The book of Joshua references the book of Jasher (Joshua 10:13 ), as does 2 Samuel 1:18 . However, the quote from the book of Jasher in 2 Samuel 1:23 references both Saul and Jonathan, both of whom lived centuries after Joshua. Some Jews and Christians believe that Joshua wrote the book of Joshua, but since the book of Joshua mentions the book of Jasher, and the book of Jasher mentions Saul, logically it would seem to follow that the book of Joshua must have been written hundreds of years after the death of Joshua (i.e. sometime *after* the death of Saul). Such an account would seem to fit with the Deuteronomistic history proposed by Martin Noth . An alternate hypothesis offered by conservapedia suggests that the book of Jasher was written over the timespan of hundreds of years: > David's dirge at the death of Saul was recorded in [the book of > Jasher], indicating it was being maintained as a long-term record of > certain aspects of Israel's history. This explanation seems less likely to me, especially because the book of Jasher has been lost to time, and a book that was written over many hundreds of years would probably have increased the probability that it would have had greater distribution (and thus greater longevity) than other books written over a comparatively short time frame. Are there other explanations and/or documentation to support one timeframe or another for the chronological authorship of the books of Jasher and Joshua?

Who was Jasher? Are there any historical references Jasher other than Author of a book referred in the bible?

I've been reading the book of Jasher (supposedly the one quoted in the book of Samuel) and its quite amazing. **But I ask - what is the proof or lack of proof on it's authenticity?** There are however a few seemingly sensationalized accounts, like a wolf talks to Jacob, sons of Jacob leaping up walls, strange humanoid creatures stealing donkeys, Joseph's mother speaking from the grave, and so forth. Unless I misread, it even states that it took a year to bring bricks to the top of the tower of Babel, which leads me to believe they must have had space-suits in those days :D. Although I greatly appreciated the back-story of Nimrod vs Abraham, I found the passing-through-the-fire account (as well as the attempted infanticide) to be mirrors of other accounts in the scriptures. While repeats of events are known to happen, this seemed derived to a degree. There is also the seeming God-evolution of Enoch, the "skins" of Adam and Eve which gave Nimrod power (which did not seem to have a symbolic purpose other than a super-hero story). I also found it interesting that Esau killed Nimrod during a hunting expedition fulfilling a prophecy voiced in Jasher, but the bible simply states that Esau came back hungry from routine hunting. Of course stories such as Jonah and the fish leave much to faith, which one could take Jasher on, but I was curious what proofs might exist for or against the book of modern day.

Have any transcripts been discovered? Who wrote this book? The book is mentioned in Joshua and was apparently an important book during their days. What happened to the book?