Carnage
(3-minute read)
In the twilight of his life, Jacob stood at a pivotal crossroads, embodying the legacy of a patriarch in his 150th year. Having journeyed from the distant lands of Padan-aram, he returned to the rebuilt city of Shechem, where his children flourished amidst the rich pastures. Yet, serenity was a fragile illusion, for Jacob’s heart ached with the sorrow of his ailing father, Isaac, whose spirit dimmed in the shadow of mortality. Close by, Jacob’s sons—Levi, Judah, and Joseph—watched over their father, while the youngest, Benjamin, remained tethered to Isaac, fulfilling a duty steeped in familial love. As tensions brewed with the surrounding Canaanite kings, the specter of vengeance loomed, haunted by the bloody legacy left by Simeon and Levi’s wrath.
The kings of Canaan and Amorite trembled at the thought of Jacob’s sons returning, their hearts ignited by fear and rage as they conspired in the dead of night, swelling their ranks to confront the Hebrews. Sensing the impending storm, Jacob felt the weight of destiny upon him, urging his sons to prepare for battle, each man steeling himself for the clash of fate. In a thunderous surge, the sons of Jacob charged into the fray, battle cries echoing through the valleys as they faced 112 fierce warriors. Led by the relentless Judah, they were met with divine intervention that turned the tide, each brother unleashing his fury on their foes. As the battle raged on, Jacob’s grief transformed into fierce determination, his prayers ascending like smoke into the heavens. Victorious yet cautious, they returned to Shechem, their hearts heavy with the weight of their deeds and the spoils of war, their legacy forever etched in the annals of history.
In the aftermath of their triumphant clash, the sons of Jacob were met with an unexpected convergence of power and diplomacy. As news of their fierce prowess spread, the Canaanite kings, gripped by fear, sought peace, approaching the brothers with veiled intentions. Yet the sons of Jacob, recognizing a genuine desire for unity, forged an indelible covenant with their former foes, binding the kings as tributaries for all time. Amidst this newfound alliance, Jacob established new cities, and the kings offered lavish gifts, acknowledging the strength of the Hebrew lineage. In a moment of magnanimous grace, the brothers relinquished their captives and treasures, forging a peace that would last until the children of Israel claimed their divine inheritance or Jacob’s eventual descent into Egypt sealed their fates. Thus, a new chapter unfurled, heralding a legacy marked not only by strength in battle but by the wisdom of unity and reconciliation.
Major Characters
Minor Characters
Insignificant Characters
JASHER
96%
JUBILEES
4%
Exposition
J: 46 | Y: 2219 | Jacob and his family return to Shechem
Jasher 37:1-3, Jubilees 34:1
Jacob, Levi, Judah, Joseph, and Benjamin remain in the house of Isaac
Jubilees 34:3
Rising Action
The kings of the Canaanites and Amorites scheme against Jacob
Jasher 37:4-10, Jubilees 34:2, 4
Jacob is told of the encroaching army
Jasher 37:11, Jubilees 34:5
The sons of Jacob prepare for battle
Jasher 37:12, Jubilees 34:6
Jacob prays to YHWH
Jasher 37:13-16
YHWH responds to the prayer
Jasher 37:17-19
Climax
The sons of Jacob advance but the army didn’t retreat
Jasher 37:20-23
The sons of Jacob pray to YHWH and continue to approach the armies
Jasher 37:24-25
Judah battles with Jashub
Jasher 37:26-40
The sons of Jacob kill 15,000 men
Jasher 37:41-42
Judah collects spoils from Jashub and then kills 9 captains
Jasher 37:43-46
The kings refuse to retreat but some of their men do
Jasher 37:47
The sons of Jacob regroup with Judah
Jasher 37:48
Levi kills Elon and his captains
Jasher 37:49-50
Jacob kills Ihuri
Jasher 38:1
The 4 remaining kings retreat and the sons of Jacob pursue
Jasher 38:2-3
The battle continues in Chazar where Jacob kills the remaining kings
Jasher 38:4-8
The remaining men retreated within the walls of Chazar and 4 of them attempted to keep them back
Jasher 38:9-11
Naphtali killed the 4 men
Jasher 38:12-13
The sons of Jacob leaped over the 2nd wall and killed the army and the inhabitants of the city
Jasher 38:14-17
The sons of Jacob spoil the city
Jasher 38:18
The battle continues in the city of Sarton
Jasher 38:19-44
Jacob hears a report that his sons are struggling to succeed so he joins the fight
Jasher 38:45-47
The sons of Jacob find the remaining men in a cave and killed them
Jasher 38:48-51
The sons of Jacob take the spoils of the city
Jasher 38:52
Upon leaving Sarton, the sons of Jacob battle the inhabitants of Tapnach
Jasher 39:1-3
As they gather the spoil, the men and women of Arbelan battle the sons of Jacob
Jasher 39:4-12
The sons of Jacob battle at Machnaymah
Jasher 39:13
The sons of Jacob battle at Gaash
Jasher 39:14-65
Bethchorin attempts to fight the sons of Jacob
Jasher 40:1-12
The sons of Jacob battle the inhabitants of Bethchorin
Jasher 40:13-15
A summary of previous events
Jubilees 34:7
Falling Action
The sons of Jacob brings the spoils of war back to Shechem
Jasher 40:16-21
The 7 Canaanite kings want to make peace with the sons of Jacob
Jasher 40:22-28
The sons of Jacob doubt the kings want peace
Jasher 40:29-46
Resolution
The sons of Jacob agree to a peace treaty
Jasher 40:47-52, Jubilees 34:8-9
Jubilee: 46
Year: 2219
Jacob and his family return to Shechemi
Jasher 37:1
1 And in the one hundred and fifth year of the life of Jacob, that is the ninth year of Jacob’s dwelling with his children in the land of Canaan, he came from Padan-aram.
Jasher 37:2
2 And in those days Jacob journeyed with his children from Hebron, and they went and returned to the city of Shechem, they and all belonging to them, and they dwelt there, for the children of Jacob obtained good and fat pasture land for their cattle in the city of Shechem, the city of Shechem having then been rebuilt, and there were in it about three hundred men and women.
Jubilees 34:1
1 And in the sixth year of this week of this forty-fourth jubilee [2148 A.M.] Jacob sent his sons to pasture their sheep, and his servants with them to the pastures of Shechem.
Jasher 37:3
3 And Jacob and his children and all belonging to him dwelt in the part of the field which Jacob had bought from Hamor the father of Shechem, when he came from Padan-aram before Simeon and Levi had smitten the city.
Jacob, Levi, Judah, Joseph, and Benjamin remain in the house of Isaac
Jubilees 34:3
3 And Jacob and Levi and Judah and Joseph were in the house with Isaac their father; for his spirit was sorrowful, and they could not leave him: and Benjamin was the youngest, and for this reason remained with his father.
The kings of the Canaanites and Amorites scheme against Jacob
Jasher 37:4-5
4 And all those kings of the Canaanites and Amorites that surrounded the city of Shechem, heard that the sons of Jacob had again come to Shechem and dwelt there.
5 And they said, Shall the sons of Jacob the Hebrew again come to the city and dwell therein, after that they have smitten its inhabitants and driven them out? Shall they now return and also drive out those who are dwelling in the city or slay them?
Jasher 37:6-7
6 And all the kings of Canaan again assembled, and they came together to make war with Jacob and his sons.
7 And Jashub king of Tapnach sent also to all his neighboring kings, to Elan king of Gaash, and to Ihuri king of Shiloh, and to Parathon king of Chazar, and to Susi king of Sarton, and to Laban king of Bethchoran, and to Shabir king of Othnay-mah, saying,
Jubilees 34:2
2 And the seven kings of the Amorites assembled themselves together against them, to slay them, hiding themselves under the trees, and to take their cattle as a prey.
Jubilees 34:4
4 And there came the king[s] of Taphu and the king[s] of ‘Aresa, and the king[s] of Seragan, and the king[s] of Selo, and the king[s] of Ga’as, and the king of Bethoron, and the king of Ma’anisakir, and all those who dwell in these mountains (and) who dwell in the woods in the land of Canaan.
Jasher 37:8-10
8 Come up to me and assist me, and let us smite Jacob the Hebrew and his sons, and all belonging to him, for they are again come to Shechem to possess it and to slay its inhabitants as before.
9 And all these kings assembled together and came with all their camps, a people exceedingly plentiful like the sand upon the sea shore, and they were all opposite to Tapnach.
10 And Jashub king of Tapnach went forth to them with all his army, and he encamped with them opposite to Tapnach without the city, and all these kings they divided into seven divisions, being seven camps against the sons of Jacob.
Jacob is told of the encroaching army
Jubilees 34:5
5 And they announced this to Jacob saying: ‘Behold, the kings of the Amorites have surrounded thy sons, and plundered their herds.’
Jasher 37:11
11 And they sent a declaration to Jacob and his son, saying, Come you all forth to us that we may have an interview together in the plain, and revenge the cause of the men of Shechem whom you slew in their city, and you will now again return to the city of Shechem and dwell therein, and slay its inhabitants as before.
The sons of Jacob prepare for battleii
Jasher 37:12
12 And the sons of Jacob heard this and their anger was kindled exceedingly at the words of the kings of Canaan, and ten of the sons of Jacob hastened and rose up, and each of them girt on his weapons of war; and there were one hundred and two of their servants with them equipped in battle array.
Jubilees 34:6
6 And he arose from his house, he and his three sons and all the servants of his father, and his own servants, and he went against them with six thousand men, who carried swords.
Jacob prays to YHWH
Jasher 37:13-16
13 And all these men, the sons of Jacob with their servants, went toward these kings, and Jacob their father was with them, and they all stood upon the heap of Shechem.
14 And Jacob prayed to the Lord for his sons, and he spread forth his hands to the Lord, and he said, O God, thou art an Almighty God, thou art our father, thou didst form us and we are the works of thine hands; I pray thee deliver my sons through thy mercy from the hand of their enemies, who are this day coming to fight with them and save them from their hand, for in thy hand is power and might, to save the few from the many.
15 And give unto my sons, thy servants, strength of heart and might to fight with their enemies, to subdue them, and make their enemies fall before them, and let not my sons and their servants die through the hands of the children of Canaan.
16 But if it seemeth good in thine eyes to take away the lives of my sons and their servants, take them in thy great mercy through the hands of thy ministers, that they may not perish this day by the hands of the kings of the Amorites.
YHWH responds to the prayer
Jasher 37:17-19
17 And when Jacob ceased praying to the Lord the earth shook from its place, and the sun darkened, and all these kings were terrified and a great consternation seized them.
18 And the Lord hearkened to the prayer of Jacob, and the Lord impressed the hearts of all the kings and their hosts with the terror and awe of the sons of Jacob.
19 For the Lord caused them to hear the voice of chariots, and the voice of mighty horses from the sons of Jacob, and the voice of a great army accompanying them.
The sons of Jacob advance but the army didn’t retreat
Jasher 37:20-23
20 And these kings were seized with great terror at the sons of Jacob, and whilst they were standing in their quarters, behold the sons of Jacob advanced upon them, with one hundred and twelve men, with a great and tremendous shouting.
21 And when the kings saw the sons of Jacob advancing toward them, they were still more panic struck, and they were inclined to retreat from before the sons of Jacob as at first, and not to fight with them.
22 But they did not retreat, saying, It would be a disgrace to us thus twice to retreat from before the Hebrews.
23 And the sons of Jacob came near and advanced against all these kings and their armies, and they saw, and behold it was a very mighty people, numerous as the sand of the sea.
The sons of Jacob pray to YHWH and continue to approach the armies
Jasher 37:24-25
24 And the sons of Jacob called unto the Lord and said, Help us O Lord, help us and answer us, for we trust in thee, and let us not die by the hands of these uncircumcised men, who this day have come against us.
25 And the sons of Jacob girt on their weapons of war, and they took in their hands each man his shield and his javelin, and they approached to battle.
Judah battles with Jashub
Jasher 37:26-40
26 And Judah, the son of Jacob, ran first before his brethren, and ten of his servants with him, and he went toward these kings.
27 And Jashub, king of Tapnach, also came forth first with his army before Judah, and Judah saw Jashub and his army coming toward him, and Judah’s wrath was kindled, and his anger burned within him, and he approached to battle in which Judah ventured his life.
28 And Jashub and all his army were advancing toward Judah, and he was riding upon a very strong and powerful horse, and Jashub was a very valiant man, and covered with iron and brass from head to foot.
29 And whilst he was upon the horse, he shot arrows with both hands from before and behind, as was his manner in all his battles, and he never missed the place to which he aimed his arrows.
30 And when Jashub came to fight with Judah, and was darting many arrows against Judah, the Lord bound the hand of Jashub, and all the arrows that he shot rebounded upon his own men.
31 And notwithstanding this, Jashub kept advancing toward Judah, to challenge him with the arrows, but the distance between them was about thirty cubits, and when Judah saw Jashub darting forth his arrows against him, he ran to him with his wrath-excited might.
32 And Judah took up a large stone from the ground, and its weight was sixty shekels, and Judah ran toward Jashub, and with the stone struck him on his shield, that Jashub was stunned with the blow, and fell off from his horse to the ground.
33 And the shield burst asunder out of the hand of Jashub, and through the force of the blow sprang to the distance of about fifteen cubits, and the shield fell before the second camp.
34 And the kings that came with Jashub saw at a distance the strength of Judah, the son of Jacob, and what he had done to Jashub, and they were terribly afraid of Judah.
35 And they assembled near Jashub’s camp, seeing his confusion, and Judah drew his sword and smote forty-two men of the camp of Jashub, and the whole of Jashub’s camp fled before Judah, and no man stood against him, and they left Jashub and fled from him, and Jashub was still prostrate upon the ground.
36 And Jashub seeing that all the men of his camp had fled from him, hastened and rose up with terror against Judah, and stood upon his legs opposite Judah.
37 And Jashub had a single combat with Judah, placing shield toward shield, and Jashub’s men all fled, for they were greatly afraid of Judah.
38 And Jashub took his spear in his hand to strike Judah upon his head, but Judah had quickly placed his shield to his head against Jashub’s spear, so that the shield of Judah received the blow from Jashub’s spear, and the shield was split in too.
39 And when Judah saw that his shield was split, he hastily drew his sword and smote Jashub at his ankles, and cut off his feet that Jashub fell upon the ground, and the spear fell from his hand.
40 And Judah hastily picked up Jashub’s spear, with which he severed his head and cast it next to his feet.
The sons of Jacob kill 15,000 men
Jasher 37:41-42
41 And when the sons of Jacob saw what Judah had done to Jashub, they all ran into the ranks of the other kings, and the sons of Jacob fought with the army of Jashub, and the armies of all the kings that were there.
42 And the sons of Jacob caused fifteen thousand of their men to fall, and they smote them as if smiting at gourds, and the rest fled for their lives.
Judah collects spoils from Jashub and then kills 9 captains
Jasher 37:43-46
43 And Judah was still standing by the body of Jashub, and stripped Jashub of his coat of mail.
44 And Judah also took off the iron and brass that was about Jashub, and behold nine men of the captains of Jashub came along to fight against Judah.
45 And Judah hastened and took up a stone from the ground, and with it smote one of them upon the head, and his skull was fractured, and the body also fell from the horse to the ground.
46 And the eight captains that remained, seeing the strength of Judah, were greatly afraid and they fled, and Judah with his ten men pursued them, and they overtook them and slew them.
The kings refuse to retreat but some of their men do
Jasher 37:47
47 And the sons of Jacob were still smiting the armies of the kings, and they slew many of them, but those kings daringly kept their stand with their captains, and did not retreat from their places, and they exclaimed against those of their armies that fled from before the sons of Jacob, but none would listen to them, for they were afraid of their lives lest they should die.
The sons of Jacob regroup with Judah
Jasher 37:48
48 And all the sons of Jacob, after having smitten the armies of the kings, returned and came before Judah, and Judah was still slaying the eight captains of Jashub, and stripping off their garments.
Levi kills Elon and his captains
Jasher 37:49-50
49 And Levi saw Elon, king of Gaash, advancing toward him, with his fourteen captains to smite him, but Levi did not know it for certain.
50 And Elon with his captains approached nearer, and Levi looked back and saw that battle was given him in the rear, and Levi ran with twelve of his servants, and they went and slew Elon and his captains with the edge of the sword.
Jacob kills Ihuri
Jasher 38:1
1 And Ihuri king of Shiloh came up to assist Elon, and he approached Jacob, when Jacob drew his bow that was in his hand and with an arrow struck Ihuri which caused his death.
The 4 remaining kings retreat and the sons of Jacob pursue
Jasher 38:2-3
2 And when Ihuri king of Shiloh was dead, the four remaining kings fled from their station with the rest of the captains, and they endeavored to retreat, saying, We have no more strength with the Hebrews after their having killed the three kings and their captains who were more powerful than we are.
3 And when the sons of Jacob saw that the remaining kings had removed from their station, they pursued them, and Jacob also came from the heap of Shechem from the place where he was standing, and they went after the kings and they approached them with their servants.
The battle continues in Chazar where Jacob kills the remaining kings
Jasher 38:4-8
4 And the kings and the captains with the rest of their armies, seeing that the sons of Jacob approached them, were afraid of their lives and fled till they reached the city of Chazar.
5 And the sons of Jacob pursued them to the gate of the city of Chazar, and they smote a great smiting amongst the kings and their armies, about four thousand men, and whilst they were smiting the army of the kings, Jacob was occupied with his bow confining himself to smiting the kings, and he slew them all.
6 And he slew Parathon king of Chazar at the gate of the city of Chazar, and he afterward smote Susi king of Sarton, and Laban king of Bethchorin, and Shabir king of Machnaymah, and he slew them all with arrows, an arrow to each of them, and they died.
7 And the sons of Jacob seeing that all the kings were dead and that they were broken up and retreating, continued to carry on the battle with the armies of the kings opposite the gate of Chazar, and they still smote about four hundred of their men.
8 And three men of the servants of Jacob fell in that battle, and when Judah saw that three of his servants had died, it grieved him greatly, and his anger burned within him against the Amorites.
The remaining men retreated within the walls of Chazar and 4 of them attempted to keep them back
Jasher 38:9-11
9 And all the men that remained of the armies of the kings were greatly afraid of their lives, and they ran and broke the gate of the walls of the city of Chazar, and they all entered the city for safety.
10 And they concealed themselves in the midst of the city of Chazar, for the city of Chazar was very large and extensive, and when all these armies had entered the city, the sons of Jacob ran after them to the city.
11 And four mighty men, experienced in battle, went forth from the city and stood against the entrance of the city, with drawn swords and spears in their hands, and they placed themselves opposite the sons of Jacob, and would not suffer them to enter the city.
Naphtali killed the 4 men
Jasher 38:12-13
12 And Naphtali ran and came between them and with his sword smote two of them, and cut off their heads at one stroke.
13 And he turned to the other two, and behold they had fled, and he pursued them, overtook them, smote them and slew them.
The sons of Jacob leaped over the 2nd wall and killed the army and the inhabitants of the city
Jasher 38:14-17
14 And the sons of Jacob came to the city and saw, and behold there was another wall to the city, and they sought for the gate of the wall and could not find it, and Judah sprang upon the top of the wall, and Simeon and Levi followed him, and they all three descended from the wall into the city.
15 And Simeon and Levi slew all the men who ran for safety into the city, and also the inhabitants of the city with their wives and little ones, they slew with the edge of the sword, and the cries of the city ascended up to heaven.
16 And Dan and Naphtali sprang upon the wall to see what caused the noise of lamentation, for the sons of Jacob felt anxious about their brothers, and they heard the inhabitants of the city speaking with weeping and supplications, saying, Take all that we possess in the city and go away, only do not put us to death.
17 And when Judah, Simeon, and Levi had ceased smiting the inhabitants of the city, they ascended the wall and called to Dan and Naphtali, who were upon the wall, and to the rest of their brothers, and Simeon and Levi informed them of the entrance into the city, and all the sons of Jacob came to fetch the spoil.
The sons of Jacob spoil the city
Jasher 38:18
18 And the sons of Jacob took the spoil of the city of Chazar, the flocks and herds, and the property, and they took all that could be captured, and went away that day from the city.
The battle continues in the city of Sarton
Jasher 38:19-44
19 And on the next day the sons of Jacob went to Sarton, for they heard that the men of Sarton who had remained in the city were assembling to fight with them for having slain their king, and Sarton was a very high and fortified city, and it had a deep rampart surrounding the city.
20 And the pillar of the rampart was about fifty cubits and its breadth forty cubits, and there was no place for a man to enter the city on account of the rampart, and the sons of Jacob saw the rampart of the city, and they sought an entrance in it but could not find it.
21 For the entrance to the city was at the rear, and every man that wished to come into the city came by that road and went around the whole city, and he afterwards entered the city.
22 And the sons of Jacob seeing they could not find the way into the city, their anger was kindled greatly, and the inhabitants of the city seeing that the sons of Jacob were coming to them were greatly afraid of them, for they had heard of their strength and what they had done to Chazar.
23 And the inhabitants of the city of Sarton could not go out toward the sons of Jacob after having assembled in the city to fight against them, lest they might thereby get into the city, but when they saw that they were coming toward them, they were greatly afraid of them, for they had heard of their strength and what they had done to Chazar.
24 So the inhabitants of Sarton speedily took away the bridge of the road of the city, from its place, before the sons of Jacob came, and they brought it into the city.
25 And the sons of Jacob came and sought the way into the city, and could not find it and the inhabitants of the city went up to the top of the wall, and saw, and behold the sons of Jacob were seeking an entrance into the city.
26 And the inhabitants of the city reproached the sons of Jacob from the top of the wall, and they cursed them, and the sons of Jacob heard the reproaches, and they were greatly incensed, and their anger burned within them.
27 And the sons of Jacob were provoked at them, and they all rose and sprang over the rampart with the force of their strength, and through their might passed the forty cubits’ breadth of the rampart.
28 And when they had passed the rampart they stood under the wall of the city, and they found all the gates of the city enclosed with iron doors.
29 And the sons of Jacob came near to break open the doors of the gates of the city, and the inhabitants did not let them, for from the top of the wall they were casting stones and arrows upon them.
30 And the number of the people that were upon the wall was about four hundred men, and when the sons of Jacob saw that the men of the city would not let them open the gates of the city, they sprang and ascended the top of the wall, and Judah went up first to the east part of the city.
31 And Gad and Asher went up after him to the west corner of the city, and Simeon and Levi to the north, and Dan and Reuben to the south.
32 And the men who were on the top of the wall, the inhabitants of the city, seeing that the sons of Jacob were coming up to them, they all fled from the wall, descended into the city, and concealed themselves in the midst of the city.
33 And Issachar and Naphtali that remained under the wall approached and broke the gates of the city, and kindled a fire at the gates of the city, that the iron melted, and all the sons of Jacob came into the city, they and all their men, and they fought with the inhabitants of the city of Sarton, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and no man stood up before them.
34 And about two hundred men fled from the city, and they all went and hid themselves in a certain tower in the city, and Judah pursued them to the tower and he broke down the tower, which fell upon the men, and they all died.
35 And the sons of Jacob went up the road of the roof of that tower, and they saw, and behold there was another strong and high tower at a distance in the city, and the top of it reached to heaven, and the sons of Jacob hastened and descended, and went with all their men to that tower, and found it filled with about three hundred men, women and little ones.
36 And the sons of Jacob smote a great smiting amongst those men in the tower and they ran away and fled from them.
37 And Simeon and Levi pursued them, when twelve mighty and valiant men came out to them from the place where they had concealed themselves.
38 And those twelve men maintained a strong battle against Simeon and Levi, and Simeon and Levi could not prevail over them, and those valiant men broke the shields of Simeon and Levi, and one of them struck at Levi’s head with his sword, when Levi hastily placed his hand to his head, for he was afraid of the sword, and the sword struck Levi’s hand, and it wanted but little to the hand of Levi being cut off.
39 And Levi seized the sword of the valiant man in his hand, and took it forcibly from the man, and with it he struck at the head of the powerful man, and he severed his head.
40 And eleven men approached to fight with Levi, for they saw that one of them was killed, and the sons of Jacob fought, but the sons of Jacob could not prevail over them, for those men were very powerful.
41 And the sons of Jacob seeing that they could not prevail over them, Simeon gave a loud and tremendous shriek, and the eleven powerful men were stunned at the voice of Simeon’s shrieking.
42 And Judah at a distance knew the voice of Simeon’s shouting, and Naphtali and Judah ran with their shields to Simeon and Levi, and found them fighting with those powerful men, unable to prevail over them as their shields were broken.
43 And Naphtali saw that the shields of Simeon and Levi were broken, and he took two shields from his servants and brought them to Simeon and Levi.
44 And Simeon, Levi and Judah on that day fought all three against the eleven mighty men until the time of sunset, but they could not prevail over them.
Jacob hears a report that his sons are struggling to succeed so he joins the fight
Jasher 38:45-47
45 And this was told unto Jacob, and he was sorely grieved, and he prayed unto the Lord, and he and Naphtali his son went against these mighty men.
46 And Jacob approached and drew his bow, and came nigh unto the mighty men, and slew three of their men with the bow, and the remaining eight turned back, and behold, the war waged against them in the front and rear, and they were greatly afraid of their lives, and could not stand before the sons of Jacob, and they fled from before them.
47 And in their flight they met Dan and Asher coming toward them, and they suddenly fell upon them, and fought with them, and slew two of them, and Judah and his brothers pursued them, and smote the remainder of them, and slew them.
The sons of Jacob find the remaining men in a cave and killed them
Jasher 38:48-51
48 And all the sons of Jacob returned and walked about the city, searching if they could find any men, and they found about twenty young men in a cave in the city, and Gad and Asher smote them all, and Dan and Naphtali lighted upon the rest of the men who had fled and escaped from the second tower, and they smote them all.
49 And the sons of Jacob smote all the inhabitants of the city of Sarton, but the women and little ones they left in the city and did not slay them.
50 And all the inhabitants of the city of Sarton were powerful men, one of them would pursue a thousand, and two of them would not flee from ten thousand of the rest of men.
51 And the sons of Jacob slew all the inhabitants of the city of Sarton with the edge of the sword, that no man stood up against them, and they left the women in the city.
The sons of Jacob take the spoils of the city
Jasher 38:52
52 And the sons of Jacob took all the spoil of the city, and captured what they desired, and they took flocks and herds and property from the city, and the sons of Jacob did unto Sarton and its inhabitants as they had done to Chazar and its inhabitants, and they turned and went away.
Upon leaving Sarton, the sons of Jacob battle the inhabitants of Tapnach
Jasher 39:1-3
1 And when the sons of Jacob went from the city of Sarton, they had gone about two hundred cubits when they met the inhabitants of Tapnach coming toward them, for they went out to fight with them, because they had smitten the king of Tapnach and all his men.
2 So all that remained in the city of Tapnach came out to fight with the sons of Jacob, and they thought to retake from them the booty and the spoil which they had captured from Chazar and Sarton.
3 And the rest of the men of Tapnach fought with the sons of Jacob in that place, and the sons of Jacob smote them, and they fled before them, and they pursued them to the city of Arbelan, and they all fell before the sons of Jacob.
As they gather the spoil, the men and women of Arbelan battle the sons of Jacob
Jasher 39:4-12
4 And the sons of Jacob returned and came to Tapnach, to take away the spoil of Tapnach, and when they came to Tapnach they heard that the people of Arbelan had gone out to meet them to save the spoil of their brethren, and the sons of Jacob left ten of their men in Tapnach to plunder the city, and they went out toward the people of Arbelan.
5 And the men of Arbelan went out with their wives to fight with the sons of Jacob, for their wives were experienced in battle, and they went out, about four hundred men and women.
6 And all the sons of Jacob shouted with a loud voice, and they all ran toward the inhabitants of Arbelan, and with a great and tremendous voice.
7 And the inhabitants of Arbelan heard the noise of the shouting of the sons of Jacob, and their roaring like the noise of lions and like the roaring of the sea and its waves.
8 And fear and terror possessed their hearts on account of the sons of Jacob, and they were terribly afraid of them, and they retreated and fled before them into the city, and the sons of Jacob pursued them to the gate of the city, and they came upon them in the city.
9 And the sons of Jacob fought with them in the city, and all their women were engaged in slinging against the sons of Jacob, and the combat was very severe amongst them the whole of that day till evening.
10 And the sons of Jacob could not prevail over them, and the sons of Jacob had almost perished in that battle, and the sons of Jacob cried unto the Lord and greatly gained strength toward evening, and the sons of Jacob smote all the inhabitants of Arbelan by the edge of the sword, men, women and little ones.
11 And also the remainder of the people who had fled from Sarton, the sons of Jacob smote them in Arbelan, and the sons of Jacob did unto Arbelan and Tapnach as they had done to Chazar and Sarton, and when the women saw that all the men were dead, they went upon the roofs of the city and smote the sons of Jacob by showering down stones like rain.
12 And the sons of Jacob hastened and came into the city and seized all the women and smote them with the edge of the sword, and the sons of Jacob captured all the spoil and booty, flocks and herds and cattle.
The sons of Jacob battle at Machnaymah
Jasher 39:13
13 And the sons of Jacob did unto Machnaymah as they had done to Tapnach, to Chazar and to Shiloh, and they turned from there and went away.
The sons of Jacob battle at Gaash
Jasher 39:14-65
14 And on the fifth day the sons of Jacob heard that the people of Gaash had gathered against them to battle, because they had slain their king and their captains, for there had been fourteen captains in the city of Gaash, and the sons of Jacob had slain them all in the first battle.
15 And the sons of Jacob that day girt on their weapons of war, and they marched to battle against the inhabitants of Gaash, and in Gaash there was a strong and mighty people of the people of the Amorites, and Gaash was the strongest and best fortified city of all the cities of the Amorites, and it had three walls.
16 And the sons of Jacob came to Gaash and they found the gates of the city locked, and about five hundred men standing at the top of the outer-most wall, and a people numerous as the sand upon the sea shore were in ambush for the sons of Jacob from without the city at the rear thereof.
17 And the sons of Jacob approached to open the gates of the city, and whilst they were drawing nigh, behold those who were in ambush at the rear of the city came forth from their places and surrounded the sons of Jacob.
18 And the sons of Jacob were enclosed between the people of Gaash, and the battle was both to their front and rear, and all the men that were upon the wall, were casting from the wall upon them, arrows and stones.
19 And Judah, seeing that the men of Gaash were getting too heavy for them, gave a most piercing and tremendous shriek and all the men of Gaash were terrified at the voice of Judah’s cry, and men fell from the wall at his powerful shriek, and all those that were from without and within the city were greatly afraid of their lives.
20 And the sons of Jacob still came nigh to break the doors of the city, when the men of Gaash threw stones and arrows upon them from the top of the wall, and made them flee from the gate.
21 And the sons of Jacob returned against the men of Gaash who were with them from without the city, and they smote them terribly, as striking against gourds, and they could not stand against the sons of Jacob, for fright and terror had seized them at the shriek of Judah.
22 And the sons of Jacob slew all those men who were without the city, and the sons of Jacob still drew nigh to effect an entrance into the city, and to fight under the city walls, but they could not for all the inhabitants of Gaash who remained in the city had surrounded the walls of Gaash in every direction, so that the sons of Jacob were unable to approach the city to fight with them.
23 And the sons of Jacob came nigh to one corner to fight under the wall, the inhabitants of Gaash threw arrows and stones upon them like showers of rain, and they fled from under the wall.
24 And the people of Gaash who were upon the wall, seeing that the sons of Jacob could not prevail over them from under the wall, reproached the sons of Jacob in these words, saying,
25 What is the matter with you in the battle that you cannot prevail? can you then do unto the mighty city of Gaash and its inhabitants as you did to the cities of the Amorites that were not so powerful? Surely to those weak ones amongst us you did those things, and slew them in the entrance of the city, for they had no strength when they were terrified at the sound of your shouting.
26 And will you now then be able to fight in this place? Surely here you will all die, and we will avenge the cause of those cities that you have laid waste.
27 And the inhabitants of Gaash greatly reproached the sons of Jacob and reviled them with their gods, and continued to cast arrows and stones upon them from the wall.
28 And Judah and his brothers heard the words of the inhabitants of Gaash and their anger was greatly roused, and Judah was jealous of his God in this matter, and he called out and said, O Lord, help, send help to us and our brothers.
29 And he ran at a distance with all his might, with his drawn sword in his hand, and he sprang from the earth and by dint of his strength, mounted the wall, and his sword fell from his hand.
30 And Judah shouted upon the wall, and all the men that were upon the wall were terrified, and some of them fell from the wall into the city and died, and those who were yet upon the wall, when they saw Judah’s strength, they were greatly afraid and fled for their lives into the city for safety.
31 And some were emboldened to fight with Judah upon the wall, and they came nigh to slay him when they saw there was no sword in Judah’s hand, and they thought of casting him from the wall to his brothers, and twenty men of the city came up to assist them, and they surrounded Judah and they all shouted over him, and approached him with drawn swords, and they terrified Judah, and Judah cried out to his brothers from the wall.
32 And Jacob and his sons drew the bow from under the wall, and smote three of the men that were upon the top of the wall, and Judah continued to cry and he exclaimed, O Lord help us, O Lord deliver us, and he cried out with a loud voice upon the wall, and the cry was heard at a great distance.
33 And after this cry he again repeated to shout, and all the men who surrounded Judah on the top of the wall were terrified, and they each threw his sword from his hand at the sound of Judah’s shouting and his tremor, and fled.
34 And Judah took the swords which had fallen from their hands, and Judah fought with them and slew twenty of their men upon the wall.
35 And about eighty men and women still ascended the wall from the city and they all surrounded Judah, and the Lord impressed the fear of Judah in their hearts, that they were unable to approach him.
36 And Jacob and all who were with him drew the bow from under the wall, and they slew ten men upon the wall, and they fell below the wall, before Jacob and his sons.
37 And the people upon the wall seeing that twenty of their men had fallen, they still ran toward Judah with drawn swords, but they could not approach him for they were greatly terrified at Judah’s strength.
38 And one of their mighty men whose name was Arud approached to strike Judah upon the head with his sword, when Judah hastily put his shield to his head, and the sword hit the shield, and it was split in two.
39 And this mighty man after he had struck Judah ran for his life, at the fear of Judah, and his feet slipped upon the wall and he fell amongst the sons of Jacob who were below the wall, and the sons of Jacob smote him and slew him.
40 And Judah’s head pained him from the blow of the powerful man, and Judah had nearly died from it.
41 And Judah cried out upon the wall owing to the pain produced by the blow, when Dan heard him, and his anger burned within him, and he also rose up and went at a distance and ran and sprang from the earth and mounted the wall with his wrath-excited strength.
42 And when Dan came upon the wall near unto Judah all the men upon the wall fled, who had stood against Judah, and they went up to the second wall, and they threw arrows and stones upon Dan and Judah from the second wall, and endeavored to drive them from the wall.
43 And the arrows and stones struck Dan and Judah, and they had nearly been killed upon the wall, and wherever Dan and Judah fled from the wall, they were attacked with arrows and stones from the second wall.
44 And Jacob and his sons were still at the entrance of the city below the first wall, and they were not able to draw their bow against the inhabitants of the city, as they could not be seen by them, being upon the second wall.
45 And Dan and Judah when they could no longer bear the stones and arrows that fell upon them from the second wall, they both sprang upon the second wall near the people of the city, and when the people of the city who were upon the second wall saw that Dan and Judah had come to them upon the second wall, they all cried out and descended below between the walls.
46 And Jacob and his sons heard the noise of the shouting from the people of the city, and they were still at the entrance of the city, and they were anxious about Dan and Judah who were not seen by them, they being upon the second wall.
47 And Naphtali went up with his wrath-excited might and sprang upon the first wall to see what caused the noise of shouting which they had heard in the city, and Issachar and Zebulun drew nigh to break the doors of the city, and they opened the gates of the city and came into the city.
48 And Naphtali leaped from the first wall to the second, and came to assist his brothers, and the inhabitants of Gaash who were upon the wall, seeing that Naphtali was the third who had come up to assist his brothers, they all fled and descended into the city, and Jacob and all his sons and all their young men came into the city to them.
49 And Judah and Dan and Naphtali descended from the wall into the city and pursued the inhabitants of the city, and Simeon and Levi were from without the city and knew not that the gate was opened, and they went up from there to the wall and came down to their brothers into the city.
50 And the inhabitants of the city had all descended into the city, and the sons of Jacob came to them in different directions, and the battle waged against them from the front and the rear, and the sons of Jacob smote them terribly, and slew about twenty thousand of them men and women, not one of them could stand up against the sons of Jacob.
51 And the blood flowed plentifully in the city, and it was like a brook of water, and the blood flowed like a brook to the outer part of the city, and reached the desert of Bethchorin.
52 And the people of Bethchorin saw at a distance the blood flowing from the city of Gaash, and about seventy men from amongst them ran to see the blood, and they came to the place where the blood was.
53 And they followed the track of the blood and came to the wall of the city of Gaash, and they saw the blood issue from the city, and they heard the voice of crying from the inhabitants of Gaash, for it ascended unto heaven, and the blood was continuing to flow abundantly like a brook of water.
54 And all the sons of Jacob were still smiting the inhabitants of Gaash, and were engaged in slaying them till evening, about twenty thousand men and women, and the people of Chorin said, Surely this is the work of the Hebrews, for they are still carrying on war in all the cities of the Amorites.
55 And those people hastened and ran to Bethchorin, and each took his weapons of war, and they cried out to all the inhabitants of Bethchorin, who also girt on their weapons of war to go and fight with the sons of Jacob.
56 And when the sons of Jacob had done smiting the inhabitants of Gaash, they walked about the city to strip all the slain, and coming in the innermost part of the city and farther on they met three very powerful men, and there was no sword in their hand.
57 And the sons of Jacob came up to the place where they were, and the powerful men ran away, and one of them had taken Zebulun, who he saw was a young lad and of short stature, and with his might dashed him to the ground.
58 And Jacob ran to him with his sword and Jacob smote him below his loins with the sword, and cut him in two, and the body fell upon Zebulun.
59 And the second one approached and seized Jacob to fell him to the ground, and Jacob turned to him and shouted to him, whilst Simeon and Levi ran and smote him on the hips with the sword and felled him to the ground.
60 And the powerful man rose up from the ground with wrath-excited might, and Judah came to him before he had gained his footing, and struck him upon the head with the sword, and his head was split and he died.
61 And the third powerful man, seeing that his companions were killed, ran from before the sons of Jacob, and the sons of Jacob pursued him in the city; and whilst the powerful man was fleeing he found one of the swords of the inhabitants of the city, and he picked it up and turned to the sons of Jacob and fought them with that sword.
62 And the powerful man ran to Judah to strike him upon the head with the sword, and there was no shield in the hand of Judah; and whilst he was aiming to strike him, Naphtali hastily took his shield and put it to Judah’s head, and the sword of the powerful man hit the shield of Naphtali and Judah escaped the sword.
63 And Simeon and Levi ran upon the powerful man with their swords and struck at him forcibly with their swords, and the two swords entered the body of the powerful man and divided it in two, length-wise.
64 And the sons of Jacob smote the three mighty men at that time, together with all the inhabitants of Gaash, and the day was about to decline.
65 And the sons of Jacob walked about Gaash and took all the spoil of the city, even the little ones and women they did not suffer to live, and the sons of Jacob did unto Gaash as they had done to Sarton and Shiloh.
Bethchorin attempts to fight the sons of Jacob
Jasher 40:1-12
1 And the sons of Jacob led away all the spoil of Gaash, and went out of the city by night.
2 They were going out marching toward the castle of Bethchorin, and the inhabitants of Bethchorin were going to the castle to meet them, and on that night the sons of Jacob fought with the inhabitants of Bethchorin, in the castle of Bethchorin.
3 And all the inhabitants of Bethchorin were mighty men, one of them would not flee from before a thousand men, and they fought on that night upon the castle, and their shouts were heard on that night from afar, and the earth quaked at their shouting.
4 And all the sons of Jacob were afraid of those men, as they were not accustomed to fight in the dark, and they were greatly confounded, and the sons of Jacob cried unto the Lord, saying, Give help to us O Lord, deliver us that we may not die by the hands of these uncircumcised men.
5 And the Lord hearkened to the voice of the sons of Jacob, and the Lord caused great terror and confusion to seize the people of Bethchorin, and they fought amongst themselves the one with the other in the darkness of night, and smote each other in great numbers.
6 And the sons of Jacob, knowing that the Lord had brought a spirit of perverseness amongst those men, and that they fought each man with his neighbor, went forth from among the bands of the people of Bethchorin and went as far as the descent of the castle of Bethchorin, and farther, and they tarried there securely with their young men on that night.
7 And the people of Bethchorin fought the whole night, one man with his brother, and the other with his neighbor, and they cried out in every direction upon the castle, and their cry was heard at a distance, and the whole earth shook at their voice, for they were powerful above all the people of the earth.
8 And all the inhabitants of the cities of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites and all the kings of Canaan, and also those who were on the other side of the Jordan, heard the noise of the shouting on that night.
9 And they said, Surely these are the battles of the Hebrews who are fighting against the seven cities, who came nigh unto them; and who can stand against those Hebrews?
10 And all the inhabitants of the cities of the Canaanites, and all those who were on the other side of the Jordan, were greatly afraid of the sons of Jacob, for they said, Behold the same will be done to us as was done to those cities, for who can stand against their mighty strength?
11 And the cries of the Chorinites were very great on that night, and continued to increase; and they smote each other till morning, and numbers of them were killed.
12 And the morning appeared, and all the sons of Jacob rose up at daybreak and went up to the castle, and they smote those who remained of the Chorinites in a terrible manner, and they were all killed in the castle.
The sons of Jacob battle the inhabitants of Bethchorin
Jasher 40:13-15
13 And the sixth day appeared, and all the inhabitants of Canaan saw at a distance all the people of Bethchorin lying dead in the castle of Bethchorin, and strewed about as the carcasses of lambs and goats.
14 And the sons of Jacob led all the spoil which they had captured from Gaash and went to Bethchorin, and they found the city full of people like the sand of the sea, and they fought with them, and the sons of Jacob smote them there till evening time.
15 And the sons of Jacob did unto Bethchorin as they had done to Gaash and Tapnach, and as they had done to Chazar, to Sarton and to Shiloh.
A summary of previous events
Jubilees 34:7
7 And he slew them in the pastures of Shechem, and pursued those who fled, and he slew them with the edge of the sword, and he slew ‘Aresa and Taphu and Saregan and Selo and ‘Amani- sakir and Ga[ga]’as, and he recovered his herds.
The sons of Jacob brings the spoils of war back to Shechem
Jasher 40:16-21
16 And the sons of Jacob took with them the spoil of Bethchorin and all the spoil of the cities, and on that day they went home to Shechem.
17 And the sons of Jacob came home to the city of Shechem, and they remained without the city, and they then rested there from the war, and tarried there all night.
18 And all their servants together with all the spoil that they had taken from the cities, they left without the city, and they did not enter the city, for they said, Peradventure there may be yet more fighting against us, and they may come to besiege us in Shechem.
19 And Jacob and his sons and their servants remained on that night and the next day in the portion of the field which Jacob had purchased from Hamor for five shekels, and all that they had captured was with them.
20 And all the booty which the sons of Jacob had captured, was in the portion of the field, immense as the sand upon the sea shore.
21 And the inhabitants of the land observed them from afar, and all the inhabitants of the land were afraid of the sons of Jacob who had done this thing, for no king from the days of old had ever done the like.
The 7 Canaanite kings want to make peace with the sons of Jacob
Jasher 40:22-28
22 And the seven kings of the Canaanites resolved to make peace with the sons of Jacob, for they were greatly afraid of their lives, on account of the sons of Jacob.
23 And on that day, being the seventh day, Japhia king of Hebron sent secretly to the king of Ai, and to the king of Gibeon, and to the king of Shalem, and to the king of Adulam, and to the king of Lachish, and to the king of Chazar, and to all the Canaanitish kings who were under their subjection, saying,
24 Go up with me, and come to me that we may go to the sons of Jacob, and I will make peace with them, and form a treaty with them, lest all your lands be destroyed by the swords of the sons of Jacob, as they did to Shechem and the cities around it, as you have heard and seen.
25 And when you come to me, do not come with many men, but let every king bring his three head captains, and every captain bring three of his officers.
26 And come all of you to Hebron, and we will go together to the sons of Jacob, and supplicate them that they shall form a treaty of peace with us.
27 And all those kings did as the king of Hebron had sent to them, for they were all under his counsel and command, and all the kings of Canaan assembled to go to the sons of Jacob, to make peace with them; and the sons of Jacob returned and went to the portion of the field that was in Shechem, for they did not put confidence in the kings of the land.
28 And the sons of Jacob returned and remained in the portion of the field ten days, and no one came to make war with them.
The sons of Jacob doubt the kings want peace
Jasher 40:29-46
29 And when the sons of Jacob saw that there was no appearance of war, they all assembled and went to the city of Shechem, and the sons of Jacob remained in Shechem.
30 And at the expiration of forty days, all the kings of the Amorites assembled from all their places and came to Hebron, to Japhia, king of Hebron.
31 And the number of kings that came to Hebron, to make peace with the sons of Jacob, was twenty-one kings, and the number of captains that came with them was sixty-nine, and their men were one hundred and eighty-nine, and all these kings and their men rested by Mount Hebron.
32 And the king of Hebron went out with his three captains and nine men, and these kings resolved to go to the sons of Jacob to make peace.
33 And they said unto the king of Hebron, Go thou before us with thy men, and speak for us unto the sons of Jacob, and we will come after thee and confirm thy words, and the king of Hebron did so.
34 And the sons of Jacob heard that all the kings of Canaan had gathered together and rested in Hebron, and the sons of Jacob sent four of their servants as spies, saying, Go and spy these kings, and search and examine their men whether they are few or many, and if they are but few in number, number them all and come back.
35 And the servants of Jacob went secretly to these kings, and did as the sons of Jacob had commanded them, and on that day they came back to the sons of Jacob, and said unto them, We came unto those kings, and they are but few in number, and we numbered them all, and behold, they were two hundred and eighty-eight, kings and men.
36 And the sons of Jacob said, They are but few in number, therefore we will not all go out to them; and in the morning the sons of Jacob rose up and chose sixty two of their men, and ten of the sons of Jacob went with them; and they girt on their weapons of war, for they said, They are coming to make war with us, for they knew not that they were coming to make peace with them.
37 And the sons of Jacob went with their servants to the gate of Shechem, toward those kings, and their father Jacob was with them.
38 And when they had come forth, behold, the king of Hebron and his three captains and nine men with him were coming along the road against the sons of Jacob, and the sons of Jacob lifted up their eyes, and saw at a distance Japhia, king of Hebron, with his captains, coming toward them, and the sons of Jacob took their stand at the place of the gate of Shechem, and did not proceed.
39 And the king of Hebron continued to advance, he and his captains, until he came nigh to the sons of Jacob, and he and his captains bowed down to them to the ground, and the king of Hebron sat with his captains before Jacob and his sons.
40 And the sons of Jacob said unto him, What has befallen thee, O king of Hebron? why hast thou come to us this day? what dost thou require from us? and the king of Hebron said unto Jacob, I beseech thee my lord, all the kings of the Canaanites have this day come to make peace with you.
41 And the sons of Jacob heard the words of the king of Hebron, and they would not consent to his proposals, for the sons of Jacob had no faith in him, for they imagined that the king of Hebron had spoken deceitfully to them.
42 And the king of Hebron knew from the words of the sons of Jacob, that they did not believe his words, and the king of Hebron approached nearer to Jacob, and said unto him, I beseech thee, my lord, to be assured that all these kings have come to you on peaceable terms, for they have not come with all their men, neither did they bring their weapons of war with them, for they have come to seek peace from my lord and his sons.
43 And the sons of Jacob answered the king of Hebron, saying, Send thou to all these kings, and if thou speakest truth unto us, let them each come singly before us, and if they come unto us unarmed, we shall then know that they seek peace from us.
44 And Japhia, king of Hebron, sent one of his men to the kings, and they all came before the sons of Jacob, and bowed down to them to the ground, and these kings sat before Jacob and his sons, and they spoke unto them, saying,
45 We have heard all that you did unto the kings of the Amorites with your sword and exceedingly mighty arm, so that no man could stand up before you, and we were afraid of you for the sake of our lives, lest it should befall us as it did to them.
46 So we have come unto you to form a treaty of peace between us, and now therefore contract with us a covenant of peace and truth, that you will not meddle with us, inasmuch as we have not meddled with you.
The sons of Jacob agree to a peace treatyiii
Jasher 40:47
47 And the sons of Jacob knew that they had really come to seek peace from them, and the sons of Jacob listened to them, and formed a covenant with them.
Jasher 40:48
48 And the sons of Jacob swore unto them that they would not meddle with them, and all the kings of the Canaanites swore also to them, and the sons of Jacob made them tributary from that day forward.
Jubilees 34:8
8 And he prevailed over them, and imposed tribute on them that they should pay him tribute, five fruit products of their land, and he built Robel and Tamnatares.
Jasher 40:49-51
49 And after this all the captains of these kings came with their men before Jacob, with presents in their hands for Jacob and his sons, and they bowed down to him to the ground.
50 And these kings then urged the sons of Jacob and begged of them to return all the spoil they had captured from the seven cities of the Amorites, and the sons of Jacob did so, and they returned all that they had captured, the women, the little ones, the cattle and all the spoil which they had taken, and they sent them off, and they went away each to his city.
51 And all these kings again bowed down to the sons of Jacob, and they sent or brought them many gifts in those days, and the sons of Jacob sent off these kings and their men, and they went peaceably away from them to their cities, and the sons of Jacob also returned to their home, to Shechem.
Jasher 40:52
52 And there was peace from that day forward between the sons of Jacob and the kings of the Canaanites, until the children of Israel came to inherit the land of Canaan.
Jubilees 34:9
9 And he returned in peace, and made peace with them, and they became his servants, until the day that he and his sons went down into Egypt.
i. See the comments in Jasher 36:3 to see why Jacob is 110, not 105. Also, this is the 13th year from when Jacob left Padan-aram, not the 9th.
ii. Jasher 37:12 mentions 10 of Jacob’s sons whereas Jubilees 34:6 mentions 3. However, Jasher tells a detailed account by mentioning the sons by name whereas Jubilees simply summarizes the events. Also, Jasher 37:12 mentions 102 servants whereas Jubilees 34:6 mentions 6,000.
iii. Jasher 40:52 indicates that the peace treaty lasts until the Israelites enter the Promised Land in the book of Joshua. Jubilees 34:9 indicates that the peace treaty lasts until the Israelites enter Egypt which is at the end of the book of Genesis.
(77-minute read)
Exposition
J: 46 | Y: 2219 | Jacob and his family return to Shechem
Jasher 37:1-3, Jubilees 34:1
In the 150th year of Jacob’s life, which was the 9th year since he had settled in the land of Canaan with his children, he came from Padan-aram.
In the 6th year of this week of the 44th jubilee, Jacob traveled with his children from Hebron, returning to the city of Shechem. They brought everything they owned and settled there, since the sons of Jacob had found good, fertile pastureland for their livestock around Shechem. By that time, the city had been rebuilt and was home to about 300 men and women.
Jacob and his children, along with everything they had, settled in the part of the field that Jacob had bought from Hamor, Shechem’s father, back when he first came from Padan-aram—before Simeon and Levi attacked the city.
Jacob, Levi, Judah, Joseph, and Benjamin remain in the house of Isaac
Jubilees 34:3
Jacob, Levi, Judah, and Joseph stayed in the house with their father Isaac, because he was grieving and they couldn’t leave him. Benjamin, being the youngest, also stayed with his father.
Rising Action
The kings of the Canaanites and Amorites scheme against Jacob
Jasher 37:4-10, Jubilees 34:2, 4
All the kings of the Canaanites and Amorites around Shechem heard that Jacob’s sons had returned and were living in the city again. They said, “Are the sons of Jacob the Hebrew really going to come back and live in the city again after killing its people and driving them out? Are they planning to return and do the same to those living there now?”
So the 7 kings of the Amorites—rulers in Canaan—gathered again to kill Jacob and his sons. They planned to ambush them from the trees and steal their livestock. They came together to declare war against Jacob and his sons. Jashub, king of Tapnach (Taphu), sent messages to the nearby kings: Elan, king of Gaash (Ga’as); Ihuri, king of Shiloh (Selo); Parathon, king of Chazar (Aresa); Susi, king of Sarton (Seragan); Laban, king of Bethchoran (Bethoron); and Shabir, king of Othnay-mah (Ma’anisakir). He said, “Come help me attack Jacob the Hebrew, his sons, and everyone with him, because they’ve come back to Shechem to take over and kill the people, just like before.”
All the kings assembled with their armies—a huge force, as numerous as sand on the seashore. They all gathered opposite Tapnach. Jashub led his army out and camped with them outside the city. The kings divided their forces into 7 divisions, creating 7 camps to stand against the sons of Jacob.
Jacob is told of the encroaching army
Jasher 37:11, Jubilees 34:5
Word reached Jacob: “Look, the Amorite kings have surrounded your sons and taken their herds.”
They also sent a message to Jacob and his sons, saying, “Come meet us on the plain so we can settle the matter of the men of Shechem you killed. Now you’re returning to the city again to live there and kill its people like before.”
The sons of Jacob prepare for battle
Jasher 37:12, Jubilees 34:6
Jacob got up from his house. When his sons heard what the kings had said, they were furious. 10 (3?) of Jacob’s sons quickly got up and armed themselves for war. They were joined by 102 (6,000?) of their servants, also dressed and ready for battle.
Jacob prays to YHWH
Jasher 37:13-16
Jacob and all his sons and their servants went out to face the kings, with Jacob standing alongside them on the hill of Shechem. He prayed to the Lord, stretching out his hands and saying, “O God, you are Almighty and our Father. You made us, and we are the work of your hands. I ask you to deliver my sons in your mercy from the hands of their enemies who are coming to fight them today. Save them, for you have the power to rescue the few from the many. Give my sons, your servants, courage and strength to fight their enemies. Let their enemies fall before them, and do not let my sons or their servants die at the hands of the Canaanites. But if it is your will to take their lives, take them in your mercy by the hands of your angels, not by these Amorite kings.”
YHWH responds to the prayer
Jasher 37:17-19
When Jacob finished praying, the earth shook and the sun darkened. All the kings were terrified, and panic swept through their armies. The Lord heard Jacob’s prayer and filled the hearts of all the kings and their troops with fear of Jacob’s sons. God made them hear the sound of chariots, strong horses, and a massive army—though it was only Jacob’s sons.
Climax
The sons of Jacob advance but the army didn’t retreat
Jasher 37:20-23
The kings were deeply frightened of Jacob’s sons. As they stood in their camps, Jacob’s sons advanced with 112 men, shouting fiercely. When the kings saw them coming, they panicked even more and considered retreating, as they had the first time, not wanting to fight. But they didn’t retreat, saying, “It would be a disgrace to run from the Hebrews twice.”
Jacob’s sons came closer and faced the kings and their armies. They saw that the enemy was vast—like the sand of the sea.
The sons of Jacob pray to YHWH and continue to approach the armies
Jasher 37:24-25
Jacob’s sons cried out to the Lord: “Help us, O Lord! Help us and answer us. We trust in you—don’t let us die at the hands of these uncircumcised men who have come against us today.”
Each man took his weapons—shield and javelin—and they marched forward to fight.
Judah battles with Jashub
Jasher 37:26-40
Judah ran ahead of his brothers with 10 of his servants and approached the kings. Jashub, king of Tapnach, came forward with his army to face Judah. When Judah saw them coming, his anger burned within him. He rushed into the battle, risking his life. Jashub, a strong and brave warrior, rode a powerful horse and wore armor of iron and brass from head to toe. He fired arrows from both hands, front and back, with deadly precision—his usual battle style.
As he launched arrows at Judah, the Lord bound Jashub’s hands so that the arrows rebounded onto his own men. Still, Jashub pressed forward, determined to fight Judah with arrows. The distance between them was about 30 cubits when Judah, furious, ran at him. He picked up a stone weighing 60 shekels and hurled it at Jashub’s shield, stunning him and knocking him off his horse. The shield flew 15 cubits away and landed in front of the second camp.
The other kings saw Judah’s strength and what he had done to Jashub, and they were terrified. They gathered near Jashub’s camp, seeing his confusion. Judah drew his sword and killed 42 men in Jashub’s camp. The rest fled, leaving Jashub alone and still on the ground.
Seeing this, Jashub quickly got up in terror and faced Judah. They fought one-on-one, shield to shield, while Jashub’s men ran off in fear. Jashub tried to strike Judah in the head with his spear, but Judah raised his shield just in time. The blow split Judah’s shield in two.
Judah then drew his sword and struck Jashub at the ankles, cutting off his feet. Jashub fell, dropping his spear. Judah quickly grabbed the spear, used it to sever Jashub’s head, and tossed it next to his feet.
The sons of Jacob kill 15,000 men
Jasher 37:41-42
When Jacob’s sons saw what Judah had done to Jashub, they charged into the other kings’ ranks and fought their armies. They killed 15,000 men, cutting them down like gourds. The rest ran for their lives.
Judah collects spoils from Jashub and then kills 9 captains
Jasher 37:43-46
Still standing over Jashub’s body, Judah stripped off his mail armor and took the iron and brass. Then 9 of Jashub’s captains came to fight Judah.
Judah picked up a stone and struck one of them on the head, crushing his skull. He fell from his horse. The other 8, seeing Judah’s strength, fled in fear. Judah and his 10 men chased them down and killed them.
The kings refuse to retreat but some of their men do
Jasher 37:47
Jacob’s sons kept fighting the kings’ armies and killed many. The kings and their captains held their ground, refusing to retreat. They shouted at their fleeing soldiers, but no one listened—everyone was trying to save themselves.
The sons of Jacob regroup with Judah
Jasher 37:48
After defeating the armies, Jacob’s sons regrouped and returned to Judah, who was still busy killing Jashub’s 8 captains and stripping their armor.
Levi kills Elon and his captains
Jasher 37:49-50
Levi saw Elon, king of Gaash, coming at him with 14 captains, but didn’t realize at first what was happening. As Elon got closer, Levi turned and saw he was under attack from behind. He ran with 12 of his servants and together they killed Elon and his captains with swords.
Jacob kills Ihuri
Jasher 38:1
Ihuri, king of Shiloh, came to help Elon. As he approached Jacob, Jacob drew his bow and shot Ihuri with an arrow, killing him.
The 4 remaining kings retreat and the sons of Jacob pursue
Jasher 38:2-3
After Ihuri was killed, the 4 remaining kings fled with their captains. They said, “We can’t stand against the Hebrews now—not after they’ve killed 3 kings and their captains who were stronger than us.”
Seeing the kings retreat, Jacob’s sons gave chase. Jacob also came down from the hill of Shechem, and together they pursued the kings with their servants.
The battle continues in Chazar where Jacob kills the remaining kings
Jasher 38:4-8
When the kings, their captains, and the rest of their armies saw that the sons of Jacob were approaching, they feared for their lives and fled to the city of Chazar. The sons of Jacob chased them all the way to the city gate and struck down about 4,000 of their men. While the others fought the armies, Jacob focused on the kings, using his bow to kill them all. He shot Parathon, king of Chazar, at the city gate, and then killed Susi, king of Sarton, Laban, king of Bethchorin, and Shabir, king of Machnaymah—each with a single arrow.
Seeing that all the kings were dead and the enemy troops were in retreat, the sons of Jacob kept fighting near the gate of Chazar, killing around 400 more men. During this battle, 3 of Jacob’s servants were killed. Judah was deeply grieved by their deaths, and his anger burned against the Amorites.
The remaining men retreated within the walls of Chazar and 4 of them attempted to keep them back
Jasher 38:9-11
The rest of the enemy troops, terrified for their lives, rushed to the gate of Chazar, broke it open, and ran inside for safety, hiding in the center of the city. Chazar was a large and sprawling city. As soon as the armies entered, the sons of Jacob chased after them.
Then, 4 mighty and experienced warriors came out from the city. They stood at the entrance with drawn swords and spears, blocking the way and refusing to let the sons of Jacob enter.
Naphtali killed the 4 men
Jasher 38:12-13
Naphtali ran forward, stepped between them, and with one stroke of his sword, cut off the heads of 2 of the men. The other 2 tried to flee, but he chased them down, struck them, and killed them as well.
The sons of Jacob leaped over the 2nd wall and killed the army and the inhabitants of the city
Jasher 38:14-17
When the sons of Jacob reached the city, they discovered a second wall and looked for a gate but couldn’t find one. Judah climbed over the wall, with Simeon and Levi following. The 3 of them dropped down into the city. Simeon and Levi killed all the men who had taken refuge there, along with the city’s inhabitants, including the women and children, killing them all by the sword. The cries of the people rose up to heaven.
Dan and Naphtali climbed the wall to see what was causing the loud cries, as they were worried about their brothers. They overheard the city’s inhabitants weeping and begging, saying, “Take all that we possess in the city and go away, only do not put us to death.”
Once Judah, Simeon, and Levi finished slaughtering the people, they climbed back up the wall and called to Dan, Naphtali, and the rest of their brothers. Simeon and Levi told them how to enter the city, and the rest of the sons of Jacob came in to gather the spoils.
The sons of Jacob spoil the city
Jasher 38:18
The sons of Jacob took all the spoils of Chazar—the flocks, herds, and property. They took everything they could capture and left the city that same day.
The battle continues in the city of Sarton
Jasher 38:19-44
The next day, the sons of Jacob went to Sarton after hearing that the remaining men there were gathering to fight because their king had been killed. Sarton was a tall and heavily fortified city with a deep rampart around it. The rampart was about 50 cubits high and 40 cubits wide, making it impossible for anyone to enter. The only entrance was in the back, and anyone wanting to get in had to go all the way around the city.
Unable to find a way in, the sons of Jacob grew furious. The people of Sarton were terrified when they saw them coming, especially after hearing about what had happened in Chazar. They had originally gathered to fight but now didn’t dare face the sons of Jacob. In their panic, the people of Sarton quickly removed the bridge leading into the city and brought it inside.
The sons of Jacob looked for another way into the city but found none. Meanwhile, the people of Sarton climbed to the top of the wall and saw them trying to get in. From the top of the wall, they mocked and cursed the sons of Jacob, which only made them angrier. Enraged, the sons of Jacob leaped over the rampart, which was 40 cubits wide, using their sheer strength to get across.
Once past the rampart, they stood under the city wall, where they found the gates locked with iron doors. As they tried to break them open, the people above rained down stones and arrows. About 400 men were stationed on the wall. Seeing this, the sons of Jacob climbed up. Judah went up the eastern side first, followed by Gad and Asher on the west, Simeon and Levi on the north, and Dan and Reuben on the south. The men on the wall, seeing them ascend, fled into the city and hid.
Issachar and Naphtali, who had stayed below, broke the gates and set them on fire until the iron melted. Then all the sons of Jacob and their men entered and fought the inhabitants of Sarton, killing them all. About 200 men fled into a tower, but Judah chased them and brought it down on top of them, killing them all.
The sons of Jacob climbed to the roof of the tower and saw another strong, towering structure nearby, so tall it seemed to reach the sky. They quickly descended and went with their men to that tower. Inside, they found about 300 men, women, and children. The sons of Jacob struck them down and they fled in terror.
Simeon and Levi chased them, but then 12 mighty and valiant men came out of hiding and fought fiercely. Simeon and Levi couldn’t overpower them, and the men broke their shields. One even struck Levi on the head, but Levi raised his hand just in time. The sword hit his hand and nearly severed it. Levi managed to grab the attacker’s sword and kill him with it.
The remaining 11 men came at Levi, seeing one of their own killed. The battle raged on, but the sons of Jacob still couldn’t prevail. Then Simeon let out a loud, thunderous scream, stunning the 11 warriors.
Judah, hearing his brother’s cry, came running with Naphtali. They brought new shields for Simeon and Levi. Together, the 3 brothers fought the 11 warriors until sunset but still couldn’t defeat them.
Jacob hears a report that his sons are struggling to succeed so he joins the fight
Jasher 38:45-47
Jacob heard what was happening and was deeply troubled. He prayed to the Lord and then went with Naphtali to face the warriors. Drawing his bow, Jacob approached the mighty men and killed 3 of them. The remaining 8, now under attack from both front and rear, panicked and couldn’t hold their ground. They fled.
In their retreat, they ran into Dan and Asher, who were on their way. Dan and Asher attacked and killed 2 more of them. Judah and his brothers then caught up and finished off the rest.
The sons of Jacob find the remaining men in a cave and killed them
Jasher 38:48-51
Afterward, the sons of Jacob searched the city for survivors and found about 20 young men hiding in a cave. Gad and Asher killed them. Dan and Naphtali found the remaining fugitives from the second tower and killed them too.
They killed all the men of Sarton but left the women and children alive. The men of Sarton had been extremely powerful—1 could chase 1,000, and 2 would stand firm against 10,000. But the sons of Jacob killed them all, leaving only the women.
The sons of Jacob take the spoils of the city
Jasher 38:52
The sons of Jacob took everything they wanted from the city—flocks, herds, and property. They treated Sarton and its people just as they had Chazar and its people, and then they left.
Upon leaving Sarton, the sons of Jacob battle the inhabitants of Tapnach
Jasher 39:1-3
As the sons of Jacob left Sarton and had traveled about 200 cubits, they encountered the people of Tapnach coming to fight. These were the survivors, angry because their king and his men had been killed. They wanted to reclaim the spoils the sons of Jacob had taken from Chazar and Sarton.
A battle broke out, and the sons of Jacob defeated them. The people of Tapnach fled to Arbelan, but the sons of Jacob pursued and defeated them all.
As they gather the spoil, the men and women of Arbelan battle the sons of Jacob
Jasher 39:4-12
The sons of Jacob returned to Tapnach to collect the spoils. While there, they heard that the people of Arbelan were coming to try and recover what had been taken. They left 10 men behind to finish plundering Tapnach and went out to meet the people of Arbelan.
The people of Arbelan came out with their wives—about 400 in total—because the women were also skilled in battle. As the sons of Jacob ran toward them, they shouted loudly, like roaring lions and crashing waves. The people of Arbelan were overwhelmed with fear and ran back into the city. The sons of Jacob chased them to the city gate and entered.
Inside, they fought fiercely. The women joined the fight by slinging stones. The battle lasted all day, and the sons of Jacob were nearly defeated.
But they cried out to the Lord and were strengthened. Toward evening, they killed all the people—men, women, and children. They also found and killed the survivors from Sarton hiding in Arbelan. The sons of Jacob treated Arbelan and Tapnach just like Chazar and Sarton.
When the women saw the men were dead, they climbed onto the roofs and rained down stones. The sons of Jacob stormed the city, seized the women, and killed them with the sword. Then they took all the spoils—flocks, herds, and cattle.
The sons of Jacob battle at Machnaymah
Jasher 39:13
The sons of Jacob treated Machnaymah the same way they had dealt with Tapnach, Chazar, and Shiloh. After that, they left the area and went on their way.
The sons of Jacob battle at Gaash
Jasher 39:14-65
On the 5th day, the sons of Jacob heard that the people of Gaash were preparing to fight them, angry that they had killed their king and all 14 of the city’s captains in the first battle.
That day, the sons of Jacob armed themselves for war and marched out to battle the people of Gaash. Gaash was inhabited by strong and mighty Amorites and was the most fortified city among them, protected by 3 walls.
When the sons of Jacob arrived, they found the gates locked. Around 500 men were stationed on top of the outermost wall, and a vast number of people—like the sand of the seashore—lay in ambush outside the city, waiting at the rear.
As the sons of Jacob moved in to try and open the gates, the ambushers at the rear sprang from hiding and surrounded them. They were now trapped, with the enemy attacking from both front and rear, while the men on the wall rained down arrows and stones.
Seeing that the pressure from Gaash was growing intense, Judah let out a powerful and piercing shriek. The cry terrified the men of Gaash—some even fell from the wall in fear, and those both inside and outside the city were scared for their lives.
Even as the sons of Jacob tried to break through the city gates, the men of Gaash kept throwing down stones and arrows, forcing them to back away. So the brothers turned their attention to the men outside the city and struck them with great force, like smashing gourds. The enemy couldn’t stand their ground—the terror from Judah’s shriek still gripped them.
The sons of Jacob killed all the men who had been outside the city and then attempted again to breach the city and fight under its walls. But they couldn’t get close because the remaining inhabitants of Gaash had lined the walls in every direction, blocking access. When the brothers approached a corner of the wall to fight, they were again driven back by arrows and stones falling like rain.
From the wall, the men of Gaash mocked them, saying, “Why can’t you win this battle? Do you think you can conquer the mighty city of Gaash the way you did the weaker Amorite cities? You only managed to defeat the weaker ones who panicked at your shouting. But here, you’ll all die, and we’ll avenge the cities you’ve destroyed.”
They kept insulting the sons of Jacob and mocking their God while continuing to hurl arrows and stones. Judah and his brothers grew furious. Judah, jealous for his God, cried out, “O Lord, help, send help to us and our brothers.”
He ran with all his strength, sword drawn, and leapt from the ground, climbing the wall by sheer force. His sword slipped from his hand, but he shouted from the wall, and the men there were terrified. Some fell into the city and died, while others ran for their lives.
A few tried to fight Judah, seeing he had no weapon. They planned to throw him off the wall to his brothers. About 20 men came up to help and surrounded Judah with drawn swords, shouting and advancing on him. Judah called out to his brothers from the wall.
Jacob and his sons shot arrows from below and killed 3 of the men on top of the wall. Judah kept crying out, saying, “O Lord help us, O Lord deliver us,” and his voice echoed far and wide.
He shouted again, and his cry made all those surrounding him drop their swords in fear and run. Judah grabbed their swords and fought them, killing 20 men on the wall.
Then about 80 more men and women came up from the city and surrounded Judah, but the Lord put fear in their hearts, and they couldn’t approach him. Jacob and his sons continued shooting from below, killing 10 more, who fell from the wall in front of them.
Seeing that 20 of their men had already died, more of the city’s fighters charged at Judah with swords, but they were too afraid to reach him. One mighty man named Arud tried to strike Judah’s head. Judah raised his shield just in time—the sword hit it and split in 2. The man then ran away in fear but slipped on the wall and fell to the ground, where the sons of Jacob killed him.
Judah’s head throbbed from the blow—he nearly died. Crying out from the pain, he was heard by Dan, who burned with rage. Dan ran, sprang from the ground, and climbed the wall with great strength.
When Dan joined Judah on the wall, the rest of the enemy there retreated to the 2nd wall and attacked with arrows and stones, trying to drive them off. Dan and Judah were nearly killed as the assault continued wherever they went on the wall.
Jacob and his sons were still at the gate below the 1st wall, unable to shoot at the people on the 2nd wall because they couldn’t see them.
Dan and Judah, overwhelmed by the relentless barrage, jumped onto the 2nd wall to face the city’s people. When the defenders saw them coming, they panicked, cried out, and retreated down between the walls.
Jacob and his sons heard the shouting but still couldn’t see Dan and Judah. Worried, Naphtali climbed the 1st wall with great force to find out what was happening. Issachar and Zebulun broke down the city gates and entered.
Naphtali jumped from the 1st wall to the 2nd to join his brothers. When the defenders saw him join them, they all fled into the city. Then Jacob, all his sons, and their young men entered the city.
Judah, Dan, and Naphtali came down from the wall and chased the fleeing inhabitants. Meanwhile, Simeon and Levi, still outside the city and unaware that the gate was open, climbed the wall and joined their brothers.
The entire population had fled inside the city. The sons of Jacob attacked from all sides, front and rear, killing about 20,000 men and women—none could stand against them.
Blood flowed like a stream through the city and out to the desert of Bethchorin. From a distance, the people of Bethchorin saw it and sent 70 men to investigate. They followed the blood trail to the city wall and heard the cries of the people of Gaash rising to the heavens, as the blood continued to pour out like a river.
The sons of Jacob were still fighting, still killing the people of Gaash until evening—around 20,000 in total. The people of Chorin said, “This must be the work of the Hebrews. They’re still fighting in all the Amorite cities.”
They ran back to Bethchorin, armed themselves, and rallied the whole city to go and fight the sons of Jacob. Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons, after finishing the battle, walked through Gaash stripping the slain. Deep within the city, they encountered 3 very powerful men with no swords in hand.
As the sons of Jacob approached, the powerful men fled. One of them grabbed Zebulun, who was young and short, and hurled him to the ground. Jacob rushed in and struck the man below the waist with his sword, cutting him in two, and his body fell on top of Zebulun.
Another man tried to bring Jacob down, but Jacob shouted while Simeon and Levi ran up and struck the man on the hips, knocking him to the ground. As he tried to get up, Judah rushed in and struck him on the head, splitting it open. He died instantly.
The 3rd man, seeing his companions dead, ran, but the sons of Jacob chased him. As he fled, he found a sword, picked it up, and turned to fight. He aimed a blow at Judah’s head—Judah had no shield—but Naphtali quickly raised his own and blocked the strike. The sword hit Naphtali’s shield, and Judah was saved.
Bethchorin attempts to fight the sons of Jacob
Jasher 40:1-12
The sons of Jacob took all the plunder from Gaash and left the city by night, heading toward the castle of Bethchorin. Meanwhile, the people of Bethchorin were already on their way to meet them. That night, a battle broke out at the castle.
The men of Bethchorin were fierce warriors—each one strong enough not to flee from 1,000 enemies. They fought hard all night on the castle grounds, their shouts echoing far and wide, and the ground shook from the noise.
The sons of Jacob, unaccustomed to night fighting, were afraid and confused. They cried out to the Lord, “Give help to us, O Lord, deliver us that we may not die by the hands of these uncircumcised men.”
The Lord heard their cry and sent a spirit of confusion over the people of Bethchorin. In the darkness, they turned on each other, striking down their own.
Realizing what was happening, the sons of Jacob withdrew from the enemy lines and made their way down past the castle, camping safely with their young men for the night.
The people of Bethchorin continued fighting among themselves all night, brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor. Their cries rang out across the castle and were heard far away, and the ground trembled at their voices—they were the strongest of all people.
All the Canaanite cities—the Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, kings of Canaan, and even those beyond the Jordan—heard the noise that night. They said, “Surely these are the battles of the Hebrews, the ones fighting the 7 cities. Who can stand against them?”
They were all deeply afraid. “What happened to those cities will happen to us. Who can resist their strength?” they said.
The shouting from the Chorinites kept rising through the night as they fought each other, and many were killed.
At sunrise, the sons of Jacob rose and stormed the castle, striking down all the remaining Chorinites in a brutal battle—none survived.
The sons of Jacob battle the inhabitants of Bethchorin
Jasher 40:13-15
On the 6th day, the Canaanites saw the corpses of the people of Bethchorin strewn across the castle grounds, lying like sheep and goats. The sons of Jacob then carried all the loot they had taken from Gaash and went to Bethchorin. They found it packed with people—like the sand of the sea—and fought them until evening.
The sons of Jacob treated Bethchorin just as they had done to Gaash, Tapnach, Chazar, Sarton, and Shiloh.
A summary of previous events
Jubilees 34:7
They killed them in the pastures of Shechem and chased down the ones who ran. They struck them down with the sword—Aresa, Taphu, Saregan, Selo, Amanisakir, and Gaga’as—and reclaimed their herds.
Falling Action
The sons of Jacob brings the spoils of war back to Shechem
Jasher 40:16-21
The sons of Jacob gathered all the spoils from Bethchorin and the surrounding cities and headed back to Shechem that same day. When they arrived, they stayed just outside the city and rested there overnight after the battle.
They left all their servants and the plunder outside the city and didn’t go in themselves. They said, “We might still be attacked, and they could try to besiege us in Shechem.”
Jacob, his sons, and their servants stayed that night and the following day in the section of the field Jacob had purchased from Hamor for 5 shekels. They kept all the captured goods with them.
The amount of loot the sons of Jacob had taken filled that part of the field—it was as vast as the sand on the seashore. People from the surrounding land watched from a distance, and they were terrified of the sons of Jacob and what they had done. No king, even from ancient times, had ever accomplished anything like it.
The 7 Canaanite kings want to make peace with the sons of Jacob
Jasher 40:22-28
When the sons of Jacob saw that no one was coming to fight, they gathered and went into the city of Shechem and stayed there.
After 40 days, all the Amorite kings came from their cities and gathered in Hebron, at the invitation of Japhia, king of Hebron. In total, 21 kings came to make peace with the sons of Jacob. With them were 69 captains and 189 men. They all camped by Mount Hebron.
The king of Hebron set out with his 3 captains and 9 men. The kings had agreed that they would go together to meet the sons of Jacob to propose peace. They said to Japhia, “You go ahead with your men and speak on our behalf to the sons of Jacob. We’ll come after you to confirm your message.” So the king of Hebron went ahead as planned.
When the sons of Jacob heard that all the kings of Canaan had gathered in Hebron, they sent 4 of their servants as spies. They said, “Go check out these kings and count their men. See if there are many or few, and if there are few, number them all and report back.”
Jacob’s servants quietly went to spy on the kings and did as they were told. That same day, they returned and reported, “We went to see those kings. There aren’t many of them. We counted 288 total—kings and men combined.”
The sons of Jacob said, “That’s a small number, so not all of us need to go.”
The next morning, they selected 62 of their men, and 10 of the sons of Jacob went with them. They armed themselves, saying, “They’re probably coming to fight us,” since they didn’t know the kings were actually seeking peace.
The sons of Jacob, with their servants, went to meet the kings at the gate of Shechem. Jacob also went with them. As they approached, they saw Japhia, king of Hebron, with his 3 captains and 9 men coming toward them on the road. The sons of Jacob stood their ground at the gate and didn’t advance.
The king of Hebron and his captains kept coming until they reached the sons of Jacob. When they arrived, they bowed down to the ground. The king of Hebron sat down with his captains in front of Jacob and his sons.
The sons of Jacob asked, “What’s going on, O king of Hebron? Why have you come to us today? What do you want from us?”
The king of Hebron answered Jacob, “I beg you, my lord, all the Canaanite kings have come today to make peace with you.”
But the sons of Jacob didn’t agree to his offer. They didn’t trust him and believed he was lying. The king of Hebron picked up on their suspicion and came closer to Jacob. He said, “Please, my lord, be assured—all these kings truly come in peace. They haven’t brought all their men, nor have they come armed. They are sincerely seeking peace with you and your sons.”
The sons of Jacob replied, “If you’re telling the truth, then send word to the other kings. Have each one come before us alone. If they come unarmed, then we’ll believe they’re seeking peace.”
So Japhia, king of Hebron, sent a messenger to the other kings, and they all came before the sons of Jacob. They bowed down to the ground and sat before Jacob and his sons. They said, “We’ve heard what you did to the Amorite kings with your sword and your overwhelming strength. No one could stand against you. We feared for our lives, thinking we might meet the same fate. So we’ve come to make a peace treaty with you. Please agree to a covenant of peace and truth, promising not to interfere with us, just as we’ve not interfered with you.”
Resolution
The sons of Jacob agree to a peace treaty
Jasher 40:47-52, Jubilees 34:8-9
The sons of Jacob realized the kings were genuinely seeking peace, so they listened and made a covenant with them. The sons of Jacob swore not to attack them, and the Canaanite kings also swore in return. From that day on, the sons of Jacob made them pay tribute—5 fruit products from their land. Jacob also built the cities of Robel and Tamnatares.
Afterward, the captains of the kings came with their men and brought gifts for Jacob and his sons. They bowed down to the ground before them. Then the kings pleaded with the sons of Jacob to return all the goods they had taken from the 7 Amorite cities. The sons of Jacob agreed. They returned everything—the women, children, livestock, and all the plunder—and sent it all back. The kings and their men went back to their cities.
Again, all the kings bowed down before the sons of Jacob and brought them many gifts over the following days. The sons of Jacob sent them off in peace, and they returned to their cities. The sons of Jacob also went back to their home in Shechem.
From that day forward, there was peace between the sons of Jacob and the Canaanite kings. The kings became Jacob’s subjects, and this continued until the Israelites came to inherit the land of Canaan—or, until the day Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt.
This chart shows who was alive in the year 2219.