- And it was after this that the sons of Esau waged war with the sons of Jacob, and the sons
of Esau fought with the sons of Jacob in Hebron, and Esau was still lying dead, and not
buried.
- And the battle was heavy between them, and the sons of Esau were smitten before the
sons of Jacob, and the sons of Jacob slew of the sons of Esau eighty men, and not one died
of the people of the sons of Jacob; and the hand of Joseph prevailed over all the people of
the sons of Esau, and he took Zepho, the son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, and fifty of his men
captive, and he bound them with chains of iron, and gave them into the hand of his servants
to bring them to Egypt.
- And it came to pass when the sons of Jacob had taken Zepho and his people captive, all
those that remained were greatly afraid of their lives from the house of Esau, lest they should
also be taken captive, and they all fled with Eliphaz the son of Esau and his people, with
Esau's body, and they went on their road to Mount Seir.
- And they came unto Mount Seir and they buried Esau in Seir, but they had not brought his
head with them to Seir, for it was buried in that place where the battle had been in Hebron.
- And it came to pass when the sons of Esau had fled from before the sons of Jacob, the
sons of Jacob pursued them unto the borders of Seir, but they did not slay a single man from
amongst them when they pursued them, for Esau's body which they carried with them excited
their confusion, so they fled and the sons of Jacob turned back from them and came up to the
place where their brethren were in Hebron, and they remained there on that day, and on the
next day until they rested from the battle.
- And it came to pass on the third day they assembled all the sons of Seir the Horite, and
they assembled all the children of the east, a multitude of people like the sand of the sea, and
they went and came down to Egypt to fight with Joseph and his brethren, in order to deliver
their brethren.
- And Joseph and all the sons of Jacob heard that the sons of Esau and the children of the
east had come upon them to battle in order to deliver their brethren.
- And Joseph and his brethren and the strong men of Egypt went forth and fought in the city
of Rameses, and Joseph and his brethren dealt out a tremendous blow amongst the sons of
Esau and the children of the east.
- And they slew of them six hundred thousand men, and they slew amongst them all the
mighty men of the children of Seir the Horite; there were only a few of them left, and they slew
also a great many of the children of the east, and of the children of Esau; and Eliphaz the son
of Esau, and the children of the east all fled before Joseph and his brethren.
- And Joseph and his brethren pursued them until they came unto Succoth, and they yet
slew of them in Succoth thirty men, and the rest escaped and they fled each to his city.
- And Joseph and his brethren and the mighty men of Egypt turned back from them with joy
and cheerfulness of heart, for they had smitten all their enemies.
- And Zepho the son of Eliphaz and his men were still slaves in Egypt to the sons of Jacob,
and their pains increased.
- And when the sons of Esau and the sons of Seir returned to their land, the sons of Seir
saw that they had all fallen into the hands of the sons of Jacob, and the people of Egypt, on
account of the battle of the sons of Esau.
- And the sons of Seir said unto the sons of Esau, You have seen andtherefore you know that this camp was on your account, and not one mighty man or an adept
in war remaineth.
- Now therefore go forth from our land, go from us to the land of Canaan to the land of the
dwelling of your fathers; wherefore shall your children inherit the effects of our children in
latter days?
- And the children of Esau would not listen to the children of Seir, and the children of Seir
considered to make war with them.
- And the children of Esau sent secretly to Angeas king of Africa, the same is Dinhabah,
saying,
- Send unto us some of thy men and let them come unto us, and we will fight together with
the children of Seir the Horite, for they have resolved to fight with us to drive us away from the
land.
- And Angeas king of Dinhabah did so, for he was in those days friendly to the children of
Esau, and Angeas sent five hundred valiant infantry to the children of Esau, and eight
hundred cavalry.
- And the children of Seir sent unto the children of the east and unto the children of Midian,
saying, You have seen what the children of Esau have done unto us, upon whose account we
are almost all destroyed, in their battle with the sons of Jacob.
- Now therefore come unto us and assist us, and we will fight them together, and we will
drive them from the land and be avenged of the cause of our brethren who died for their
sakes in their battle with their brethren the sons of Jacob.
- And all the children of the east listened to the children of Seir, and they came unto them
about eight hundred men with drawn swords, and the children of Esau fought with the
children of Seir at that time in the wilderness of Paran.
- And the children of Seir prevailed then over the sons of Esau, and the children of Seir slew
on that day of the children of Esau in that battle about two hundred men of the people of
Angeas king of Dinhabah.
- And on the second day the children of Esau came again to fight a second time with the
children of Seir, and the battle was sore upon the children of Esau this second time, and it
troubled them greatly on account of the children of Seir.
- And when the children of Esau saw that the children of Seir were more powerful than they
were, some men of the children of Esau turned and assisted the children of Seir their
enemies.
- And there fell yet of the people of the children of Esau in the second battle fifty-eight men
of the people at Angeas king of Dinhabah.
- And on the third day the children of Esau heard that some of their brethren had turned
from them to fight against them in the second battle; and the children of Esau mourned when
they heard this thing.
- And they said, What shall we do unto our brethren who turned from us to assist the
children of Seir our enemies? and the children of Esau again sent to Angeas king of
Dinhabah, saying,
- Send unto us again other men that with them we may fight with the children of Seir, for
they have already twice been heavier than we were.
- And Angeas again sent to the children of Esau about six hundred valiant men, and they
came to assist the children of Esau.
- And in ten days' time the children of Esau again waged war with the children of Seir in the
wilderness of Paran, and the battle was very severe upon the children of Seir, and the
children of Esau prevailed at this time over the children of Seir, and the children of Seir were
smitten before the children of Esau, and the children of Esau slew from them about two
thousand men.
- And all the mighty men of the children of Seir died in this battle, and there only remained
their young children that were left in their cities.
- And all Midian and the children of the east betook themselves to flight from the battle, and
they left the children of Seir and fled when they saw that the battle was severe upon them,
and the children of Esau pursued all the children of the east until they reached their land.
- And the children of Esau slew yet of them about two hundred and fifty men and from the
people of the children of Esau there fell in that battle about thirty men, but this evil came upon
them through their brethren turning from them to assist the children of Seir the Horite, and the
children of Esau again heard of the evil doings of their brethren, and they again mourned on
account of this thing.
- And it came to pass after the battle, the children of Esau turned back and came home unto
Seir, and the children of Esau slew those who had remained in the land of the children of
Seir; they slew also their wives and little ones, they left not a soul alive except fifty young lads
and damsels whom they suffered to live, and the children of Esau did not put them to death,
and the lads became their slaves, and the damsels they took for wives.
- And the children of Esau dwelt in Seir in the place of the children of Seir, and they inherited their land and took possession of
it.
- And the children of Esau took all belonging in the land to the children of Seir, also their
flocks, their bullocks and their goods, and all belonging to the children of Seir, did the children
of Esau take, and the children of Esau dwelt in Seir in the place of the children of Seir unto
this day, and the children of Esau divided the land into divisions to the five sons of Esau,
according to their families.
- And it came to pass in those days, that the children of Esau resolved to crown a king over
them in the land of which they became possessed. And they said to each other, Not so, for he
shall reign over us in our land, and we shall be under his counsel and he shall fight our
battles, against our enemies, and they did so.
- And all the children of Esau swore, saying, That none of their brethren should ever reign
over them, but a strange man who is not of their brethren, for the souls of all the children of
Esau were embittered every man against his son, brother and friend, on account of the evil
they sustained from their brethren when they fought with the children of Seir.
- Therefore the sons of Esau swore, saying, From that day forward they would not choose a
king from their brethren, but one from a strange land unto this day.
- And there was a man there from the people of Angeas king of Dinhabah; his name was
Bela the son of Beor, who was a very valiant man, beautiful and comely and wise in all
wisdom, and a man of sense and counsel; and there was none of the people of Angeas like
unto him.
- And all the children of Esau took him and anointed him and they crowned him for a king,
and they bowed down to him, and they said unto him, May the king live, may the king live.
- And they spread out the sheet, and they brought him each man earrings of gold and silver
or rings or bracelets, and they made him very rich in silver and in gold, in onyx stones and
bdellium, and they made him a royal throne, and they placed a regal crown upon his head,
and they built a palace for him and he dwelt therein, and he became king over all the children
of Esau.
- And the people of Angeas took their hire for their battle from the children of Esau, and they
went and returned at that time to their master in Dinhabah.
- And Bela reigned over the children of Esau thirty years, and the children of Esau dwelt in
the land instead of the children of Seir, and they dwelt securely in their stead unto this day.
[Book of Jasher
Referred to in Joshua and Second Samuel.
faithfully translated (1840)
from the Original Hebrew into English.
A Reprint of Photo Lithographic Reprint of Exact Edition
Published by J.H. Parry & Co., Salt Lake City: 1887]