of his host, came to eat and drink and rejoice at the feast which
Abraham made upon the day of his son Isaac’s being weaned.
6.
Also Terah,
the father of Abraham, and Nahor his brother, came
from
all belonging to them, for they greatly rejoiced on hearing that a son had been
born to Sarah.
7.
And they came to Abraham, and they
ate and drank at the feast which Abraham made upon the day of Isaac’s being
weaned.
8.
And Terah
and Nahor rejoiced with Abraham, and they remained with
him many days in the land of the Philistines.
9.
At that time Serug
the son of Reu died, in the first year of the birth
of Isaac son of Abraham.
10.
And all the days of Serug were two hundred and thirty-nine years, and he died.
11.
And Ishmael the son of Abraham was
grown up in those days; he was fourteen years old when Sarah bare Isaac to
Abraham.
12.
And God was with Ishmael the son of
Abraham, and he grew up, and he learned to use the bow and became an archer.
13.
And when Isaac was five years old he
was sitting with Ishmael at the door of the tent.
14.
And Ishmael came to Isaac and seated
himself opposite to him, and he took the bow and drew it and put the arrow in
it, and intended to slay Isaac.
15.
And Sarah saw the act which Ishmael
desired to do to her son Isaac, and it grieved her exceedingly on account of
her son, and she sent for Abraham, and said to him, Cast out this bondwoman and
her son, for her son shall not be heir with my son, for thus did he seek to do
unto him this day.
16.
And Abraham hearkened to the voice of
Sarah, and he rose up early in the morning, and he took twelve loaves and a
bottle of water which he gave to Hagar, and sent her away with her son, and
Hagar went with her son to the wilderness, and they dwelt in the wilderness of Paran with the inhabitants of the wilderness, and Ishmael
was an archer, and he dwelt in the wilderness a long time.
17.
And he and his mother afterward went
to the
dwelt there, and Hagar took a wife for her son from
name was Meribah.
18.
And the wife of Ishmael conceived and
bare four sons and two daughters, and Ishmael and his mother and his wife and
children afterward went and returned to the wilderness.
19.
And they made themselves tents in the
wilderness, in which they dwelt, and they continued to travel and then to rest
monthly and yearly.
20.
And God gave Ishmael flocks and herds
and tents on account of Abraham his father, and the man increased in cattle.
21.
And Ishmael dwelt in deserts and in
tents, traveling and resting for a long time, and he did not see the face of
his father.
22.
And in some time after, Abraham said
to Sarah his wife, I will go and see my son Ishmael, for I have a desire to see
him, for I have not seen him for a long time.
23.
And Abraham rode upon one of his camels
to the wilderness to seek his son Ishmael, for he heard that he was dwelling in
a tent in the wilderness with all belonging to him.
24.
And Abraham went to the wilderness,
and he reached the tent of Ishmael about , and he
asked after Ishmael, and he found the wife of Ishmael sitting in the tent with
her children, and Ishmael her husband and his mother were not with them.
25.
And Abraham asked the wife of
Ishmael, saying, Where has Ishmael gone? and she said, He has gone to the field
to hunt, and Abraham was still mounted upon the camel, for he would not get off
to the ground as he had sworn to his wife Sarah that he would not get off from
the camel.
26.
And Abraham said to Ishmael’s wife,
My daughter, give me a little water that I may drink, for I am fatigued from
the journey.
27.
And Ishmael’s wife answered and said
to Abraham, We have neither water nor bread, and she continued sitting in the
tent and did not notice Abraham, neither did she ask him who he was.
28.
But she was beating her children in
the tent, and she was cursing them, and she also cursed her husband Ishmael and
reproached him, and Abraham heard the words of Ishmael’s wife to her children,
and he was very angry and displeased.
29.
And Abraham called to the woman to
come out to him from the tent, and the woman came and stood opposite to
Abraham, for Abraham was still mounted upon the camel.
30.
And Abraham said to Ishmael’s wife,
When thy husband Ishmael returneth home say these
words to him,
31.
A very old man from the land of the
Philistines came hither to seek thee, and thus was his appearance and figure; I
did not ask him who he was, and seeing thou wast not
here he spoke unto me and said, When Ishmael thy husband returneth
tell him thus did this man say, When thou comest home
put away this nail of the tent which thou hast placed here, and place another
nail in its stead.
32.
And Abraham finished his instructions
to the woman, and he turned and went off on the camel homeward.
33.
And after that Ishmael came from the
chase he and his mother, and returned to the tent, and his wife spoke these
words to him,
34.
A very old man from the land of the
Philistines came to seek thee, and thus was his appearance and figure; I did
not ask him who he was, and seeing thou wast not at
home he said to me, When thy husband cometh home tell him, thus saith the old man, Put away the nail of the tent which thou
hast placed here and place another nail in its stead.
35.
And Ishmael heard the words of his
wife, and he knew that it was his father, and that his wife did not honor him.
36.
And Ishmael understood his father’s
words that he had spoken to his wife, and Ishmael hearkened to the voice of his
father, and Ishmael cast off that woman and she went away.
37.
And Ishmael afterward went to the
another wife and he brought her to his tent to the place where he then dwelt.
38.
And at the end of three years Abraham
said, I will go again and see Ishmael my son, for I have not seen him for a
long time.
39.
And he rode upon his camel and went
to the wilderness, and he reached the tent of Ishmael about .
40.
And he asked after Ishmael, and his
wife came out of the tent and she said, He is not here my lord, for he has gone
to hunt in the fields, and to feed the camels, and the woman said to Abraham,
Turn in my lord into the tent, and eat a morsel of bread, for thy soul must be
wearied on account of the journey.
41.
And Abraham said to her, I will not
stop for I am in haste to continue my journey, but give me a little water to
drink, for I have thirst; and the woman hastened and ran into the tent and she
brought out water and bread to Abraham, which she placed before him and she
urged him to eat, and he ate and drank and his heart was comforted and he
blessed his son Ishmael.
42.
And he finished his meal and he
blessed the Lord, and he said to Ishmael’s wife, When Ishmael cometh home say
these words to him,
43.
A very old man from the land of the
Philistines came hither and asked after thee, and thou wast
not here; and I brought him out bread and water and he ate and drank and his
heart was comforted.
44.
And he spoke these words to me: When
Ishmael thy husband cometh home, say unto him, The nail of the tent which thou
hast is very good, do not put it away from the tent.
45.
And Abraham finished commanding the
woman, and he rode off to his home to the land of the Philistines; and when
Ishmael came to his tent his wife went forth to meet him with joy and a
cheerful heart.
46.
And she said to him, An old man came
here from the land of the Philistines and thus was his appearance, and he asked
after thee and thou wast not here, so I brought out
bread and water, and he ate and drank and his heart was comforted.
47.
And he spoke these words to me, When
Ishmael thy husband cometh home say to him, The nail of the tent which thou
hast is very good, do not put it away from the tent.
48.
And Ishmael knew that it was his
father, and that his wife had honored him, and the Lord blessed Ishmael.
