I don't think you came across the actual book of Jasher. While it is referenced in the hebrew bible, it seems to have been lost.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Jasher_%28biblical_references%29
Interesting that Wikipedia thought this book is completely "unknown". I knew that the book I was reading couldn't be the "actual" book of Jasher. Hell, I've done my textual criticism homework and I don't think we have the "actual" Bible today. I have always thought the book of Jasher had some historical validity to it but I always thought a lot of it was doubtful as it would have obviously have major scribal errors and corruption.
The introduction to the book of Jasher that I have (by Ken Johnson Th.D) says, "Much of the extra information contained in Jasher can also be found in the Babylonian Talmud, the Mishna, and Ginzberg's "Legends of the Jews". There are numerous qoutes showing Rabbi Eliazar used this book of Jasher extensively in the first century. We can know for a fact that the Mishna and Talmud used this book of Jasher as a source document and not the other way around. Also, since the "Ancient Seder Olam" was written in about AD 169 and references Jasher, we know the book of Jasher was used by historians in the second century.
I don't have the time or passion to investigate all this. I did, however, find one interesting website though:
http://www.wnae.org/jasherrevealed.htmThe best counter-arguments from this website are:
Certainly many serious scholars have concluded that this Book of Jasher is authentic. The well known Hebraist and Rabbinic Scholar (and translator of the 1840 Book of Jasher) Moses Samuel wrote of Jasher:
"...the book is, with the exception of some doubtful parts, a venerable monument of antiquity; and that, notwithstanding some few additions have been made to it in comparatively modern times, it still retains sufficient to prove it a copy of the book referred to in Joshua, ch. x, and 2 Samuel, ch. 1."
- Moses Samuel, Hebraist and Rabbinic Scholar
And my old friend and mentor, the late Dr. Cyrus Gordon (who was the world's leading Semitist until his death) said:
"There can be little doubt that the book of Jasher was a national epic... The time is ripe for a fresh investigation of such genuine sources of Scripture, particularly against the background of the Dead Sea Scrolls."
- Dr. Cyrus Gordon
Proof of the Ancient Origin of the Book of Jasher
One major stumbling block in Book of Jasher research has been the lack of real evidence that the Book of Jasher (the one that we have) is truly ancient. There has been no hard evidence to prove that this Book of Jasher existed prior to 1625.
But now the proof has been found!
In the Masoretic Text and Septuagint of Gen. 5:18 has "And Jared lived one hundred and sixty two years". But the Book of Jasher 2:37 has "And Jared lived sixty two years". Amazingly this agrees with the Samaritan Pentateuch of Gen. 5:18.
How could the Book of Jasher and the Samaritan Pentateuch share the same scribal error? How could this reading have made its way into the Book of Jasher? If the Book of Jasher were a late compilation made in the Middle Ages, it would certainly have simply copied from the Masoretic Text. Surely a Jewish writer in Europe in the Middle Ages would not have copied data from the Samaritan Pentateuch. This is clear evidence for the ancient origin of the Book of Jasher.
There is also a similar scribal error in Jasher 5:13 where Methuselah begets Lamech at eighty seven. In the Masoretic Text this number is given as one hundred and eighty seven. In the Septuagint it is given as one hundred and sixty seven, and in the Samaritan Pentateuch as sixty seven.
Here the reading agrees with the Samaritan Pentateuch in omitting “one hundred” but agrees with the Masoretic Text in reading “eighty seven”. The Book of Jasher is clearly part of the ancient textual tradition here, and not simply borrowing from the Masoretic Text.
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So, who knows. I actually find this stuff interesting though. I've read most of the book of Jasher (1625 ed.) and I would actually recommend it to others. It helped in my de-conversion as it helped me realize how stupid beliefs get developed. Many times I would read this book and say, "this is just plain stupid". But then I would compare it to the stupid ideas in the "inspired writings" and there would be no difference.
