NEW EDITION OF JASHER

I have in recent months completed work on the new translation of the “lost” “Book of Jasher” (cited in Josh. 10:13 & 2Sam. 1:18) from the original Hebrew. This has been a major project, taking several weeks to complete. This is the first “Messianic”, “Sacred Name” version actually translated from the original Hebrew. (http://nazarenespace.com/page/books-dvds). This edition includes a number of passages which were (for whatever reason) omitted from the 1840 Moses Samuel translation which has circulated as the only available English translation until now. (The version published by Moshe K. is merely a revision of the 1840 English edition without any consultation of the original Hebrew.)

In my work on Jasher I have found that many Hebrew sections (some of them lengthy and important) have been omitted from all current English editions (Including Moshe’s K’s RSTNE).

I have also found that the English titles of Elohim used in Moses Samuel’s edition do not accurately reflect the Sacred Names used in the actual Hebrew, and therefore the “True Name” edition produced by Moshe K. does not contain the true Sacred Names at all.

The English translation of the Book of Jasher that is in current use was made my Moses Samuel in 1839 and published in 1840 and again in 1887 and has been published several times since in reprints of those editions.

There is also a “True Name” edition which was produced by Moshe Koniuchowsky using the Moses Samuel translation as a base text.

Moses Samual’s translation was a monumental work in its time, but it does include many errors, and it cannot be used to produce an accurate Sacred Name version of Jasher.

There are several passages in which Moses Samuel failed to include passages, some of them lengthy and important, in his translation.

For example Jasher 1:36

Moses Samuel Translates:

1:36 And Irad was born to Enoch, and Irad begat Mechuyael and
Mechuyael begat Methusael.

Moshe Koniuchowsky’s “Restoration True Name Edition” has:

1:36 And Irad was born to Chanok, and Irad begat Mechuyael and
Mechuyael begat Methusael.

However upon examining the Hebrew text I found that Moses Samuel had neglected a line of text and failed to include “and M’tushael begat Lamech”.

The Hebraic-Roots Version of the Book of Jasher reads here as follows:

1:36 And Irad was born to Chanoch, and Irad begat M’chuyael and
M’chuyael begat M’tushael and M’tushael begat Lamech.

Now lets look at Jasher 3:3

Moses Samuel translates:

3:3 And it was at the expiration of many years, whilst he was
serving the Lord, and praying before him in his house, that an angel
of the Lord called to him from Heaven, and he said, Here am I.

Moshe Koniuchowsky’s “Restoration True Name Edition” has:

3:3 And it was at the expiration of many years, while he was serving
YHWH, and praying before him in his house, that a malach of the Lord
called to him from ha shamayim, and he said, Hinayni.

However, once again, in examining the original Hebrew I found that Moses Samuel had failed to include a section of text.

Thus the Hebraic Roots Version of Jasher reads:

3:3 And it was at the end of many days and years, while he was
serving before YHWH, and praying before YHWH in [his] house, that an
angel of YHWH called to him from Heaven saying: Chanoch, Chanoch,
and he said, Here am I.

In Jasher 3:22 There is an even longer segment omitted by Moses
Samuel.

Here the Moses Samuel Translation reads:

3:22 And the day came when Enoch went forth and they all assembled
and came to him, and Enoch spoke to them the words of the Lord and
he taught them wisdom and knowledge, and they bowed down before him
and they said, May the king live! May the king live!

Moshe Koniuchowsky’s “Restoration True Name Edition” has:

3:22 And the day came when Chanok went forth and they all assembled
and came to him, and Enoch spoke to them the words of YHWH and he
taught them wisdom and knowledge, and they bowed down before him and
they said, May the melech live! May the melech live!

Once again an examination of the Hebrew demonstrated that Moses
Samuel left out a section of text, this time a fairly lengthy one.

The Hebraic-Roots Version of Jasher reads here as follows:

3:22 And the day came when Chanoch went forth and they all assembled
and came to him, and Chanoch spoke to them all the words [of YHWH]
and he taught them wisdom and knowledge, and he taught them the fear
of YHWH. And all the sons of men feared him greatly and they were
astonished by him concerning his wisdom. And all the land bowed to
his face and they said, May the king live! May the king live!

Another example is in Jasher 10:19

Moses Samuel has:

10:19 And the children of Ham were Cush, Mitzraim, Phut and Canaan
according to their generation and cities.

Moshe Koniuchowsky’s “Restoration True Name Edition” has:

10:19 And the children of Ham were Cush, Mitzrayim, Phut and Kanaan
according to

their generation and cities.

However the HRV Version of Jasher will restore a LARGE missing section in this

verse as follows:

10:19 And the children of Ham the son of Noach went also and built to
themselves cities in places where they were scattered and called also
the names of the cities by their names and by their occurrences and
these are the names of all their cities according to their families
which built to them in those days after the tower and the children of
Ham were Kush, Mitzraim, Put and Kanaan according to their generation
and cities.

Moses Samuel in his 1840 translation seems to have omitted everything between the first and second appearances of “the children of Ham”. He must have taken his eyes off of the text and then found the key phrase “the children of Ham” in the wrong place.

Another example is in Jasher 19:36

Moses Samuel has:
19:36 And in the city of Admah there was a woman to whom they did the
like.

Moshe Koniuchowsky’s “Restoration True Name Edition” has:
19:36 And in the city of Admah there was a woman to whom they did the
same.

The Hebraic Roots Version of Jasher reads as follows:

19:36 And also in the city of Admah there was a certain girl, a
daughter of a noble of the men of Admah and they did the same thing to
her.

OTHER MISTRANSLATIONS

In Jasher 4:12 Moses Samuel mistakenly translates the phrase “rebelled against God”. Moshe K’s version has “rebelled against Elohim” but the actual Hebrew has “rebelled against the ground” as the HRV version of
Jasher reads.

In Jasher 6:36 Moses Samuel has the phrase “the earth and the heavens”

Moshe Koniuchowsky also has “the earth and the heavens”

The Hebrew actually reads: HaEretz V’HaYamim “the land and the seas” as the HRV version of Jasher reads.

The Hebrew word ERETZ can mean either “land” or “earth” however Moses Samuel misread YAMIM (“seas”) as SHAMAYIM (“heavens”).

A TRUE SACRED NAME EDITION

There are also many passages in which Moses Samuel failed to accurately translate “Sacred Names”. Since Moshe Koniuchowsky’s version simply revises Samuel’s translation without consulting the Hebrew, the result, though called a “True Name Edition” often does not contain the True Sacred Names which actually appear in the original Hebrew text of Jasher.

For example:

Jasher 1:10

“…and she transgressed the word of God…”
– Jasher 1:10, Moses Samuel Translation of 1840

“…and she transgressed the word of Elohim…”
– Jasher 1:10, Moshe K. “True Name” version

But the Hebrew actually has:

“…and she transgressed the word of YHWH…”
– Jasher 1:10, Hebraic Roots Version- James Trimm

And again just five verses later:

Jasher 1:15

“…and God turned and inclined to Able…”
– Jasher 1:15, Moses Samuel Translation of 1840

“…and Elohim turned and inclined to Avel…”
– Jasher 1:15, Moshe K. “True Name” version

But the Hebrew actually has:

“…and YHWH turned and inclined to Havel…”
– Jasher 1:15, Hebraic Roots Version

And in Jasher 2:24

“…I obtained him from the Almighty God.”
– Jasher 2:24, Moses Samuel

“…I obtained him from the Almighty Elohim.”
– Jasher 2:24, Moshe K. “True Name” version

But the text actually reads:

“…I obtained him from El Shaddai.”
– Jasher 2:24, Hebraic Roots Version

(These are just a few examples from the first two chapters)

MORE

In Jasher 19:2 we are told that Avraham’s servant gave sound-alike names to the wicked judges of Sodom and Amorah (Gamorrah). In the editions of Moses Samuel and Moshe K. there is no explaination as to these sound-alike names. However the HRV version of Jasher has footnotes to each of these four alternate names explaining their actual meaning as “word plays” making fun of these wicked judges.

This fresh Messianic Sacred Name translation from the original Hebrew is at http://nazarenespace.com/page/books-dvds

James Scott Trimm
Worldwide Nazarene Assembly of Elohim
http://www.wnae.org

The Book of Jasher in a fresh Sacred Name translation from the Hebrew, including passages which were inadvertently omitted from prior translations is available at (click on the book below):

Translated from the original Hebrew by James Trimm

 

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